In reality, China's MBT is known for its excellent protection - even a three-stage projectile with a penetration depth of more than 800 mm in reality will not be able to penetrate the frontal armor of the ZTZ99A (including all frontal frontal bomb surfaces, i.e., the upper head armor and turret armor). But in WT, there was a huge problem with the turret armor of the ZTZ99A - the area of the gun shield was hollow! That's right, this means that the member group is directly exposed to the outside environment, as if they were riding in a convertible! This is extremely bizarre - if this is the case, then ZTZ99A will not have the ability to defend collectively three times, which obviously does not correspond to reality. In WT, the T-80 BVM, weighing only 46 tons, had almost the best defense, so much so that when it was hit by the DM53 in the area of the turret close to the root of the turret, there was a high probability that it would not be able to penetrate it. Of course, a large part of the credit goes to the "fossil" reactive armor, but its 150 mm to 330 mm thick gun shield is also indispensable. It is not difficult to see that this ring of artillery shield armor wraps the main gun of the T-80BVM very tightly, so that the shells cannot easily pass through the gap in the middle and kill the crew. However, the ZTZ99A, which is 9 tons heavier than the T-80BVM, has the problem that the gun shield is randomly penetrated by the APDS fired by the machine gun - this is also very contrary to common sense. It has to be admitted that the canvas of the ZTZ99A covering the root of the gun is very reminiscent of the canvas used by the French on the rocking turret. However, it is not difficult to see from the video of PLA training that the ZTZ99A lifting the barrel is a canvas with obvious square regular deformation, and it is not difficult to see that behind this very confusing canvas is a part of the gun shield of ZTZ99A and follows the barrel. According to the leaks, the ZTZ99A's entire gun shield armor is extremely thick - an equivalent homogeneous steel armor with an average thickness of 550 mm (in fact, it uses a higher hardness armor), and it does not lose the protection of this area due to the reservation of the machine gun muzzle (very similar to the T-80BVM). Such a heavy artillery shield, together with additional air conditioning equipment, electronics and, most importantly, the "laser suppression system", which was not restored in the WT, could constitute the fact that the ZTZ99A is 9 tons heavier than the T-80BVM. It is worth mentioning that the sides of the 99A are not equipped with 80 mm of steel armor and layers of ERA like the T-80BVM, but only 60 mm of armor (at least in the game). The loss of this part of the weight also constitutes the thickness and weight of the ZTZ99A gun shield that should be strengthened. Some people may question: the ZTZ99A obviously looks larger than the T-80BVM, isn't it normal to increase in weight? In fact, Chinese tanks have inherited the consistent advantages of Russian tanks - not wasting tonnage. In WT, the modeling of the ZTZ99A was problematic - the vertical height of the lower armor was too large, which led to the entire chassis being raised. This makes the ZTZ99A look taller than many Western tanks, and the weak zone of the lower armor is inadvertently enlarged.Wish Gaijin will be aware of this problem as soon as possible and fix it.
Of course, when it comes to weight, many Western tanks in the game also suffer from this: the Challenger 2, M1A2 (TUSK), Leclerc AZUR, Leopard 2PSO side composite armor or ERA all have better resistance to armor-piercing shells in reality than in the game (which makes them immune to many medium-caliber APDS, such as 40mm or 57mm rapid-fire guns). In addition, although the game exaggerates the weak defensive area of the ZTZ99A's first armor, it is undeniable that this weak area is also real in reality. PLA is naturally aware of this, so it installed FY-5 ERA as an armor reinforcement on the first and lower armor parts of some ZTZ99A, and the coverage area is very large, almost the entire first weak area. Although the suspension of the ZTZ99A does not support the use of ERA on the sides, the ERA of the lower armor adds little weight to it. It is hoped that Gaijin will be able to add the "First Armor Protection Boost" to the game as a new modification of the ZTZ99A, so that the performance of the ZTZ99A in the game can keep up with the large forces of Tier VIII Marine Warfare. In this way, the ZTZ99A can enjoy a "one-time amulet" when facing enemy tank fire directly under the armor.
If you master both Chinese and English,you can translate the original for me.
Here it is: 从重量的角度讨论中国现代MBT防护（以及其他国家坦克）与现实不符的问题
现实中，中国的MBT是以防护优异著称的——即使是现实中穿深在800毫米以上的三期弹也根本无法击穿ZTZ99A的正面装甲（包括所有的正面迎弹面，即首上装甲和炮塔装甲）。但是在WT中，ZTZ99A的炮塔装甲存在巨大的问题——炮盾区域为空心的！没错，这意味着成员组直接暴露在外部环境中，就如同在坐敞篷车一样！这是极其诡异的——如果真是如此，那么ZTZ99A就不会拥有集体三防的能力，这显然与现实不符。在WT中，重量仅为46吨的T-80 BVM拥有几乎最好的防御能力，以致于当它被DM53命中炮塔上接近炮根的区域时，都有很大概率无法击穿。其中固然有很大一部分功劳归功于“化石”反应装甲，但是它150毫米到330毫米厚度的炮盾也是功不可没的。通过观察不难发现：这一圈炮盾装甲将T-80BVM的主炮包裹得十分严实，让炮弹无法从中间的缝隙轻易穿过并击杀乘员。而比T-80BVM重9吨的ZTZ99A却有着炮盾被机炮发射的APDS随意击穿的问题——这也十分反常识。不得不承认，ZTZ99A的蒙在炮根处的帆布很容易让人联想到法国人在摇摆炮塔上使用的帆布。但是，从PLA练兵的视频中ZTZ99A抬起炮管是帆布有明显的方形规则形变不难看出，这块极具迷惑性的帆布背后藏着的是ZTZ99A的炮盾的一部分并且随动于炮管。据爆料称，ZTZ99A的整块炮盾装甲极为厚重——平均厚度达到了550毫米的等效均质钢装甲（实际上采用的是更高硬度的装甲），并且并未因为机枪口的预留而丧失该区域的防护能力（十分类似于T-80BVM）。如此厚重的炮盾，加上额外的空调设备、电子设备以及最重要的但是并未在WT中得到还原的“激光压制系统”才可能构成ZTZ99A比T-80BVM重了9吨的事实。值得一提的是，99A侧面并未配备T-80BVM那样的80毫米钢装甲和层层ERA，而是只有60毫米的装甲（至少在游戏里是这样的）。这部分重量的损失也构成了ZTZ99A炮盾应当加强的厚度与重量。有人可能会质疑：ZTZ99A明明看上去比T-80BVM更大，重量增加难道不是正常现象吗？其实不然，中国的坦克继承了俄罗斯坦克一贯的优点——不浪费吨位。在WT中，ZTZ99A的建模是存在问题的——首下装甲竖直高度过大导致了整体的底盘都被抬高了。这使ZTZ99A看上去比许多西方的坦克还要高大，而且首下装甲的防护弱区还被无意间放大了。希望Gaijin能尽早意识到这一问题，并且修复它。
当然，关于重量，游戏中许多西方坦克也深受其害：挑战者2、M1A2（TUSK）、勒克莱尔AZUR、豹2PSO的侧面复合装甲或者ERA在现实中都有比在游戏里更好的抗穿甲弹能力（这能使它们免受许多中等口径APDS，例如40毫米或57毫米的速射机炮来自侧面的威胁）。还有就是虽然说游戏里夸大了ZTZ99A首下装甲的防御弱区，但是不可否认的是，这个弱区在现实中也是真实存在的。PLA自然也是意识到了这一点，于是就在某些ZTZ99A的首下装甲部位安装了FY-5 ERA作为装甲补强，而且覆盖面积非常大，几乎是整个首下弱区。尽管ZTZ99A的悬挂不支持其在侧面装备ERA，但是首下装甲的ERA对其重量增加可谓是微乎其微。希望Gaijin能够将“首下装甲防护提升”作为ZTZ99A的新改装件加入游戏，让游戏中的ZTZ99A的性能跟上VIII级陆战的大部队。这样，ZTZ99A在面对敌方坦克火力直射首下装甲之时，可以享受一次“一次性的护身符”。