Type 99A only has 1 reverse gear, so I think it would probably be a high torque low speed gearset. Probably no more than 15kph.This is just mt speculation of course.
New Type98/99 MBT thread
- Thread starter Dongfeng
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How do we know it has 1 reverse gear? I checked the Thailand VT4(I know it's not the 99A - but it uses tech from it) video, I think it shows the driver's seat with the stick shift having R1, R2 - so 2 gears if I'm not mistaken.
Do you speak Chinese? If not rough translation: "1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, 4th gear, 5th gear, 6th gear" then he says a bit about how he hasn't driven tanks in many years but its pretty easy to get familiar with.
I assume theres only one reverse gear since it looks like theres only one setting counterclockwise to where the gear shift starts at.
Oh, I see! But the video shows a 99, not the 99A? Unless they're using the same engine unmodded.
The engine was improved from 1200 to 1500 HP. Whether that comes with different gearset, I do not know.
Indeed 99A has a different gearbox. ZTZ99 has only manual transmission but ZTZ99A has automatic transmission.
For vehicles with AT you cannot figure how many reverse gears are there just by looking...
I found a video showing the 99A with the driving compartment. At 4:28, they show the shift stick, and we can clearly see there is R1. However light is blocking the lower part of shift stick so I do not know if it says R2.
This shift stick looks like the one on the VT4(where you can make out the barely visible 2nd reverse gear:
Older photo of Type 99A swapping out its power pack.
Out of curiosity, counting latest "eastern" tanks of their respective lines:
I didn't count type 96B, because, well, not sure that we've seen its production form as of yet.
Note: both Chinese tanks are significantly more voluminous inside: VT-4 is simply long, and it was claimed, that 99As' turret became even roomier. However, the hull of Type 99A is substantially rearranged inside, making such a crude comparison even less indicative of what's going on.
Russian and especially Ukrainian tanks squeeze very heavy side protection into their weight. Finally, Oplot is very heavily reliant on ERA.
Curiously, the Russian tank gets to the exact same weight as Japanese type 10 in its full configuration(which is probably the least voluminous modern western MBT in existence).
I didn't count type 96B, because, well, not sure that we've seen its production form as of yet.
| type 99A | 58t(?) |
| VT-4 | 53t |
| Oplot-M | 51t |
| T-90M | 48t |
Russian and especially Ukrainian tanks squeeze very heavy side protection into their weight. Finally, Oplot is very heavily reliant on ERA.
Curiously, the Russian tank gets to the exact same weight as Japanese type 10 in its full configuration(which is probably the least voluminous modern western MBT in existence).
