China’s new 4th generation tank is rated “beyond the Russian Armata tank” due to its high degree of automation which allow only two people to operate it.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV announced that the People’s Liberation Army will soon be equipped with 4th generation main battle tanks with superior features. Accompanying this statement is a extremely mysterious new Main Battle Tank.
Information on the sidelines said that this new warmachine possesses “unique” features such as this new tank uses very high level of automation, which allows only two people to operate the tank. Most of the current Main Battle Tanks uses 3 or 4 people crew. So this chinese tank will have a fully robotic turret with an automatic loader.
Defense Experts says that the Russian T-14 Armata Tank inspired the Chinese side. New-generation weapon systems are needed for the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.
In today’s technology race, battle tanks need to be lighter, in the context of what is happening in Ukraine War, tank speed proved to be a key factor in saving the tank, when even solid armor was not able to save the tank from anti-tank guided missiles.
Additional information is that china’s 4th generation main battle tank will have low fuel consumption. However, there is no specific disclosure about what type of engine the tank will use, what will be its HP, or any other details about the tank.
But chinese military experts say that in order for a tank to be classified in the 4th generation, it must be integrated with extremely advanced combat systems, even surpassing any opponent in the world today.
Different from other military powers in the field of heavy armoured fighting vehicles, china has not introduced a new main battle tank in the past decade.
It means Beijing has been focusing on the design and development of a new generation of Main Battle Tank. According to CCTV, this new tank will soon enter into production.
Currently, china has ZTZ-99 (Type-99) and Type-96 tanks. The former is considered as equivalent to the American Abrams Tank series as well as the German Army Leopard. The second one is comparable to the Russian T-80.
The Type-99A is considered as the most advanced and powerful version of the Type-99. It is also the most advanced tank currently in service with the People’s Liberation Army of China. Beijing has produced more than 700 units of this tank since 2011.
In fact, this is the last developed tank that entered into active service with the People’s Liberation Army of China. As of now the PLA has, about 550 Type-99 tanks and 2,500 older Type-96 tanks.
The Press believes that that the announcement of the new chinese main battle tank is not a coincidence, specifically when the United States has recently announced the next-generation Abrams X MBT. Since, China wants to become a superpower, so they do not want to lag behind in military.