ZTQ-15 and PRC Light Tanks

postmanishere

New Member
Whats the exact difference between ZTQ, ZBD and ZTD (and ZTZ, though that is more obvious) designations ?
designations are Official Military Terminology which is somewhat classified in China,the most accepted explanation is:
ZTZ is a chinese pinyin aberration,which means Z(zhuangjia Armor),T(tanke tank),Z(zhuzhan,mainbattle),there's debate about the last z,which can stand for (zhongxing,medium)or (zhuzhan mainbattle),

ZTQ is simpler,Z(zhuangjia,armor),T(tanke tank),q(qingxing, light)
ZBD is Z(zhuangjia ,armor),B(bubing infantry) d(zhanDou,fighting),

basically PLA ground force hardware uses the same designation system,some other example:
the official designation for type 95 rifle is QBZ95 , Q(qiang,guns or small arms) B(buqiang rifle),Z(Zidong, automatic)
type 88 marksman rifle is QBU88,Q(same above),B(buqiang rifle),U(juji sniping)

because the current designations system was established in the 80s to early 90s , so there's some confusion between old official designations and new designations and project designations.
like the type 59 tank,its project designation is WZ120,not sure about the WZ part,but 120 part is clear:1 is for tanks, 2 is for medium(or mailbattle),0 is the actual project generation number,type59 is 0-gen(because it's a imported design) tank. Think the WZXXX designation as the soviet Object XXX(like object 430 which became the T64)
so type59,or ZTZ-59,has 3 common designation:
1: type 59 medium tank, old official designation
2: ZTZ 59 new official designation
3: wz120 project designation
incidentally the type 99 is actually never officially called "type 99" its official designation is ZTZ-99,people call it type99 ( 99 shi) out of convenience and old habit,so type99 has only 2 designation:
1. ZTZ99
2. WZ123 project desination

and to clarify a very common mistake: there's never been a type 98 tank ,what everybody saw in the 1999 parade is actually project 9910 (9910工程), a showcase(as in "not combat operational") batch of the then developing ZTZ99. 9910 never entered service and all been upgraded to ZTZ-99 specs.
 

by78

General
The dimensions of this tank is are more substantial than I had thought. Note the people riding on top for reference...

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The dimensions of this tank is are more substantial than I had thought. Note the people riding on top for reference...

24024260349_e6ab33eebb_o.png

24024260499_c6cf73973a_o.jpg

Do we know if this tank is in development or actually deployed? None of the photos show it with any PLA markings and the crew and/or passengers don't look like they are in uniform.
 

SpicySichuan

Senior Member
Registered Member
Do we know if this tank is in development or actually deployed? None of the photos show it with any PLA markings and the crew and/or passengers don't look like they are in uniform.
I guess that it is under evaluation. Ultimately the type 62s and 63s deployed in southern military regions are way too outdated. The ZTD-05 (temporary replacement) is not necessarily a tank since its armor is quite thin and can carry 8 marine infantries, despite having a 105mm L7 gun. As of now, the real tanks in service with southern military regions are ZTZ-96s.
 
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