Tango01 | 29 Jul 2014 11:05 p.m. PST |
"According to a Chinese military blog, Chinese army could launch the development of new main battle tank (MBT) using stealth technologies. It could be the fourth generation of Chinese MBT incorporates various domestic and western technologies. China has now the ability to develop a tank that rivals the western designs in speed, electronics, fire power and armour. According to our first analysis of drawing published on Internet, the rear side of the turret could be equipped with carousel automatic loader to increase the rate of fire and reduce the crew from 4 to 3 soldiers. The overall layout of the new Chinese stealth main battle tank (MBT) is similar to the M1 Abrams with the driver's compartment at the front, two-man turret in the centre and engine and transmission at the rear…"
Full article here link Amicalement Armand |
GarrisonMiniatures | 30 Jul 2014 2:58 a.m. PST |
Seem to use the word 'could' a lot. |
Tony58 | 30 Jul 2014 3:06 a.m. PST |
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Milites | 30 Jul 2014 3:32 a.m. PST |
Wow, China can now design a tank the US have had for over 20 years. I guess the auto-loader is to combat the effects of the one-child policy. |
rvandusen | 30 Jul 2014 5:24 a.m. PST |
Khurasan should make a 15mm Grav version. |
Legion 4 | 30 Jul 2014 8:11 a.m. PST |
What ?!?! I don't see anything in the pictures ?!??!? |
javelin98 | 30 Jul 2014 8:43 a.m. PST |
That giant red star doesn't seem too stealthy. Might as well paint a bulls-eye on it. |
Murphy | 30 Jul 2014 8:58 a.m. PST |
Yeah…super stealthy…until the engine turns on and it starts rolling on those tracks…. |
Lion in the Stars | 30 Jul 2014 10:52 a.m. PST |
Looks an awful lot like the MBT-70!
Sounds a lot like the MBT-70 design brief, too. Autoloader, exotic gun/Missile launcher, reduced crew… I'm not sure how many antitank weapons are radar-guided. |
Tango01 | 30 Jul 2014 11:19 a.m. PST |
I also like the cammo! (smile). Amicalement Armand |
Legion 4 | 30 Jul 2014 11:54 a.m. PST |
Yeah, reminded me of the MBT-70 too … I had the 1/48 scale Aurora model in my youth … |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 30 Jul 2014 12:12 p.m. PST |
How useful is 'stealth' for a tank? The Poles announced theirs earlier this year TMP link but no other nations have been developing 'stealth' for AFV's that I'm aware of. |
boy wundyr x | 30 Jul 2014 12:43 p.m. PST |
It's stealthy if it's never actually built and just exists as a photo on the internet – no one will ever be able to see it in the field! And…how effective have autoloaders turned out to be? Particularly when your past experience is with the T series. |
Cold Steel | 30 Jul 2014 2:14 p.m. PST |
So the Chinese have finally stolen enough technology to build a tank as great as a 50 year old American failure. Is that supposed to impress us or make us laugh? |
Milites | 30 Jul 2014 2:25 p.m. PST |
The Leclerc has an auto-loader. Yes CS, I should have said, the Chinese can now build a tank the US rejected 50 years ago! |
Deadone | 30 Jul 2014 4:50 p.m. PST |
Autoloader, exotic gun/Missile launcher, reduced crew… How is this American MBT70 specific? The Russians have done this since 1960s with T-64/-70/80/90 series. In fact they're defining features of Russian tank design paradigm. I suspect Chinese are far more influenced by Soviet/Russian experiences here than American ones. And the last 2 Chinese tanks have all had 3 man crew, autoloader and 125mm ATGM capable gun (Type 96 and Type 98/99). And the 125mm ATGM capable gun and autoloader is based on Soviet designs and fires Russian designed AT-11. Interestingly enough the Chinese have gone for a two tier system like Soviets did with T-62/64 and T-72/80. On the upside for the US, performance will probably be closer to a T-80/-90 or upgraded T-72 than an M1A2. :P |
javelin98 | 30 Jul 2014 4:56 p.m. PST |
I'm not sure how many antitank weapons are radar-guided. Not many, considering the ease with which any modern air force can deploy HARM missiles. Lighting off a radar would be about as unstealthy as wrapping the entire tank in neon lights and cowbells. |
Deadone | 30 Jul 2014 8:43 p.m. PST |
Whoops that was meant to be T-72 not T-70. |
kabrank | 31 Jul 2014 6:47 a.m. PST |
Javelin98 Some SADARM type bomblets used their own microwave radar to identify a target whilst in the parachute phase. |
Legion 4 | 31 Jul 2014 7:38 a.m. PST |
We said it looked like an MBT-70, Thomas … chill out … |
Fred Cartwright | 31 Jul 2014 10:00 a.m. PST |
I would have said it looks more like the Russian Black Eagle. link |
Lion in the Stars | 31 Jul 2014 1:00 p.m. PST |
@Fred: to me, it looks like an MBT70 turret on a Russian hull. As far as radar stealth goes, I'm not sure there's an achievable way to stealth something against millimeter-wave radar. I mean, MMWR is just below far infrared thermal imagers in terms of wavelengths, so you're talking behavior more like light or heat than radar. |