Type 15 light tank at the parade In the 20th century, the tank, as one of the most important, was known as the "king of land warfare" by virtue of its performance characteristics of mobility, firepower and defense.
From the infantry tanks and cruiser tanks of Britain and France during World War I, to the medium and heavy tanks of the Soviet Union and Germany during World War II, these armored beasts that fought fiercely on the land were almost unattainable luxuries for the poor and white new China at that time.
However, after decades of hard work and development, China has become one of the few countries in the world that can independently develop and produce heavy tanks. Today, at the parade, we saw the Type 15 light tank independently developed by China, which, with its advanced technology and powerful performance, once again proved China's strength and achievements in the field of military technology.
As a country that never forgets to learn and introduce advanced military equipment, China proudly announced the founding of New China in 49 years. After decades of unremitting efforts and catch-up by the workers of our Chinese army, tanks are no longer a luxury in the past, but new tanks have been added to our army's equipment, including an anti-traditional light tank.
In the new century, all countries are developing main battle tanks with greater firepower, armor and mobility based on the experience of past wars, and we are leading the way in innovation and breakthroughs.
The Leopard 2A6 series of tanks has attracted much attention on the international stage, represented by the M1A2 series of the United States and the T-80 T-90 series of the United States. In the 21st century, China, as the first country in the world to develop and produce new light tanks, the ZTQ-15 light tank came into being.
So, why did China choose to develop a light tank in the new era? Could it be that the Type 99A main battle tank is insufficient and cannot meet the needs of our army?
Next, let's follow in the footsteps of Ah Feng and reveal the reasons together.
Before the end of World War II, the division of light, medium and heavy tanks was not clear, and most of them referred to the type of tank with a lower weight, but also to the type of tank with low difficulty, strong maneuverability and low cost.
As a result, there are some peculiar cases of 15-ton tanks, which are called medium tanks. In the early days, our army mainly relied on captured tanks as the main force, most of which were light tanks, and this special background allowed our army to have a deep understanding of the positioning and use of light tanks at the beginning of the establishment of armored forces.
After the introduction and production of Type 59 tanks, the demand for light tanks in our army continued to grow. Due to the complex terrain, dense water network, and numerous rice fields in southern China, the Type 59 medium tank, designed as a "Great Plains Assault" concept, is powerless in the face of these special conditions.
Therefore, we have developed the Type 62 light tank to meet the needs of our troops for light tanks.
As early as in the counterattack against Vietnam, our Type 62 light tank performed mediocre, which led to the stagnation of our research and development in the field of light tanks, and we were not equipped with new light tanks, except for the production of some unfinalized experimental models.
It was not until the advent of the ZTQ-15 tank that the light tank equipment of our country was updated.
Although the Southern Forces of our army have adopted the 96 96A 96B series of main battle tanks on a large scale in the new era, in the plateau and hilly troops, the demand for a light tank with excellent performance still exists to make up for the limitations of the main battle tank in a specific environment.
Therefore, the development of the ZTQ-15 light tank is of great significance.
Faced with the unique combat environment of plateaus and mountains, the ZTQ-15 light tank came into being. Its light body weighs between 33-36 tons and the overall length of the car is 92 meters and a width of 33 meters with a height of 25 meters.
The main gun was equipped with a new 105-mm rifled gun, equipped with an automatic loader, distinguished by a Western-style tail-hatched automatic loader with a rate of fire of 7-9 rounds per minute.
The car is equipped with explosion-proof plates and pressure relief valves to protect the lives of crew members. In addition, it was armed with two machine guns and a 40-mm grenade launcher. The 150 series liquid-cooled turbodiesel engine can still deliver 1,000 horsepower in highland areas while reducing its size, allowing it to travel 450 kilometers at 70 kilometers per hour.
The early models were equipped with a liquid-air suspension, while the Plateau models were equipped with an oxygen concentrator in the car, ensuring that the fighters could remain efficient when fighting at high altitudes.
The Type 15 Light Tank ZTQ-15 has excellent battlefield perception on the plateau, thanks to its advanced fire control system. The system includes a laser rangefinder, a ballistic computer, a wind deflection sensor, a panoramic high-definition thermal imaging observation and sighting system, as well as a third-generation commander hunter-anniversary system and an advanced battlefield data link.
These devices work together to enable the ZTQ-15 to quickly and accurately understand the situation of friend or foe on a complex battlefield to make the best decisions.
The emergence of the ZTQ-15 light tank is a revolutionary improvement in the combat effectiveness of our army, especially in the plateau and mountainous water network areas.
Prior to this, the 96A 96B main battle tank of our army had a noticeable decrease in mobility due to a decrease in oxygen content and a decrease in engine output in the plateau area.
However, the appearance of the ZTQ-15 light tank completely solved this problem and realized the efficient operation of our army in the plateau area.
The Type 96B main battle tank took part in the Russian tank competition, using a new 105-mm high-pressure rifled gun, which can use a new domestic 105-mm deshelled tail stabilized long-pole armor-piercing projectile.
This armor-piercing projectile takes China's BTA-2 type 105 mm as an example, and its armor-piercing power has reached 2000 meters, penetrating 550 mm of homogeneous steel armor at a vertical angle.
As a result, the new 105 mm is more powerful than the previous generation, with a depth of more than 600 mm.
The ZTQ-15 is equipped not only with conventional ammunition, but also with a 105-mm artillery-launched missile of the BTA-2 type. Developed by NORINCO in the late 90s, this missile has a range of 5,000 meters, is guided by laser beams, and is equipped with a tandem armor-piercing warhead with an amazing armor-piercing effect of 700 mm.
This capability is already capable of posing a threat to the main adversary of the ZTQ-15, the Indian T-90S (frontal 500 mm), and even the reduced version of the M1A2-T exported by the United States at a distance of about 2,000 meters.
The ZTQ-15 light tank is equipped with a vehicle-mounted machine gun and a welded turret, and the front is equipped with modular wedge-shaped composite armor, which can be installed with the same ** reactive armor as the Type 99A, thus greatly improving the ability to resist today's mainstream anti-tank rockets and missiles.
In addition, additional armor similar to the M1A2Tusk was added to the sides to enhance the side defense capabilities. In terms of defensive armor-piercing elasticity, the ZTQ-15 light tank even surpassed the Type 96B main battle tank.
Due to its sufficiently low weight, it is theoretically possible to transport two vehicles at a time for quick maneuvers over long distances. For this powerful light tank of our country, both the United States and India have felt the pressure to double and begin to develop a new light tank to make up for the gap.
Although India's T90S is a special version for Russia, it has been equipped with a new engine for hot and humid weather, but it faces problems such as lack of maneuverability and reduced engine power at high altitudes, making the original armor breakthrough tactics into a large wheeled combat vehicle in infantry and tank coordination.
Even in the face of our country's ZTQ-15 tanks, the flexible use of 105-mm rifled guns, the Indian T90 does not guarantee good survivability.
After losing the advantage of the T90S, India is eager to find a light combat vehicle that can perform tasks in the highlands. In the end, India chose the Russian State Advanced Technology Industrial Product Development and Export Company"Octopus"- SDM1 light amphibious tank.
The superior performance of the Octopus"-SDM1 light amphibious tank undoubtedly meets the needs of the Indian side for car purchases. It is armed with a 125-mm smoothbore gun that can fire modern armor-piercing and programmable shells, providing powerful fire support.
At the same time, taking into account the airdrop indicators, it has a moderate weight and is very convenient. Unfortunately, since this tank is still in active service, it comes at an additional cost to purchase it.
India's Defence Research and Development Organization (NDRO) has announced that it will complete the development of a domestically produced light tank within 18 months to replace the existing Octopus-SDM1 light amphibious tank. The tank will be armed with a 105-mm rifled gun and a K9 self-propelled gun chassis supplied by South Korea with a total weight of 34 tons.
In addition, to adapt to the high-altitude environment, the tank will be equipped with a mut engine for high altitude, providing a powerful 1000 horsepower to ensure mobility.
In India's military R&D program, there is an idea to create a 38-ton tank based on the K90 self-propelled howitzer using the 125mm smoothbore gun of the T38S tank.
While this scenario may seem feasible, the future of the light tank could be challenging, given the development of the Arjun tank in India and its weak military manufacturing and reputation for frequent accidents.
General Dynamics and British Aerospace have teamed up to create prototypes of new tanks to counter new threats such as the Chinese ZTQ-15 light tank. The new tank, which is scheduled to enter service in 2021, will equip the US Army Brigade Combat Team to ensure that the US Army has the latest mobile fire systems.
Although in 2018 the Americans became aware of the threat of light tanks to their own army brigade combat teams, it was not until 2015 that they began to develop a new tank.
This time, the US Army decided to pick up the pace to ensure that their tank technology was at the top of the curve.
The U.S. military found that the Stryker Brigade had many problems in firepower deployment and protective equipment, and needed a new tank to cope with the future large-scale combat environment. Take the M1128 Stryker MGS as an example, although it was at the leading level when it was installed in the army, the performance of the 105 mm gun is now outdated, the loader is also prone to failure and difficult to maintain, the vehicle chassis is still an early flat-bottomed type, which cannot defend against IEDs, and the chassis has been discontinued.
Therefore, the United States urgently asked for the acceleration of the project of new tanks to solve these problems.
The M1128 Stryker MGS has some limitations in terms of anti-tank and fortified positions. Although it is equipped with a 105mm gun, due to its poor defense, infantry may use the Gustav recoilless gun and various recoilless ammunition to solve the battle, and its anti-tank capabilities are not comparable to the Javelin anti-tank missile and the Dow fiber-optic wire-guided anti-tank missile.
The U.S. has announced that it will retire all M1128 Stryker MGS and all of its mobile artillery system vehicles by the end of fiscal year 2022 due to the poor passage rate of these vehicles in difficult terrain and concerns about future combat capabilities.
The prototype of the 105-mm rifled gun and the prototype of the 120-mm smoothbore gun from General Dynamics and BAE Systems will participate in the bidding for the US Army's mobile protective firepower program and will be tested this year.
The winner will equip the troops in 2025. However, it remains to be seen when new types of Chinese equipment will appear.
With the advent of UAVs and intelligent ammunition, the assault role of front-line tanks is being weakened. The future trend of lightweighting is inevitable. In the past, the main battle tanks were unable to cope with the increasingly complex battlefield situation.
Since the range of attack of individual unmanned cruise missiles reaches 10-20 km, and the armor-piercing ability of the warhead reaches more than 120 mm, this makes it difficult for the main battle tank to defend.
On the battlefield of the future, main battle tanks that cannot move quickly and sustainably may need to form mixed teams with unmanned vehicles, light tanks, and wheeled assault ground combat forces to ensure breakthroughs.
The antenna is like a double ponytail that gives the Type 99A main battle tank a unique charm, and the modern main battle tank is no longer just a simple combat tool, but a node of battlefield information, by acquiring and receiving a large amount of battlefield data, providing a more accurate battlefield situation for front-line and rear commands, and improving the overall combat effectiveness.
In the future, the main battle tank may become a command center or an important information hub on the battlefield. We can foresee that the tanks of the future will be lighter and faster, equipped with new electromagnetic armor and stealth absorbing materials, with electric transmission and new high-speed artillery to improve battlefield survivability, rather than relying solely on heavy armor protection.
However, on the battlefield of technological stagnation, the production of Type 15 light tanks like our country in order to gain an advantage is the right choice for the future.
Type 15 Light Tank: China has developed the ZTQ-15 light tank with a forward-looking vision to meet the needs of our military for long-distance mobility in the development of land power.
The 15-type light tank adopts the first-class overrun standard, which is convenient for the transportation of the railway department, and is a new type of equipment for China's national conditions. Among the world's tanks of the same class, the ZTQ-15 light tank can gallop on the plateau, and most indicators exceed the design requirements, leading the development of modern light tanks.
With the choice of China and the United States, the development of lightweight tanks will once again be set off in the world. And this time, with the ZTQ-15 light tank, my country has changed from a chaser to a leader.