Tanks/Vehicles Type 62 Light Tank (Early version)

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

(Sorry for my bad english, that's not my first language.)

 

I'm suggesting this tank for the Soviet Tech Tree, because it is directly derivedfrom the T-54. I think it could be a nice and interestingTV vehicule (Which is much more original than most of the soviet Tiers V vehicles)

 

During the interwar, no tanks were produced by the Chinese industry, extremely underdevelopped and splitted between the numerous Chinese factions. (Warlords, Kuomintang, PRC...)

 

After the victory of the communist forces over the Republic of China's ones, the new great power of Asia was needing some tanks for his army. The first tanks produced in China  was the Type 58. After the victory of World War II and the enter in service of the T-54, the soviet army had sold many T-34-85s to the People's Republic of China, and gave the production licence to the PRC.

 

T-34-85 in chinese service.

 

In 1956, the Soviet Union autorized China to construct the T-54A under license, with the designation of Type 59. 9500 were made, and the Type 59 was the most common chinese tank during most of the coldwar.

 

But the Type 59 wasn't able to operate on some difficult zones like moutain and rice paddies, which were common in China, especially in the South. 

 

In 1957, a requirement was made for a light tank able to operate on difficult regions. The Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd was chose to made this new vehicule, and the prototypes were presented during 1960 and 1962. The tank was adopted at the end of 1962 under the designation of "Type 62". The production started in 1963 and the tank entered in service the same year. 

 

 

This new vehicule was a scaled down Type 59, with a 85mm Type 62-85TC rifled gun (47 rounds), a Type 54 (licence-built DShKM) 12.7mm AA machine gun , and two Type 59T 7,62mm machine guns (Coaxial and hull). The mobility was nice (60 Km/h onroad, 35 Km/h offroad) but the armor really bad. (35mm on the glacis, 55mm on  the turret front, 15mm elsewhere). The accurate is reduced because of the reduced equipement to make the tank lighter: His weight was only 21 tons (36 for the Type 59)

 

The crew was composed of 4 men: A driver seated on the left hand side of the full front, a tank commander and a gunner on the left side of the turret and the loader on the other side. The tank was extremely cramped: A T-54/Type 59 already was, and the Type 62 was a smaller version of it, with the same number of crew members...

 

 

The cannon was able to shoot AP, APHE, HE, Frag-HE, HEAT, APFSDF-T and smoke rounds at a operational range of 1 870m (12 200m in indirect firel). HEAT shells could penetrate up to 300mm of armor. The engine was a 12150L-3 V-12 liquid cooled diesel giving 430 hp at 1,800 rpm. It gave a maximum speed of 60 Km/h onroad, and 35 Km/h on soft terrain. 

 

Many Type 62 were exported, the model was sold to Zaire (surviving tanks being split between the Congo-Kinhasa and Congo-Brazzaville when Zaire was dissolved), Mali, Sudan, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia and North Korea. Albania, the only european ally of China, also acquired some.

200 Type 62 were deliver to North Vietnam into 1965 and 1975, and used against South Vietnam and American forces with poor results (Around of a half of those tanks were lost.). They also see combats againt their own creator during the sino-vietnamese war of 1979, without any sucess. Chinese forces also deployed Type 62 during this war, with disastrous results: Out of around 200 Type 62 engaged, around a half were lost to RPG-7 in a few months, showing the poor armor of the light tank. 

 

A Type 62 of the North Vietnam Army during the Vietnam war. 

 

The Type 62 have a lenght of 5,60m without the cannon (7,90m with), a widht of 2,89m and a height of 2,25m. It have a range of 500 Km (It was meant to achieve relatively long-range operations if needed)

 

Around of  1500 were built, and were modernized during the coldwar. The first major upgrade, designated type 62-I, brought 33 modifications, the most important ones being a laser rangefinder, a shield for the 12.7mm Type 85 machine-gun, and possible armor ad-on. From 2000 onwards, some of the Chinese type 62 were upgraded to the Type 62G standard, with a totally new turret housing a copy of the Royal Ordnance L7 (acquired from Austria), smoke dischargers, and, possibly, composite armor. Today, the Type 62, in all it's variants, is being phased out of service in China, but it is still active in Bangladesh, Thailand, Congo (Both Brazzaville and Kinhasa), Mali, Sudan, Tanzania, Vietnam and Korea.

 

The Type 62 should be a nice addition because he bring some diversity to the Soviet Tree without be overpowered (Terrible armor, not extraordinary cannon...). It also give a flanking vehicule against the incoming Maus. And it should not a really difficult to made, we already have the T-54 in the game. 

 

 

Sources:

 

http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=172

 

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/China/Type-62.php

 

 

Thanks for have read this suggestion, please tell me what you think !

 

 

Type 62G, with a L7 (I'm not suggesting it, it is far too modern): 

 

[Smin1080p 60,443]

Open for discussion  :salute:

[mr905 1,342]

Yes! We need  more high tier light tanks!

[Boz1995 1,681]

Sorry, but this is a Vietnam era Tank, not Korean era.

 

it comes way too late

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

Sorry, but this is a Vietnam era Tank, not Korean era.

 

it comes way too late

With the Leopard incoming, the new timeline is 1965 fort tanks , and this one entered in service in 1963.

 

(And it isn"t a really advanced vehiculefor his time...)

Edited February 16, 2015 by Lord_Waka

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

Sorry, but this is a Vietnam era Tank, not Korean era.

 

it comes way too late

 

It's effectively a smaller T-54 with an 85 mm gun that's not much different from the one on the T-34-85, and comparable to the M41 Walker Bulldog on the US tech tree.

 

That being said it's not actually a RUSSIAN vehicle, but I guess it can work (plus implementing a Chinese tank would appease the Chinese playerbase and government, so more money for them).

 

On the other hand it would be preferable to have a Russian tank in the top light tank slot if at all possible, but alas the Soviets didn't really build any light tanks in the Cold War (they used the T-54 for roles typically associated with light tanks in addition to being a main battle tank, and later used IFVs like the BMP-1 and armored cars like the BTR series), so for a Russian vehicle to be used one would have to look at something like the PT-76 amphibious tank.

 

(Note, I voted "Not Sure" and "Other" for the reasons listed above - I don't have a problem with it but I think there's better options)

Edited February 16, 2015 by Z3r0_

[mistomaxo 446]

if there are unique chinese designs that fill branches that seem low in vehicles, such as the soviet light tanks idea here, i guess it is ok to feature them there, no one will deny the strong influence of soviet designs on china's design developments

 

furthermore, this machine appears to have actually been built

 

85mm seems an ok size, but are its ammunitions super-advanced as well?

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

if there are unique chinese designs that fill branches that seem low in vehicles, such as the soviet light tanks idea here, i guess it is ok to feature them there, no one will deny the strong influence of soviet designs on china's design developments

 

furthermore, this machine appears to have actually been built

 

85mm seems an ok size, but are its ammunitions super-advanced as well?

 

iirc it's derived from the T-34-85's gun, so I would assume not (the Chinese were a ways behind the Russians in technology for a while when it came to tanks...until they managed to capture a T-62 during a short-lived "border dispute" in the late 60s, which the Russians actually lost).

Edited February 17, 2015 by Z3r0_

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

A nice idea about this tank should be a create a chinese branch in the soviet Tiers V tech tree. There is 3 chinese vehicule who can be ingame: The Type 62, the Type 63 (PT-76 with the same gun as the Type 62 one) and Type 59 (Modified T-54, still better than a third T-54 I think)

[Fifty_Calories 619]

We're not even at China yet and it will be very creepy to hear Chinese voices in a Chinese tank while on the Russian tech tree...

 

EDIT: Support. 

Edited February 17, 2015 by Fifty_Calories

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

We're not even at China yet and it will be very creepy to hear Chinese voices in a Chinese tank while on the Russian tech tree...

 

EDIT: Support. 

Well, it comes directly from the T-54, and use a derivate of a soviet cannon, so for me, he belongs to the soviet tree. And it add some original design. 

 

(Thanks for your support ~)

[Abgeschossene 10,084]

+1, support.

 

Soviet tier 5 light tank tree can be like this:

 

ASU-57 --> ASU-85 --> Type 62.

 

And PT-76 at Tier 4.

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

A nice idea about this tank should be a create a chinese branch in the soviet Tiers V tech tree. There is 3 chinese vehicule who can be ingame: The Type 62, the Type 63 (PT-76 with the same gun as the Type 62 one) and Type 59 (Modified T-54, still better than a third T-54 I think)

 

As part of a Chinese sub-branch I'd be more likely to support this.  I still say I'd rather see a PT-76 or something like that at the top of the light tank branch, but I don't have anything against this tank.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Z3r0_

[Tzalafim 695]

Would be nice to have this tank ingame

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

As part of a Chinese sub-branch I'd be more likely to support this.  I still say I'd rather see a PT-76 or something like that at the top of the light tank branch, but I don't have anything against this tank.

The PT-76 fit better at top tiers light tank, i'm agree (Even is he should be a bit useless)

[Z3r0_ 4,127]

The PT-76 fit better at top tiers light tank, i'm agree (Even is he should be a bit useless)

 

Amphibious capability would be advantageous on some maps.  Even without that it's not a bad tank for a vehicle of its type.

[Lord_Waka 1,932]

Amphibious capability would be advantageous on some maps.  Even without that it's not a bad tank for a vehicle of its type.

Well, except on Poland, I didn't really see where that can be usefull....

 

That's not a bad light tank for 1953, but I think is shouldn't stand a chance at a BR of 8.0 (76mm cannon and only 44 Km/h), I see him around of 7. For the BR 8, I think the Type 62 is the only "true" light tank wich can be added. 

[Tzalafim 695]

I guess that this one and the PT-76 should be not mixed with WW2 tanks and let them fulfill their missions which is not to trade shots with heavies.

[Choogleblitz 10,205]

 

 

 

 

I mean, where else would you put it? The Chinese didn't have enough vehicle variations to really make a worthwhile tree (unless you want almost the entire thing to be prototypes). But, that certainly doesn't mean we still can't see this little blasty in-game. Now, let's see some hard-stats about this thing first.

 

Specifications: 

 

Crew: 4

Weight: 21,000 kg

Max speed: 60 km/h

Engine: Diesel -  424 hp @ 1,800 RPM

Turret speed: 10°/s

Cannon speed: 10°/s

Cannon vertical angles: -5°/+20°

 

Armour:

UFP: 25 mm @ 60°

Turret: 50 mm

 

For more armour detail, see here and here.

 

Cannon:

85 mm rifled 85TC (ZiS-S-53 copy)

 

Ammunition (mostly copied):

BR-365K  AP-HE-T - 145 mm @ 0° - 10 m

3BK2 FS-HEAT-T - 300 mm penetration @ 0° (Same-ish round found on ASU-85)

HESH - 110 mm armour effectiveness

 

For more detailed stats, see here.

 

So what does the Type 62 mean? Well, it's sort-of a Chinese T92, except worse in a bunch of ways and better in a short few. It gets a better HEAT round and access to HESH, that's about it for advantages. It'll get absolutely shredded by AA guns, like most light tanks as well. So there's no "overpowered" armour to speak of. 

Edited June 20, 2016 by Choogleblitz

[CokeSpray 7,270]

Open for discussion. :Salute:

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

Looks pretty nice, no armour to speak of but then again I wasn't really expecting much out of a light tank. The gun seems pretty good, nothing to really complain about. There are a few Chinese vehicles that could make it into the game and I would like to see all of them eventually. +1

[Wetwings 3,074]

pls no event vehicles :<

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

You may want an 'I voted no on the first question" option for the second question. Not that I voted no, but if someone did then they would want one there.

[WulfPack 1,693]

Yes. I like Chinese tanks and I like Light Tanks.

[ComplexSequence@psn 657]

I want for xxxx and giggles

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chonma-ho