The mainstay of PLAGF is ironically the Type 96A which has never been shown after 2009.
New Type98/99 MBT thread
- Thread starter Dongfeng
- Start date
Hopefully the 96(A) - a "value engineering proposition" if ever there was one - will be rapidly replaced by this new "ZTZ201".
Mainstay according to who? Numerically maybe but Type 99As are common enough these days and the 99A specifically is portrayed as the primary tank for the PLAGF in state media pretty consistently for the past few years.
It won't be lol
PiSigma
"the engineer"
I'm not sure you got the joke. In command and conquer generals, China have a tank with three upgrade options, troop transport, gatling gun or propaganda tower.
According to actual operational units? Most units still use Type 96A. Type 99A is too heavy and was rather unreliable to be used basically anywhere except for the northern plains. I don't think portrayal has anything to do with reality, as you obviously want to show your best tanks.
This according to whom I may ask. Type 96A is obviously obsolete and there is no replacement better than this new tank.
Last edited:
Question to ask is are the 96A/G factories still pumping them out like BYD cars or are they retooling the space for this new medium MBT?
I think the heavy armour direction for PLAGF is toward flexibility, logistic alignment (air delivery from Y-20 included), speed, range and operating theatres. In process, I reckon they will simply move toward high end MBTs and will do away with the lo + hi combo we saw in the 96 and 96A + 99 and 99A. It will just be this new tank going forward. More resources into one platform that has the tools to do it all.
I think the heavy armour direction for PLAGF is toward flexibility, logistic alignment (air delivery from Y-20 included), speed, range and operating theatres. In process, I reckon they will simply move toward high end MBTs and will do away with the lo + hi combo we saw in the 96 and 96A + 99 and 99A. It will just be this new tank going forward. More resources into one platform that has the tools to do it all.
Type 96A has been out of production for years if I recall correctly. While Type 99A's production have been resumed from the looks of it but it could simply be old Type 99As going back to the factory to be upgraded to the "B" standard. The only tank that is actually still in active production is Type 15, we have telly footage on the live production line of it recently.
China's production rate of tanks is slower than their fighter jets. They produced only 1300 Type 99 in the last 25 years. I think the rate of production of tanks for China is around 100 per year much lower than their fighter production.
They have still kept Type 59 in service even though they could have replaced them. That should tell you how much they actually produce. I think the production rate for this new tank will be extremely slow similar to other tanks in the past. They will probably replacing tanks slowly with around 100 per year.