132 (1960) Qīngxíng tǎnkè. dropping everything that advance to get a tank too weak.

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caid’s suggestion #159


I want to suggest an interesting Chinese light tank, the 132 model 1960

initially called 132轻型坦克, it can be translated by 132 light tanks but read as 132 Qīngxíng tǎnkè. in 1960 China reformed their naming system and many sources called it the WZ132

the history of the 132 light tank started back in 1958 when China ordered the development of a new “modern” light tank. the concept was initially to create a tank weighing 16 for the southern region of China. a downscaled version of Type 59. The first concept has been the 59-16 which might have been built but the information is making. a second concept which was officially named 131 light tank was built in 1959, this tank had issues with the engine which was too strong and the 85mm autoloader. it was followed by a refined design which was called the 132.
initially designed with an auto-loader and rangefinder, hydraulic transmission, and hydropneumatic suspension those features were dropped on the way due to technical issues. some been issue during the testing on the 131 light tanks, and others have been production issues. finally, the tank was designed much simpler with mechanical transmission and suspension, and a cast turret sometimes with a coincidence rangefinder and a vertical stabilizer. otherwise just a simple rudimentary tank. still, the tank offered decent mobility performance. the main issue was the armament which was a 76mm based on the Type 54 gun which was in turn a Chinese copy of the Soviet Zis-3 or based on the D-56T. it is unclear what was the exact gun name, some state it be the 60式76坦克炮 or 60-76T坦克炮 which could both translate as the Type 60 76mm tank gun. built by Factory 674 the tank was tested in Changxindian Tank School in Beijing. the tank featured a downgraded version of the Type 58’s engine which was reduced to 414 hp. the tank performed so well a production of 28 additional tanks were ordered for the National Parade of 1960. it was the same year the 132 light tank started his endurance test. the purpose was to test the reliability of the mechanic. the tank shows a few issues on that matter but nothing out of the ordinary. the autoloader were dropped at the same time as the gun couldn’t fire normally. The parade was finally cancelled and the 132 project was finally reformed. notably on the firepower. the 76mm was just too weak and the ammunition was hard to supply. with the withdrawal of the Type 54 and Zis-3 guns from the services, there was not going to be any more ammunition produced. ultimately the 132 were used as training vehicles and not tanks in full military service. the adoption of the Type 62 light tank which was a further refined tank based on the 132. Type 62 was more basic, cheaper and more effective than the 132. at the end, most 132 were used to study the effect of the nuclear detonation on tanks.

this suggestion will focus on the version of 1960. as this version has significant changes from 1959 it is worth considering it as 2 different tanks. here is a list of change

  1. Abandon of the Autoloader
  2. abandon the range-finder
  3. enlarged turret to accommodate 3 men
  4. new taller cupola (which is a weak in-game)
  5. “Assumly” the gun’s breech turns back up (it was turned with the opening down for the autoloader)
  6. no hydraulic power for the turret.

Firepower

while the gun might seem impressive. it is not as good as it looks. it’s mostly due to the proportion of the tank which makes the gun look so high. the gun is called 60式76毫米坦克炮 and was designed by Factory 247. at the time it was regarded as a success. the gun was not completely finalized before 1962 and was the first domestic design made by China. this gun happens to be rather weak, which is one of the reasons they finally decided to go with the 85mm. the performance of the gun is unknown. The gun is either a derivative of the Soviet D-56TS or the Chinese Type 54 (which is a Chinese copy of the Zis-3). both guns have relatively the same performance. one of the features that led to the cancellation of this gun was the incapacity to have modern ammunition or to produce it. it could mean the BK-354M HEAT-FS was not available. the elevation of the gun is unknown, but the -4 to + 22 of the 211 amphibious tank sounds like a good guess to me. the turret features no power drive. The rotation would be around 10°/sec. the ammunition carried is unknown. The model 1959 had 26 rounds due to the autoloader which was cancelled, this one should carry much more since the turret was enlarged and the autoloader was before it was produced.it probably carried around 40 rounds. for additional firepower, a 12.7mm Type 54 is mounted on the turret which will give the tank some welcome extra firepower against the aircraft and light tanks.

Mobility
the tank’s weight of the model of 1959 is unknown. Thanks to the bad archiving of the time, it might be never known. but the model of 1973 is known to be 22.5 tonnes with a heavier and more powerful 100mm gun. the model of 1959 was controlled at a weight somewhere between 18 and 20 tonnes. for some reason the weight is vague, since this version had a larger turret, I would go with 20 tonnes. the engine is a 12150L一7 providing 309 kw or 414 hp. this is enough to power the tank to a speed of up to 65 km/h. it is to assume the transmission and gearbox are already the same as the Type 62.

Protection
the tank is a precursor/prototype of the Type 62. As such, it is almost certain it had the same armour level. this gives the tank a pretty decent protection level for a light tank. capable of taking a hit of some weaker gun, it allows it to have a versatile role and act as a medium tank if the situation allows it. this version should fall in a BR significantly lower than the Type 62 due to the weak armament. it allows us to assume it will face early 75mm with medium velocity. tank such as the T-34-76 and M4 medium tank would not always be capable of penetrating it in every situation. The chassis has 35mm of armour well sloped which makes it capable of taking a direct hit. the turret has approximately 50mm which is also fairly thick. The low profile cupola makes it have less weakness. The advantage stops there as the crew is okay with 4 men for this specific version and the side armour is only 25mm.

Sources

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WZ132 is the much later, unrelated 100mm-armed one though, right?
WZ-132

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i believe it’s the same chassis. which makes it related. but still, the designation came later after a reform of the Chinese naming system in September 1960. so technically it’s not wrong to call the model 1960 as WZ132, but it was not produced under this name.

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4

So… worse than the 1959 in every regard? Sure, why not. +1

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5

well, it has a larger crew, a roof-heavy machine-gun but no range finder. but when you got so low penetration and a not-so-good velocity, the rangefinder is not that useful.

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I suppose, but I’d rather have it than not.

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it cost nothing to have it, and in some situation when you see a fairly lightly armour vehicles you might want to hit it from the first time

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turn out, after getting information in the topic about the 132 (1959) that the ammunition was probably a fair bit more potent. it could hope to fight a Tiger or a Panther. which means the rangefinder might be useful.

it is not 100% certain but the most reliable details we could find and the use of known information about the ammunition allow me to believe it is comparable in performance to the 76mm M1 used in tanks such as the Sherman and the M18.at least for the M62 rounds.

i just updated the information bout the ballistic performance.

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