PLA Next Generation Main Battle Tank

Tomboy

Tomboy

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alanch90 said:
Well for starters its not entirely clear whether the "Shturm" optionally manned tank is the most efficient answer to the problem from the Russian POV. The project predates the war in Ukraine by many years. I suspect it was envisioned as a way to give some use to the then huge reserves of stored T-72, against the background of the vast adoption of the Armata platform. Nowadays the Armata program is delayed and won´t be aquired in large numbers at least after the end of the war and the T-72 stocks on the other hand have diminished significantly.

Now, from the Chinese POV the situation is very different. I guess the most efficient solution would be to take this new 40 ton tank and change its turret and armament for what is needed at the moment, and also developing several kits of add on armor with different weights and protection capabilities. I suspect much of this (especially add on armor kits) has already been done. But for example, if they deem the 105mm insufficient for urban combat, just develop a turret with a shortened 125mm with higher elevation angles and modified bustle autoloader to fit these rounds, to be installed specifically for assault missions on urban aglomerations.
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What you said do make sense however we know that there is a rumored heavy 4th generation tank in the works and that the heavy armored version of the 40 ton tank has been cancelled. If they indeed are developing a heavy MBT, it is much better to just include these features into that. Modular turret and armor so they could have different turret and armor configuration for any tasks but without the limitation of a undersized chassis.
 
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REautomaton

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Here’s a rundown of the intel I’ve gathered about the next-gen tank over the past few days:
High-credibility intel:
The "Double Absurdity" armed with a 105mm gun will be part of the next-gen combat system, serving as its core component.
The system will be China’s answer to the FCS, using a universal chassis and modular setups to adapt to different environments. That said, traditional tanks like the Type 99 will still evolve—expect a new variant (maybe called the 99AG?).
So far, it’s confirmed the system will at least include the Double Absurdity and some kind of fire support vehicle.
(Most of this comes from Guancha.)
Lower-credibility rumors:
The system might field 3 manned vehicles plus a number of unmanned ones, including recon and medical units.
 
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alanch90

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Tomboy said:
What you said do make sense however we know that there is a rumored heavy 4th generation tank in the works and that the heavy armored version of the 40 ton tank has been cancelled. If they indeed are developing a heavy MBT, it is much better to just include these features into that. Modular turret and armor so they could have different turret and armor configuration for any tasks but without the limitation of a undersized chassis.
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I´ve been following this program (and thread) at least since 2019, I´ve never seen any indication that the Chinese might be working on a different heavier tank platform.What we did see are some test rigs (super early BTW) with 7 road wheels. But everything else, interviews with people involved in the program, etc. points to the need for the lighter platform we ended up seeing in prototype form. In other words, the PLAA estimates its going to be conducting mostly expeditionary warfare going forward. With that strategic forecast, a heavier tank makes a lot less sense. Though I don´t doubt for a second that the Chinese can develop and adopt whatever they fancy at a rate no one else can do nowadays.

As for the lighter tank, we´ve seen prototypes "naked" and also in uparmored configuration.
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In addition, other new tracked AFV prototypes we´ve been seeing recently appear to be based on the same basic hull. Having a universal 30-40 ton platform that is cuting edge in every way is very reminiscing of the vision US had for the Future Combat Systems program from more than 20 years ago, but ended up being succesful.
 
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Builder

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My dear friends. This is the second or third time that I read of a type 99AG tank. Is this really true that a new variant of the type 99A mbt is in the pipeline? In the west most known tanks, like the Leopard 2 or Abrams, will also continu till half of this century. Is this a trend that the type 99A also follow?
 
Aniah

Aniah

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Builder said:
My dear friends. This is the second or third time that I read of a type 99AG tank. Is this really true that a new variant of the type 99A mbt is in the pipeline? In the west most known tanks, like the Leopard 2 or Abrams, will also continu till half of this century. Is this a trend that the type 99A also follow?
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No clue, I heard they scrapped that idea for a whole new design. We will have to wait for further information.
 
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REautomaton

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The Type 99 upgrade is confirmed and will make its debut at the 9.3 Victory Day Parade—this intel comes from Chahuahui, so we’ll see it soon enough. The real question is how substantial the modifications actually are. Just adding an APS could technically qualify as an "upgrade," so don’t expect anything revolutionary unless proven otherwise.
 
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hkvaryag

Junior Member
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REautomaton said:
The Type 99 upgrade is confirmed and will make its debut at the 9.3 Victory Day Parade—this intel comes from Chahuahui, so we’ll see it soon enough. The real question is how substantial the modifications actually are. Just adding an APS could technically qualify as an "upgrade," so don’t expect anything revolutionary unless proven otherwise.
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1753662396522.png

The turret seems quite huge.
 
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tamsen_ikard

Senior Member
Registered Member
REautomaton said:
The Type 99 upgrade is confirmed and will make its debut at the 9.3 Victory Day Parade—this intel comes from Chahuahui, so we’ll see it soon enough. The real question is how substantial the modifications actually are. Just adding an APS could technically qualify as an "upgrade," so don’t expect anything revolutionary unless proven otherwise.
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Its not a proper upgrade unless it also incorporates cope cage as an integral element of the tank. Any Tank without a cope cage is no longer relevant for the modern battlefield. But most tanks have these cages as a tack-on instead of integral design elements.
 
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A potato

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tamsen_ikard said:
Its not a proper upgrade unless it also incorporates cope cage as an integral element of the tank. Any Tank without a cope cage is no longer relevant for the modern battlefield. But most tanks have these cages as a tack-on instead of integral design elements.
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There could be some justication of not having cope cages if they show case APS that targets drones or EW modules on the tank
 
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