A capsule containing the crew could become the most armored part of MBT in the future. Mobility system could be the second most armored part, to be able to leave if damaged.
New Type98/99 MBT thread
- Thread starter Dongfeng
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In general, tanks are one of the less important tools for the PLA. They're mainly used defensively because of geography. China is surrounded by water to the east and the Himalayas to the southwest. To the south are weaker nations with close to zero chance at military conflict with China. Russia is there, but it's essentially an ally and of course has nukes.
Tanks cannot swim or fly, meaning the 99A is unlikely to face peers like the Abrams because they would need to be transported by either ship or plane onto China's territory, which can only be done after China loses the naval and air war. Similarly, any Chinese tanks used against Taiwan would need to be transported by sea or air after the naval and air conflict is won. China is focused on strengthening the PLAN and PLAAF for a reason over the ground forces.
Tanks cannot swim or fly, meaning the 99A is unlikely to face peers like the Abrams because they would need to be transported by either ship or plane onto China's territory, which can only be done after China loses the naval and air war. Similarly, any Chinese tanks used against Taiwan would need to be transported by sea or air after the naval and air conflict is won. China is focused on strengthening the PLAN and PLAAF for a reason over the ground forces.
To reiterate an old point, Asian MBTs really shouldn't go past 65/66 tons in max weight because general terrain and infrastructure isn't optimized to handle vehicles above that weight (which is why I consider tanks like the Abrams to be poor choices for APAC states), on top of strategic mobility/transportability factors. One only needs to look at the Japanese Type 10 vs Type 90 in terms of weight to see this in action.
You seem to be forgetting the Korean peninsula. RoK K2 is probably the best MBT on the market right now and certainly seems to be selling well.
North Korea is a buffer state. The K2 is a good tank, though.
Right now, China has a new type of tank far in the development pipeline. It's just not done yet.
So tanks are fairly if not very important to the PLA, otherwise they would not choose a revolutionary design, only add incremental updates to the Type 99A, like Germany does with the Leopard 2 for example.
China would need to deploy tanks in a counterattack against south Korea, should they engage in hostility. India is another target. There is also a slim but existing chance that NATO could be aggressive, and China does share an indirect land border with them through Russia.
Staying ahead of NATO in tank design is a priority for the PLA.
Due to ease of transport and the wide range of terrain they can be used on, China's tanks will tend towards the 65t range rather than 70t+, but that doesn't mean it won't be a revolutionary design.
So tanks are fairly if not very important to the PLA, otherwise they would not choose a revolutionary design, only add incremental updates to the Type 99A, like Germany does with the Leopard 2 for example.
China would need to deploy tanks in a counterattack against south Korea, should they engage in hostility. India is another target. There is also a slim but existing chance that NATO could be aggressive, and China does share an indirect land border with them through Russia.
Staying ahead of NATO in tank design is a priority for the PLA.
Due to ease of transport and the wide range of terrain they can be used on, China's tanks will tend towards the 65t range rather than 70t+, but that doesn't mean it won't be a revolutionary design.
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
Terrain in SK is suitable for tanks, NK not so much. So unlikely PLA tanks will ever see use on the Korean peninsula. Perhaps in future NK may import tanks from China, but even in that case hopefully they will never see action.
FriedRiceNSpice
Captain
The terrain that any conflict would be fought in would be extremely unfavorable to the T-90s. India might as well just directly send the T-90s to the scrap yards than using them in any offensive in the mountainous border regions. Likewise, heavy tanks (ie ZTZ-99/A) would also not be optimized for offensive operations in said terrain.
Air and naval forces would be much more important than tanks to any conflict on the Peninsula or in South Asia. If NATO ever attempted to deploy tanks into Russia, China should be more worried about building fallout shelters rather than about deploying tanks.
Its more that if NATO attacks China, China can attack NATO through Russia. Tanks help in that regard. Also, tanks can assist in the defense of Taiwan in the event of an American invasion.
Air and naval are important, but I don't see any reason why China also shouldn't stay ahead of the curve in tank design, rather than settling for the same older 1990s designs as everyone else. Especially now that some countries are building newer designs. And I'm sure the PLA agrees with me, since they're funding the development of the new 2 manned heavy tank.