Chinese infantry fighting vehicles

Totoro said:

Why does the ifv hull have the crew hatches positioned more towards the center of the hull? Compared to the hatches on the tank hull? Count the wheels and their positions relative to hatches to see what I mean. Even though just by plain sight the ifv has a bigger "nose ".

Engine is to the rear side so I don't know what could be taking so much space in the front. And it's not like the ifv is gonna be so much armored space in the front, compared to the tank.

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Am I misunderstanding your question?
Why do you think the engine of the IFV is at the rear?

It's an IFV after all -- the engine should be at the front as they need the rear of the vehicle for a troop compartment, and we can see the tell-tale sign of a forward mounted engine.

Confirm that the radar is on the EO, And it has the ability to carry drones. The rear hatch is supposed to allow crew members to deploy and recover drones.

I would call it a reconnaissance-firepower integrated support platform.

Damn, which thread should I post this in?

bsdnf said:

Confirm that the radar is on the EO, And it has the ability to carry drones. The rear hatch is supposed to allow crew members to deploy and recover drones.

I would call it a reconnaissance-firepower integrated support platform.

Damn, which thread should I post this in?
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This thread is fine.

In the image of the ZTZ99As and these IFVs in the staging area we can see this IFV has a rear ramp for troops.

I wonder if what we are seeing here -- ability to deploy small VTOL drones, small onboard radar (presumably to enable engaging drones with its autocannon with fuzed AA rounds) -- just represents the baseline of a modern, all round IFV

Blitzo said:

This thread is fine.

In the image of the ZTZ99As and these IFVs in the staging area we can see this IFV has a rear ramp for troops.

I wonder if what we are seeing here -- ability to deploy small VTOL drones, small onboard radar (presumably to enable engaging drones with its autocannon with fuzed AA rounds) -- just represents the baseline of a modern, all round IFV

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It combines too many things, like the reconnaissance, close-range air defense, and HJ-10 launcher (if the left rear side of the vehicle is indeed a loitering missile launcher) of the previous ZBL-04 platform, all integrated into one IFV platform, the cost must be eye-watering

Blitzo said:

Am I misunderstanding your question?
Why do you think the engine of the IFV is at the rear?

It's an IFV after all -- the engine should be at the front as they need the rear of the vehicle for a troop compartment, and we can see the tell-tale sign of a forward mounted engine.

View attachment 158238

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I guess because of the metallic cover on the rear left side of the vehicle. Similar cover seems to be covering engine intakes on the tank.

Also this image.

Where something looking a lot like engine intake mesh is visible at the rear left of the vehicle.

If the engine was in front, I would expect to see much larger intake grills somewhere in the front. Right now there is just that one small grill looking thing on top of the hull, fairly near the exhaust.

Anyway, not sure what to make of it all so that is why I am asking.

Wait, no. It seems that the crew still has to get out of the vehicle to prepare the drone, as the back top hatch is a little too far from the launch platform.

What's under the aluminum plate?

bsdnf said:

It combines too many things, like the reconnaissance, close-range air defense, and HJ-10 launcher (if the left rear side of the vehicle is indeed a loitering missile launcher) of the previous ZBL-04 platform, all integrated into one IFV platform, the cost must be eye-watering

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It's not wholly inconsistent with trends of modern high end IFVs.
IFVs like AS21 Redback or KF41 or requirements for XM30 are not dissimilar.

The only additional thing this IFV has which they don't, would seemingly be the built in radar (possibly for enhanced AA roles), and the ability to deploy a quadcopter UAV, though I'd argue having a UAV is not that high end of a capability and really depends on how well it is integrated with the overall vehicle (e.g.: is it tethered, or free flying, what kind of range and networking and sensors does it carry etc)

Totoro said:

I guess because of the metallic cover on the rear left side of the vehicle. Similar cover seems to be covering engine intakes on the tank.

Also this image.

https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/attachments/1000103452-jpg.158181/

Where something looking a lot like engine intake mesh is visible at the rear left of the vehicle.

If the engine was in front, I would expect to see much larger intake grills somewhere in the front. Right now there is just that one small grill looking thing on top of the hull, fairly near the exhaust.

Anyway, not sure what to make of it all so that is why I am asking.

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I would have thought that the position of the exhaust is a good bet as to where the engine itself likely is. That, paired with the position of the hatches as you described (further back), would make me assume intuitively that the engine is at the front tbh

The thing at the side makes me wonder if it is a climate control unit.

bsdnf said:

Confirm that the radar is on the EO, And it has the ability to carry drones. The rear hatch is supposed to allow crew members to deploy and recover drones.

I would call it a reconnaissance-firepower integrated support platform.

Damn, which thread should I post this in?
View attachment 158245View attachment 158246

Click to expand...

I think this vehicle is not a new IFV in the traditional way to work like the Type 04A.

It appears more likely to be the successor to that heavy reconnaissance vehicle – the one based on Type 89A APC chassis mounting a ZBL-08 turret and an optoelectronic mast.

CHNPHD said:

I think this vehicle is not a new IFV in the traditional way to work like the Type 04A.

It appears more likely to be the successor to that heavy reconnaissance vehicle – the one based on Type 89A APC chassis mounting a ZBL-08 turret and an optoelectronic mast.

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I think a key differentiator between regular IFVs of the modern age and recce IFVs will be the presence of an optoelectronic mast.

Other things, like a radar, or even ability to deploy a small UAV, could be eventually common between regular high end IFVs and recce IFVs -- but an extendable sensor mast is a more structural difference that only recce IFVs will have.


At present, i don't quite see a position for an extendable sensor mast yet given the main CITV+radar mount seems fairly well integrated with the overall RWS setup, but who knows.

Blitzo said:

Other things, like a radar, or even ability to deploy a small UAV, could be eventually common between regular high end IFVs and recce IFVs -- but an extendable sensor mast is a more structural difference that only recce IFVs will have.

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Will it even hold with drone proliferation though?