Equation
Lieutenant General
No doesn't seem like it. This one has tracks instead of wheels. It could be an upgraded Type 89 APV.
Chinese infantry fighting vehicles
- Thread starter Broccoli
- Start date
No doesn't seem like it. This one has tracks instead of wheels. It could be an upgraded Type 89 APV.
andyhugfan
Banned Idiot
There are too many APC's and IFV's and other AV's that I've lost track of them. So many types means huge burden on logistics. Why not standardize. It seems that every type has a APC, IFV, mortar and what not variant....
Equation
Lieutenant General
Good question, because there are so many different types of environmental conditions, types of terrain, and weather conditions on Earth and so many different variables in the battlefield for one any single type of armor vehicle to do it all alone. Don't forget the amphibious armor vehicles as well and the types of enemy one is fighting against.
Most likely because the Chinese don't think they would be involved in any serious land war any time soon, but they still have the ambition of deploying in some future time a much better equipped army than they can hope to do so now. So instead of rapidly building up a standardized force that would be good for logistics and be ready to fight soon, they are choosing to take their time to experiment with different designs in order to find out what "better equipped" should really look like.
I think the moment when we see china settle down into one design for tanks and apc and start to produce them in quantities to equip much of their army, is the moment when they've made up their mind that they would invade someone.
Nice!
This isn't the twin-barreled 35mm gun we've seen previously.
It appears to be a single-barreled weapon with a more sophisticated radar system.
Although its really hard to tell unless we get more pics.
franco-russe
Senior Member
A rough calculation, counting only APC’s (ZSL92, 92A, 92B), but exluding specialised versions like command, recce, ARV’s, ASV’s, etc.:
8 regiments each of 126 = 1008
3 brigades each of 168 = 504
9 battalions each of 31 = 279
Total 1791 or in round figures 1800.
Interestingly, most or all battalions in divisions and brigades have a mortar battery of six PLL05-120.
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...OR it could be the moment when they finally catch up to the cutting edge in those types of gear and thus find it much harder to make incremental improvements without investing much more time and money into pioneering new innovations.
I am inclined to think that for a country as geographically diverse as China, even when that moment comes (when they catch up to the cutting edge), they will still field a few variants in order to match the different requirements for diverse environments. eg-heavier Type-99 for North China, lighter Type-96 for South China.
It's not just technology. It also has to do with clarity of operational requirements. Right now China does not face a large sustained land threat tthat would otherwise serve to clarify and stabilize operational requirements. Unless China clarifies the requirements herself by making up her mind to do something big with her army, like invading someone, she is likely to "cross the river by feeling the stones", and develop smaller batches of equipment with different mixture of characteristics in order to better explore what meeting each possible operational requirement might entail.