Type 99 - Design

Design

The development of the new tank was initiated in the early 1990s during the Gulf War. Western tanks had destroyed numerous Iraqi Soviet-made T-72Ms, and were superior to the most advanced tank design in the PLA at the time: the Type 90 tank. The PLA realised that the T90 were still no match for the Western MBT designs such as the Challenger 2 and M1A1, and initiated a project to develop a new, modern main battle tank which eventually resulted in the highly advanced and sucessful Type 99. The design was based on T-85IIM instead of T-90 and are somewhat influenced by the Soviet T-80 and the German Leopard 2. Features include sloped turret armor and overall a very low profile turret for increased protection, among others. The driver's compartment is in the front while the fighting compartment lies directly behind it and the engine is installed in the rear.

To accommodate more equipment and ammunition, the Type 98's turret is slightly larger than that of the Type 90, resulting in a gap between the turret and hull in the front. This could be a major disadvantage in battle as it acts as a shot trap and exposes the turret ring, increasing the likelihood of hits from the front jamming the turret. Since then NORINCO provided the armor upgrades to the Type 99 which minimizes the gap to avoid a shot trap.

This effect, however, is not to be confused with the World War II shot-trap effect, for modern long-rod kinetic energy penetrators (APFSDS) behave in a different manner to traditional solid shot armour-piercing rounds.

The tank is equipped with an active laser defense system. The laser warning receiver can determine the location of an attacking enemy tank, while the high-powered laser dazzler can temporarily damage the enemy tank's optics. It can also be used as a secure communications device.