Did any one see this 99G before?

I found it from china.com, the title was "the real 99G". It looks shorter than type 99. And I don't know if it's with a 140mm gun...

ok, I googled it and now I know it's called 99A2, not 99 G any more...

GP03XP said:

ok, I googled it and now I know it's called 99A2, not 99 G any more...

[qimg]http://img.phoenixtv.com/res/200708/0830_153647.jpg[/qimg]

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Great picture, lots of ERA tiles

Awfully large gun, though probably that's due to perspective (or that guy has a really small head). Possibly a testbed for 140/152mm ammunition?

The guy doesn't really look very happy with all that mud in his face and cool shades.

I'm not sure if the tank has a larger gun, but it might be. These pics were posted along with an article claiming a new 140mm gun is being tested.

I believe the germans are researching higher velocity 140mm, and chinese/russian are going for 152mm.

dh19440113 said:

I believe the germans are researching higher velocity 140mm, and chinese/russian are going for 152mm.

Click to expand...

This NPzK-140 was planed under the combat effectiveness upgrade III for the Leo2 A5/A6, meant to improve penetrating power of the gun against the most modern sowjet/russian armor. That would have brought an autoloder, too.
It was abandoned in the mid '90s.
Back then the 140mm or the 120mm/L55 were probably only seen as interim solutions. Other concepts were researched like electrothermal-chemical propuslion (ETC).
I don't know if that's still pursued.

Does anyone know of chinese studies in the field of new propallant concepts?
Those new concepts could keep the calibers at current levels while achieving the energy of bigger ones.
I see some problems with those bigger calibers, mostly because it will reduce the number of rounds that can be carried. Is the bigger punch worth the lower number?
Well, perhaps if you have an overall big number of tanks on the battlefield anyway.

To achieve a one shot one kill ratio is more important than large capacity ammo count.

Abrahm tanks turbine are known to be gas hogs, yet their superior speed is well worth the bad fuel economy.

I think it should be more practical to pair a 140/152mm cannon with a bustle mounted autoloader. (Aren't bustle mounted autoloaders less complicated, and so less likely to break down, especially when dealing with heavier ammo?)

So this, IMO, looks like a technology demonstrator of sorts.