Tungsten Alloy Armor-Piercing Projectiles Equipped ZTZ-99 Tank Showed at Military Parade

The tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectiles equipped ZTZ-99 tank showed at the military parade of the National Day. It also known as the 99-type main battle tank, the 99-type tank of the engineering code name WZ-123 is the latest main battle tank of Ground Force of the People's Liberation Army of China.

The ZTZ-99 tank has experienced 99 prototypes, 99 first-phase reforms, and second phase of 99, the latest service model is the 99A type. Its advanced nature has achieved a leap in performance compared with the previous generation of the domestic main battle tank type 96. The vehicle uses a large number of composite armors which is the core of the operations of the People's Liberation Army of China and is also the most important assault force of the mechanical armored forces. According to public information, the cost of each ZTZ-99 main battle tank is about $2.5 million, and each tungsten alloy armor-piercing project is about $10,000.

China kicked off an enormous military parade in Beijing on Tuesday to commemorate 70 years of Communist Party rule and celebrate the country’s emergence as a global power. The parade - which included 100,000 performers, 15,000 goose-stepping soldiers and an array of heavy-duty weaponry - began in Tiananmen Square and was among the largest in modern Chinese history.

The bullets of the 99A are tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectiles and the engine is 150HB-2 turbocharged intercooled diesel engine, with 1500 horsepower, and may increase to 1800 horsepower in the future, comparable to the German Leopard 2A7 and the US M1A2SEPV3 main battle tank. The reason why the 99A engine can be so excellent is naturally inseparable from the efforts of our military scientists for decades. Also, this engine has a story to be told about the engine of the German Leopard 2 tank.

At the time of design, the weight of the 99 tank is already estimated to exceed the Soviet T-72 main battle tank and exceeds 50 tons. After discussion, the experts of the 201st Research Institute of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited unanimously agreed to introduce the German Leopard II MTU MB 873 engine technology.

At present, with the maturity of the technology, the news that the tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectiles equipped ZTZ-99 tank showed at the military parade is about to be replaced with the 1800-horsepower big engine has already "go away". It believed the domestically produced ZTZ-99 tank will go out of the R&D route of other countries.

• < Prev
• Next >