- Yes
- No
on ZTZ99 Family
APS Family Background
Spoiler
The Chinese APS systems on the ZTZ99 family are a soft kill laser family of countermeasures, this kind of APS is a relatively new and different device that acts as a protection measure against any weapon that uses TV/Laser beams to target the tank; it works by firing a laser at the threat and consequently blinds it. There are some reports about its effectiveness and there have been studies by the PLA university that evaluate the characteristics of these so called “High-Repetition-Lasers”.
A New In-game Mechanic
Spoiler
The addition of this APS system would definitely be a new mechanic in the game for a bunch of already existing platforms. In fact, not only the most modern iteration, the ZTZ99A, uses this kind of APS (GJB 7223-2011), but we can also find earlier models on the ZTZ99II and ZTZ99III tanks (these ones should be named YG-A and YG-B). There’s also a top structure present on the WZ1001 (LCT) MBT that quite closely resembles the one present on the 99II/III.
Spoiler
ZTZ99A
WZ1001(LCT)
ZTZ99II
ZTZ99III
As it can be seen from the photos above, Gaijin decided to “define” these systems as “optics” for the 11.7 Chinese MBTs and avoided giving any sort of definition/model to the 10.7 Chinese MBTs.
This mechanic could work in different ways in War Thunder and would bring a unique style to the higher echelons of the Chinese tech tree. The way that i would implement it is to have a APS (VT-4A1/Blacknight/Merkava like) but define it as “soft” (Similarly to the Shtora, but fundamentally different) kill APS since it doesn’t use any ammunition to stop the incoming threats. The GJB 7223-2011, YG-A and YG-B would be pointed towards the thread and blind it. The effectiveness, range and all the other characteristics can be found in the lower section where I’ll post the PLA requirements for the weapons themselves. For balance reasons this could be tuned, but it surely would feel nice to have it at least added.
An important aspect around which we could balance this mechanic is the figure of the Commander, as he’s the main operator of this system, meaning a potentially unconscious commander would disable the APS.
On a sidenote, this system can also be used offensively with a Device-to-Main gun connection that automatically points the APS where the gunner is looking. This could effectively blind the enemy gunner and act as a suppression system (for balancing reasons this function could probably be avoided or finely tuned to avoid being too oppressive [some sort of film grain effect or light white screen etc…], regardless of the real life effectiveness of it).
Probable In Game Statistics
Spoiler
GJB 7223-2011
Operating distance:
- Under visibility of 10-20km
1 - Eye damage for ground combatants without coating protection: 6km (infantry)
2 - Eye damage for air combatants without coating protection: 8km (helicopter）
3 - Interference suppression distance: 5km (for typical optoelectronic devices such as laser rangefinder, thermal imaging, low light night vision, CCD, laser alarms, etc…）
4 - Interference distance to air targets:11km
5 - Interference distance to ground targets: Consistent with the range of the main gun.
Action angle：
-
Horizontal: 360°.
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Vertical: Follow the main aiming field of view (commander or Gunner).
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reaction rate:0-180° required time: 2s (90°/s)
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System response time: 1.5s
YG-A and YG-B
Sources
