Ideal PLA main battle tank (?)

sumdud said:

Instead of a tank with a high calibre gun, what about an auto-cannon that blinds the beast rather?

An Iraqi squad managed to gang up on a Challenger 2 back in the war. And with their RPGs and weapons, they managed to do nothing to the tank's armour. They managed to take out all the optics, however.

If they had taken out the engine, which I think they can, I am pretty sure the tankers would've surrender.

So in China's case. I would take out the original turret and put in instead a 30mm/35mm armed turret with a 12.7mm MP-MG on top. This new turret definitely weighs less than the original 100/105mm gun-turrets(especially if you use a crewless turret), so there is room for more armour; and its mobility and range will improve.

The point here is not to kill, but to disable the enemy's tank and have their crew trying to run back to HQ and do something less productive.

Good idea? Still a tank?

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A tank can still shoot even if the optics are gone. The tactics just change; use the coax gun for ranging and aiming, and assess where the tracers are landing. As soon as the tracers land where you want them, fire the main gun.

Your going to have to kill the tank in order to silence it, i.e. completely destroy it. And one of the cheapest and most effective way of doing so is with a big tank gun.

Sounds like turning up to a gunfight with a knife

Ideal Chinese Tank!?! How about these :

Nah, I think you need a cruise missile variant and a balistic missile variant. Make the cruise missiles and ballistic missiles capable of both conventional and nuclear warheads. Also a SAM variant carrying the S-300 could put a stopper to American air power. A flamethrower variant and a chemical weapons variant should be desirable too. Finally, we need a trebhuchet variant that can lob the heads of defeated enemies over enemy trenches!

In my opinion, trying to match/outmatch Western tanks with tech is not the best course for the PLA. I just don't see them able to catch up with American/Western research within a reasonable time frame.

The best course will be to adopt a cheap, fast production tank design that focuses on firepower and mobility. Screw armour, those 120mm sabots and AT munitions are just too good to protect against, and you end up with a top heavy obese tank like the Abram. Armour should just be adequate enough to handle tandem rounds and small arms fire. Add some Kontak reactive plates and you're set.

I think the Type 96 fills this criteria pretty well. Sure, it's not the most advance tank and it'll probably lose out to the Abram and Leopard in 1 vs 1 combat (assuming with a equally skill crew for both), but it's lighter and simpler. Speed isn't too shabby either, and it's not totally useless like Iraqi T-72s. It's a good tank (personally, I find it very sexy).

Never thought of using the coaxial gun to aim. That would mean the commander need to be out on the hatch though.
But a T-55 w/ a 30mm would be able to manuver and fire much better in a forest. Just a thought anyway.
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Trying to start a tank battle out 5 to 8km apart sounds more like a door knocker than a tank kill....
And how will you fit missiles on that thing......Good myth, sir.

sumdud said:

Never thought of using the coaxial gun to aim. That would mean the commander need to be out on the hatch though.
But a T-55 w/ a 30mm would be able to manuver and fire much better in a forest. Just a thought anyway.
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Trying to start a tank battle out 5 to 8km apart sounds more like a door knocker than a tank kill....
And how will you fit missiles on that thing......Good myth, sir.

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A Coax gun does not need the crew to get out of the tank to use; it can be fired from inside the tank as it is mounted beside the main gun in the turret, and is slaved to the main gun. You are thinking about the AA mount.

Hmm? How else will you know where the tracers have landed?

sumdud said:

Hmm? How else will you know where the tracers have landed?

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Crew periscopes.

sumdud said:

Never thought of using the coaxial gun to aim. That would mean the commander need to be out on the hatch though.
But a T-55 w/ a 30mm would be able to manuver and fire much better in a forest. Just a thought anyway.
--------
Trying to start a tank battle out 5 to 8km apart sounds more like a door knocker than a tank kill....
And how will you fit missiles on that thing......Good myth, sir.

Click to expand...

Its an old trick, used by the Centurions. A Challenger isn't going to forget that lesson from its predecessors.

The disadvantage of course, you're limited in your aiming by the range of the machinegun.