Type 96A / ZTZ96A - Chinese MBT

[TheAntiAirGuy 2,131]

China

 

ZTZ96A Chinese Main Battle Tank

 

Why this suggestion?

It came to my mind when I recently took a 2nd look at Gaijins preliminary tech-tree for the Chinese ground vehicles and noticed that there're plenty of unique vehicles and variants missing, such as the ZTZ96A (And B)

 

The ZTZ96 and ZTZ96A, History

Just to clear things up, the designation "Type" is mainly used in the Western terminology while "ZTZ" is the official designation used by the Chinese military (ZTZ= MBT-Main Battle Tank /Z(zhuangjia Armor),T(tanke tank),Z(zhuzhan,mainbattle) and "WZ" is usually reserved for prototypes

The ZTZ96, which can already be found in the game, is a tank based on the ZTZ85-II tanks which were developed as export models for the Pakistani Army. The tanks design is heavily inspired by Soviet produced T-72 tanks, which the Chinese managed to get their hands on after Iran sold them a few examples of captured Iraqi T-72 models from the 1st Gulf-War. Thus the ZTZ96 hull design is oddly simmilar to the T-72 and its 125mm gun, while the turret has been created with a more western approach from previous studies and later failed joint-developed (USA-PRC) Jaguar MBT

The ZTZ96A is an overall upgrade to the previous model, this tank has been publicly revealed for the first time  in 2006. It shares many internal components from Chinas 3rd Gen. MBT, the ZTZ99. Noticeable differences for War Thunder would be the installment of a new more powrfull engine, added ERA bricks and a thermal imaging device. Some models also come equiped with an APS and Jammers, of simmilar style to the Russian Shtora

 

ZTZ96                                                                                                                                                                   ZTZ96A

 

Specifications

Firepower                                                 

- 2C46M-1/Type88C 125mm smoothbore, 40 rounds; Autoloader 6-8 RPM

- 1x12,7mm QJC88A, 500 rounds

- 1x7.62mm Type86, 2350-2500 rounds

+ 125mm gun; elevation/depression angles: -5,5°/+13,5° -> Ingame ZTZ96 -6°/+14°

Mobility                                                     

- Engine power: 800hp (Some models equipped/upgraded with the ZTZ96B engine; 1000hp)

- Power-Weight: 19hp/t (23,8hp/t)

- Neutral steering: No

- Speed: Forward; 57kph, Backwards; 7kph

Armor/Protection                                      

Composition equal to base-model ZTZ96 + FY-4 ERA

- Front Turret: ~400mm KE + ~200mm ERA KE / 510mm CE + 400mm ERA CE

- Front Hull: ~360mm KE + ~ 200mm ERA KE / 480mm CE + 400mm ERA CE

- 12x Smoke-Discharger

- (Only been seen on parades: JD-3 Soft-Kill APS)

Specifications                                          

- Weight: 42.000 Kg

- Length: 11.65m

- Width: 2.30m

- Height: 3.30m

 

Ammunition

DTP-125 HEATFS - already ingame, 480mm of penetration, 0°

DTB-125 HE - already ingame, 45mm of penetration, 0°, 5,46 Kg TNT-eqivalent

125-I APFSDS - already ingame

Spoiler

The 125-I APFSDS should be called the Type-I. Additionaly availabe is the Type-II, my sources didn't confirm the Type-IIM to be used on the ZTZ96A

Type-II APFSDS; ~550mm at 2km, 0°

 

Explosive Reactive Armor

Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) should be nothing new to us War Thunder players and thus most of you should already know that ERA is not only there to protect against HEAT charges or Chemical Energy rounds but also against Kinetic Energy projectiles such as APFSDS. Most common ERA types are usually the Russian/Soviet ones, Kontakt 5 beeing probably the most common type of 2nd Gen ERA which is effektive against CE and KE.

One of the main upgrades to the ZTZ96A was the installment of ERA. Said to be FY-4 ERA. Most sources state that the FY-4 ERA is either an exact copy or very simmilar to the Soviet Kontank-5

 

Ingame

The ZTZ96A would, in my oppinion, be a very nice and much welcome addition to the Chinese tech-tree. As of now their tree is pretty lackluster and every addition which isn't Copy+Paste is much appreciated, especially highter tier/top-tier ones, because that's where most of their stuff is hidden. The ZTZ96A would be a really nice fit after its base model ZTZ96 and possibly in the future to finish of this family the latest ZTZ96B. I do think the Type-96 family should be seperate from the Type-99 (ZTZ-99) family, so to spread their tech-tree a bit more apart and to make it look more organized and appealing to new players.

This tanks performance wouldn't be really impressive, to be honest. Not the fastest tank out there, not the best gun, but still a really good support! Those 800hp will be enough to propel you around the battlefield, with the Thermal sight and even it's earliest APFSDS (Type-I) you're well equiped for most of the enemy tanks and thanks to the FY-4 ERA you should be able to take a hit from some of the guns, so not to be the first one back in the hangar. I don't think I need to mention how important a good lineup is for Ground RB and having an additinal unique tank is never a bad thing, look how much appreciated a simply Japanese Type-90(B) is.

 

 

Your oppinion and support

Let me and other people know what you think about this tank! Would you like to see it added, if not, why? 

And please, if you can and want to, every additional source is nice to have and handy. For me as a non-Chinese-speaker and your typical "Westener" it was/is really hard to find any real information about Chinese military equipment, especially credible sources. 

 

Keep in mind, this is a topic about the game War Thunder and about a tank made out of metal called the ZTZ96A, don't bring up politics in here.

 

Additional pictures:

Spoiler

 Type-85II

 Type-85II

  Type-96A

  Type-96

  Type-96B (ZTZ96B)

  Type-96B

 

 

 

Sources:

http://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/china/Type-96.php

https://forums.eugensystems.com/viewtopic.php?t=46760&start=30

http://fighting-vehicles.com/type-96a-tank/

https://www.armyrecognition.com/china_chinese_heavy_armoured_vehicle_tank_uk/ztz96a_type_96a_96g_main_battle_tank_technical_data_sheet_information_description_intelligence_uk.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_96_tank#Type_96A

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/tank-ammunition.268307/

https://defenceforumindia.com/forum/threads/tank-guns-and-ammunition.39363/page-34

https://sinodefence.com/ztz96_type85iim_vt2/

https://www.offiziere.ch/?p=36272

Edited January 26, 2020 by TheAntiAirGuy

[ItssLuBu 1,793]

Approved and open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,842]

Ooh yes, I like this, it would be a great top-tier MBT for the Chinese tree.  Looks awesome too.  +1.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Milocat

[eleks12 1,076]

+1 The ZTZ 96A could be added for the resarch tree and the Type 96A as a premium. Even though they are basically the same tank.

Edited January 26, 2020 by eleks12

[霧 丹爪モ匕口丂 靄 465]

+1 This Tech Tree suffer for some reliable tanks in top tier. Just as Japanese TT 

[Black_Woof 123]

wrong click, ignore this plz

Edited February 6, 2020 by Black_Woof

[Black_Woof 123]

On 1/26/2020 at 12:20 PM, TheAntiAirGuy said:

 

 

 

  隐藏内容

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

well, these two pictures are not 96A, is 99 gai 1(or gai 2), one of the obvious difference between 96 and 99 is their driver sit position are different, ZTZ 99's driver sit is in the front center, but 96 is on the side.

btw i would more recommend ztz96 go to 9.3 and ztz 96A go 9.7, or give ztz 96 a 96A modification so it can suit its br. i would not say 96A would fit 10.00 br as type 90/type 90(b).

Edited February 6, 2020 by Black_Woof

[BadOpinionHaver 2,092]

On 26/01/2020 at 09:20, TheAntiAirGuy said:

Composition equal to base-model ZTZ96 + FY-4 ERA

- Front Turret: ~400mm KE + ~200mm ERA KE / 510mm CE + 400mm ERA CE

- Front Hull: ~360mm KE + ~ 200mm ERA KE / 480mm CE + 400mm ERA CE

Hey OP, where did you find that info? Most of the sources I found claimed500-600mm frontal protection without ERA going up to 700-900mm with ERA against kinetic.

[TheAntiAirGuy 2,131]

21 hours ago, Black_Woof said:

well, these two pictures are not 96A, is 99 gai 1(or gai 2), one of the obvious difference between 96 and 99 is their driver sit position are different, ZTZ 99's driver sit is in the front center, but 96 is on the side.

btw i would more recommend ztz96 go to 9.3 and ztz 96A go 9.7, or give ztz 96 a 96A modification so it can suit its br. i would not say 96A would fit 10.00 br as type 90/type 90(b).

Thanks for the info!

And I too think the ZTZ96 would be a good fit for 9.3, it might have a good APFSDS round, but that's literally it. Although the armor can withstand pretty much anything fired from a 105mm gun.

21 hours ago, watch_your_fire said:

Hey OP, where did you find that info? Most of the sources I found claimed500-600mm frontal protection without ERA going up to 700-900mm with ERA against kinetic.

Since the sources also claim that the armor compostition hasn't changed, I've just used the War Thunder ingame armor-viewer, shot at with an american M774 APFSDS at 500m.

But those values come pretty close to T-72A "Dolly Parton" turret armor values which the ZTZ96es compostition is based of

[IIA_K_U_L_AII 18]

The hull of ZTZ96 is actually developed from Type80/88 tanks, which are heavily modified/upgraded Type 59 variants. Type 80/88s are indigenous development of the original Type 59s, similar to the relationship of M46/M47/M48. They have a T54-shaped hull with added composite armor. So in contrary to most people's opinion, Type 96 apart from its gun is actually pretty much Chinese domestic designs. ZTZ99(especially the "99-10"/Type 98) however has a hull developed through (A)studying a T72 they got hands on, some say Romanian , other  say it's captured from Afghanistan.(B)T-80Us which Chinese and Russian government made a contract of and delivered(they are in museums however they are not shown to regular visitors ) . So the Type 99("99-10"/Type 98) actually inherited lots of T-72 characteristic, hull-wise, with better modern technology on electronics and sights.

 

The ZTZ96(actually Type88C) is kind of a base model that was quickly phased out and replaced by 96A/B. It's kind of like the Leo 2K, which is a prototype for the Leopoard 2 series, or the Ariete(P), a pre-production model which is also at 9.7. Would certainly love to see Type 96A/B added into the game in foreseeable future.

Edited February 15, 2020 by IIRIGELII

[TheAntiAirGuy 2,131]

 

I guess this suggestion is pointless now ... xD

[leroyonly 4,310]

As the ZTZ-96A has been implemented with update 1.97 Viking Fury,

 

Moved to Implemented Suggestions.