- Yes
- No
- 10.3 without DTC10-125
- 10.7 with DTC10-125
- No (I have chosen “No” in the first question)
Background
Under the fierce confliction environment of India and Pakistan that there is a true need for high-end armor strength. In the 1980s, Pakistan realized that India would import the T-72, so it began to ask the China to assist in the development of a new type MBT to deal with the increasing threat. On October 1, 1988, Pakistan announced that it would manufacture a new MBT (MBT 2000 later) with the assistance of China, and the Heavy Industry company Taxila (HIT) would implement the plan. The project was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of National Defense on January 16, 1990, and a contract was signed with NORINCO in May 1990 to jointly develop a new third-generation main battle tank for the Pakistani Army.
At this time, China was on the way to the R&D its domestic third-generation MBT (ZTZ-99 later), then China transformed some of the R&D achievements obtained in the development process into some joint export projects, and BK1871 stood out, which is the predecessor of the Type 90-II MBT.
BK1871 → Type 90-II MBT → MBT-2000
Because Type 90-II was aimed for export market, it could boldly try different combination of the power pack from different countries, such as the German LSG-3000 gearbox + MTU MB871 engine, the French ESM500 gearbox + British CV12 Condor engine and other options. But later because of the intervention of the Batumi, west Europe power pack is not available. So the final choice is the Ukrainian 6TD-2 engine + double-sided planetary transmission combination. In 1996, The program was accepted by Pakistan and officially named to MBT-2000 in 2000. (Aka AL-KHALID)
MBT-2000 (Early)
The MBT-2000 was implemented in game already and it performs very well in its line-up.
But here we need to point out the version in game has FY-2 ERA, while the early stage of the MBT-2000 does not have any ERA mounted. This non-ERA version is this suggestion’s purpose.
Spoiler
The main difference between the Non-ERA version and ERA version is the weight difference and amor resistant ability.
According to Norinco brochure and HIT brochure, the Non-ERA version weight is 46 ton. While ERA version is 48 ton which is in game already.
46 ton with 1200hp engine means the HP/t ratio is 26.08, which is faster and close to M1 and Leopard 2A4.
Amor resistance
The Type 90-II MBT’s amor resistance is 450mm KE and 600mm CE, from this paper:
From the previous picture, the early MBT-2000 and Type 90-II looks much similar. So we could reasonably estimate the early MBT-2000’s armor is 450mm KE and 600mm CE.
Besides the weight and armor resistance, all other specifications are the same as MBT-2000 in game.
Performance in game:
From the previous paper we could see the armor of MBT-2000 with ERA version should have 450mm KE + 120mm KE from FY-2 ERA = 570mm KE totally.
While in game the MBT-2000 still has inaccurate armor resistance value, the hull resistance is around 520 mm KE. Remember Pakistan used MBT-2000 on par with its T-80UD fleet. It is impossible if MBT-2000 armor resistance is far below than T-80UD level (the same armor as T-80U, which is 620mm KE of hull).
So the answer could be Devs team decided to reduce its hull resistance then it could be kept in 10.7 to maintain the 10.7 line-up.
Now the MBT-2000 non-ERA version could be an option to replace the MBT-2000 in game, and the MBT-2000 in game needs to get armor fixed and raised its BR to 11.0 or even higher. The MBT-2000 in game could be part of a new 11.0 line-up which includes other potentials, such as premium VT-4 in the future.
Hopefully the MBT-2000 early in game could be a 10.3(without DTC10-125) or 10.7(with DTC10-125) MBT to reinforce the current 10.7 line-up. It has the best mobility before ZTZ99A in China Tech Tree.
Source:
[Development] MBT-2000: The Star of the East - News - War Thunder
坦克工业之星（上）MBT2000–VT4的前辈 - 哔哩哔哩 (bilibili.com)
Al-Khalid/VT-1 - Wikipedia