Type 69/79 main battle tank

For the Type 69 RPG, see Type 69 RPG.
Type 69-II

Iraqi Type 69-II captured during the Gulf War
Type Main battle tank
Place of origin China
Service history
In service 1982 – present
Wars Iran–Iraq War, Gulf War, Iraq War
Production history
Designer No. 60 Research Institute
Designed 1963 – 1974
Manufacturer First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory/Inner-Mongolia First Machine Group Company Limited
Specifications
Weight 36.7 tonnes[1]
Length 6.24 m (Hull)[1]
Width 3.3 m[1]
Height 2.80 m
Crew 4
Armor 203 mm
Main
armament
 100/105 mm rifled tank gun
Secondary
armament
 7.62 mm coaxial and bow machine guns, 12.7 mm antiaircraft machine gun
Engine diesel
580 hp[1] (430 kW)
Power/weight 15.8 hp/tonne[1]
Suspension torsion-bar
Operational
range
 440 km[1]
Speed 50 km/h[1]

The Type 69 (Chinese: 69式; pinyin: Liùjiǔ shì) and Type 79 (Chinese: 79式; pinyin: Qījiǔ shì) are Chinese main battle tanks. Both developments of the Type 59 (based on the Soviet T-54A), they were the first main battle tanks developed independently by China.[2] Their lineage can be seen through the distinct gap between the first and second roadwheels. Other improvements included a new engine, ballistic computers, and laser rangefinders. The more advanced Type 79 was equipped with a 105 mm rifled gun,[1] also seen on the later Type 88 tank.

History

After the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union withdrew its technical staff and support to China's arms industry. China's 617 Factory (Inner-Mongolia First Machine Group Co Ltd) was instructed to improve on the T-54A design (Type 59 MBT) in 1963, and created the Type 69. Improvements include a dual-axis stabilized 100 mm smoothbore gun, a new 580 hp engine, and an IR search light. However, the People's Liberation Army was not satisfied with the version, and it did not enter serial production. Some Western analysts incorrectly identified the Type 69 as a Chinese copy of the Soviet T-55, as opposed to the Type 59 being a copy of the T-54A.

During the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict, the PLA was able to capture a Soviet T-62 MBT. The captured tank was examined, and some of its components, such as the Soviet Luna IR searchlight system, were copied and integrated into the Type 69 design. The Type 69 and Type 79 tanks became the first independently Chinese-developed main battle tank.[2] However, the early version of the Type 69 were only used in limited quantities. The PLA was unsatisfied with the Type 69's performance, but ironically it became one of China's most successful armored vehicle exports. Over 2,000 were sold worldwide in the 1980s.

Relations between China and the West warmed in the 1980s, and China was able to import some Western technologies to improve its weapon systems. The Type 69 was upgraded with Western systems such as the British Marconi FCS, and the L7 105 mm gun. The new version received the designation Type 79, which represented the conclusion of China's first-generation tank development.

The simplicity, robustness and low cost of the tanks made them attractive on the export market, and China sold hundreds to both sides during the Iran–Iraq War. (Gelbart 1996:18) Many of the vehicles were later used by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War.

Myanmar Army Type 69 tanks also reportedly engaged Royal Thai Army M60A3 tanks in 2001 during the battle for Border Post 9631, although it is unclear if either side lost any vehicles.

Both the Type 69 and Type 79 tanks share almost identical hulls and turrets with the older Type 59. The only difference is that the two more recent tank models have been upgraded with better technologies that were either captured or bought from more advanced countries. (Gelbart 1996:17-19) The Chinese Type 59, 69 and 79 tanks can therefore be viewed as part of the same, evolutionary tank family in the same way that the Soviet T-54, -55 and -62 tanks share a common lineage. Only in the mid-1980s did the Chinese gain the expertise to begin experimenting with new indigenous tank designs that were not cast from the mold of the Type 59/69/79 family, and only in the 1990s did China begin producing truly modern tanks. (Gelbart 1996:20-24)

Today only a couple hundred Type 69/Type 79s remain in PLA inventory, mostly deployed with training or reserve units. The Type 69/Type 79 are being replaced by the newer Type 96 and Type 99 MBTs. The Type 69 is also known as WZ-121 by the manufacturer (NORINCO).

In Iraqi service

Type 69 Main Battle Tank (MBT) north of the An Nu'maniyah Bridge on Highway 27 destroyed during the US Invasion of Iraq in April 2003

During the 1980s, China was reported to have sold hundreds of Type 59 and Type 69 MBTs to Iraq. By 1991 Gulf War, western analysts claim that Iraq had upgraded some Type 69s with a 105 mm gun, a 160 mm mortar, and a 125 mm gun with an auto-loader. All of them were reinforced with frontal layer armor welded on the glacis plate.[3] All these versions were known as Type 69-QMs. It was reported during the 1991 Gulf War that the Iraqi Type 69 units fought harder than the elite Republican Guard units, equipped with T-72 MBTs. One possible explanation is that Saddam ordered his Republican Guard units to preserve their strength, while sending the rest of the army, equipped with inferior Type 69 tanks, to frontline fight.

According to battle reports from the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Type 69-QMs were used by the Iraqi Army units defending Nasiriyah in March 2003, most of them being employed as artillery pillboxes.[4] They played an important role in the ambushes mounted against the US Army 507th Maintenance Company and Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, before AH-1 Cobra helicopters wiped out the Iraqi tanks. Two Type 69s destroyed at least four vehicles of the 507th, among them a heavy truck rammed by one of the tanks.[5] There is also a first hand account of about four Type 69s hidden behind some buildings, pounding the Marines' Charlie Company with indirect fire and likely disabling several AAVs.[6] Some combat useless Type 59/69s were emplaced as decoys or mere obstacles.[7]

Variants

Type 69.

Prototypes

Production variants

Type 69-II.
Iraqi Type 69-II.

Type 69

This version was widely exported and produced under license in Pakistan by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT). The Type 69-II is referred to as the Type 30 in the Royal Thai Army.[8]

Type 79

Chinese Type 79 (Type 69-III, WZ-121D).

Foreign variants

Iraq

Bangladesh

Type 69-IIG MBT of Bangladesh Army
Bangladesh Army's Type-69IIMk.2G..

Bangladesh Army Engineers improved its weaponry and armor system to make it more effective.

Myanmar

Non-military applications

A civilian variant of the Type 69/79 was used to develop the Chinese firefighting tank. Currently only three fire brigades in China have purchased such a vehicle.

Operators

Current operators

Map of Type 69 operators in blue with former operators in red

Former operators

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gelbart, Marsh (1996). Tanks main battle and light tanks. Brassey’s UK Ltd. pp. 18–19. ISBN 1-85753-168-X.
  2. 1 2 http://www.sinodefence.com/army/tank/type69.asp
  3. ↑ Modern Battle Tanks and Support Vehicles (PDF), UA: Al Port.
  4. ↑ "Deadliest battle of war so far", Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The New York Times News Service, March 24, 2003.
  5. ↑ (PDF), USA: SFTT http://www.sftt.us/PDF/article07102003a.pdf#prof Missing or empty |title= (help).
  6. ↑ Zeigler, Martin (2006). Three Block War II: Snipers in the Sky. iUniverse, pp. 34, 36. ISBN 0-595-38816-7
  7. ↑ Scales, Robert H. and Murray, Williamson (2003). The Iraq war: a military history. Harvard University Press, p. 120. ISBN 0-674-01280-1
  8. ↑ Jane's Armour and Artillery 1997-98 ISBN 0-7106-1542-6
  9. ↑ F Foss, Christopher (22 November 2000). "Al Khalid MBT to enter production". Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Chinese Type 653 ARV". Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  11. ↑ "Pakistan Army".
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