During the Gulf War, the United States put the M1A1 tank into use on the battlefield for the first time and in large quantities, all the way to the Saddam Hussein Army, which was imported by Iraq from ChinaThe Type 69 tank suffered a large number of battle losses
In the face of modern tanks, the old Type 69 is obviously more than enough to deal with.
It was also after this war that the PLA began a large-scale transformation to modernization, and developed a domestically produced modern tank 99A.
After many years, the M1A1 tank also derived the M1A2 model, these two tanksWhich is better or worse in comparison?
Let's take a look at China's 99A tank, as an improved model of the Type 99 main battle tank independently developed by China, it has greatly improved its mobility, engine power and autonomous handling, and has the reputation of "the king of land warfare".
Its advantage is that a special smoothbore gun of 125 mm caliber is used as the main gun, and high bore pressure technology is used, which can quickly fire shells and achieve faster fire coverage.
The 99A tank is capable of firing a wide range of shells, including different types of armor-piercing shells, high-explosive shells, and more.
Among them, high-explosive shells are mainly aimed at the enemy's ground positions, which can be fast and fastClearing the enemy of effective ground installationsand inflict massive damage to enemy personnel.
In addition, equipped with special Chinese armor-piercing shells, it can penetrate 1000 mm of homogeneous armor (Chinese standard) at a range of 2 km, and ordinary armor-piercing shells can also penetrate 700 mm of armor at the same distance.
Such artillery strike capabilities, almost equivalent to anti-tank missiles, can destroy many modern tanks.
Like the non-frontal armor of the American M1A2 model, the 99A tank fired armor-piercing shells against it with one shotIt is very destructive
The second point is that the 99A tank has strong operational flexibility and can achieve rapid maneuvering in many complex terrains.
This is mainly due to the fact that the weight of this tank is relatively light, only about 56 tons, compared to the heavy tanks of some NATO countries, which can reach more than 70 tons, and is naturally not as agile as the 99A tank (but this type of tank is thick enough to have merit).
The 99A tank is equipped with a 1500-horsepower engine inside, and the maximum travel speed on the road is about80 km/h, which is equivalent to a small car driving "at low speed" on the highway.
In the event of war, the 99A tank can quickly respond to the needs of combat personnel, carry out rapid deployment, and form combat power faster.
The third point is that the 99A tank has strong information-based combat capabilities, which is its greatest advantage.
In this tank, we have added a number of modern onesElectronic warfare equipment, which can be linked with other tanks, planes, and even satellites on the battlefield.
The entire battlefield is like a huge and dense spider web, connecting China's armed forces in series and effectively enhancing combat capabilities.
Of course, there are many advantages of the 99A tank, so I will not introduce them one by one.
However, the 99A also has some shortcomings, such as: First, the armor protection capability of the 99A tank is relatively insufficient, and the armor protection ability of the medium and heavy tanks of NATO countries is somewhat worse, and it is not as good as the M1A2 tank of the United States.
The second point, the 99a tankField combat capabilities still need to be improved, which is mainly due to its lack of cross-country ability, its maximum cross-country speed does not exceed 45 km/h.
In comparison, the American M1A2 tank can stabilize at 48 kilometers per hour, and the German Leopard 2 main battle tank can reach 55 kilometers per hour.
The third point is that the reliability of the 99A tank needs to be improved, this isMao Ming, the general designer of the tanksaid.
The rough meaning of the words is that there are defects in some small details, resulting in oil and water leakage, and screws may fall off after running for a while.
From this point of view, whether it is the later production standard or the early stage of technology research and developmentIt's going to take some effort
After a brief understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese tanks, how does it compare with the American M1A2 tank?
The M1A2 is a derivative of the M1A1 and has been developed in several versions, such as the M1A2 Tusk, which was developed specifically for urban warfare.
Considering that in the complex urban warfare environment, it may face the threat from man-portable anti-tank missiles, so its armor protection capability has been strengthened.
As another example, the M1A2 SEP V3 is a fully optimized version of the earlier model and is equipped with an imported version from IsraelActive protection systemto reduce the threat of anti-Tanan missiles and rockets on the battlefield.
In terms of versatility and variants, the M1A2 is better than the 99A.
In addition to this, the armor protection of the M1A2 tank is also better than that of the 99A, especially the stability of the chassis.
In terms of artillery fire strike capabilities, the M1A2 tank and the 99A are almost at the same level.
It's not that our technology is backward, it's that the M1A2 tank is almost not at the same level as the 99A in tonnage.
The tonnage of the former is inAround 66 to 71 tons, meaning it has thicker armor and a stable base.
However, there are also disadvantages, that is, there will be obvious shortcomings in terms of mobility, for example, the maximum speed of the M1A2 tank is only 66 kilometers per hour, which is much slower than that of the 99A.
In a non-field combat environment, good maneuverability will give the 99A a greater advantage.
In addition to this, the modern combat capabilities of the 99A tank are beyond doubt, even if the M1A2 tank has a dedicated digitized tank, but there are not many of them and they are not widely available.
And our 99A tanks are already generally equipped with these modern digital equipment.
It can only be said that the positioning of the two tanks is different, and they are put into a showdown in actual combatIt's hard to say whether you win or lose.
In fact, the M1A2 tank was positioned as a high-mobility tank at the beginning of the 99A, and the early M1 tank was only 55 tons, with more and more things added to the back, and the weight increased.
Although there are pros and cons to both tanks, there is reason to believe that the 99A will win.
This is not only confidence in China's national defense forces, but also trust in the combat capability of the PLA.
And China's technology is constantly improving and developing rapidlyA new generation of tanksIt may appear in the near future.
Project Sword
References:
1] China Network: "The "Battlefield Veteran" M1A2 Tank that Makes Waves Again".
2] Global Network: "The American Journal Reveals the Upgraded Abrams Tank to Defeat Armata? 》
3] China** Network: "With the Type 99A main battle tank, let's accelerate!" 》