Type 96
| General Characteristics | |
| Length: | 10.28 m |
| Width: | 3.45 m |
| Height: | 2.30 m |
| Weight: | 48 tons |
| Speed: | Max road: 57 km/h Max off-road: 45 km/h Average cross-country: 35 km/h |
| Range: | 700 km 900 km with external tanks |
| Primary armament: | 125mm smoothbore gun |
| Rate of fire: | 6–8 rounds/min |
| Secondary armament: | One 7.62mm coaxial machine gun One 12.7mm air-defence machine gun |
| Fire control: | Laser rangefinder input, onboard computer, wind sensor |
| Radio: | Receive/transmit, telephone |
| Power plant: | 730 hp diesel engine |
| Transmission: | Mechanical, planetary |
| Track: | Metallic with RMSh, with rubber-tyred road wheels |
| Suspension: | Torsion bar |
| Fording depth: | 1.4 m unprepared 2.4 m with snorkel |
| Crew: | 3 |
Also known as the Type 88C, the Type 96 is the final development variant of China's second generation main battle tank (MBT), with certain performance approaching the standard of the third generation MBTs. It inherits features of the previous second generation MBT that China developed, including the Type 85 and Type 88 series.
Table of contents |
Variants
Type 85
Type 80 chassis plus welded turret prototype.
Type 85-I
Production version with heat sleeve for main gun.
Type 85-II
Adopted all solid-state electronics.
Type 85-IIA
Developed for Pakistan, same as Type 85-II but integrates Weston Simfire 2 training equipment.
Type 85-IIM
First version with the autoloading 125mm smoothbore gun. Exported to Pakistan.
Type 85-III
Prototype upengined to 1,000 hp diesel. New reactive armor installed.
Type 88B
Domestic version of the Type 85-III with a 105mm smoothbore gun in use with PLA.
Type 96 (Type 88C)
A Type 88B version with a 125mm smoothbore gun PLA
External links
- Type 96 Main Battle Tank – GlobalSecurity.org
- Type 96 Main Battle Tank – Chinese Defence Today
- Type 88C Main Battle Tank: A Photo Essay – China Defense.com
Categories: Main battle tanks | Modern tanks