- Yes
- No
History:
Spoiler
A Brief History of the Type 59 Tank:
New China had just been founded, and there was a lot of waste waiting to be rebuilt, and more importantly, China’s industrial base was very weak at that time, and it did not have the ability to develop and produce tanks at all. So proceeding from the reality of the situation, China decided to first buy tanks from the Soviet Union in order to meet the urgent needs of the troops. In particular, the outbreak of the Korean War accelerated the pace of China’s introduction of Soviet-made tanks. After the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance came into force in 1950, in November 1950, China purchased the first batch of equipment from the Soviet Union for 10 tank regiments, mainly T-34/85 medium tanks, followed by a small number of IS-2 heavy tanks and SU-122 self-propelled guns. In the period from 1951 to 1955, 47 tanks and self-propelled artillery regiments were purchased from the Soviet Union.
In November 1955, China received from the Soviet Union a prototype of the new T-54 medium tank and its modification, the T-54A. The T-54 was one of the most advanced medium tanks in the world at that time, and its successful introduction made the tank equipment technology level of the Chinese armored forces synchronize with the world for the first time. China decided to carry out imitation production on the basis of the T-54A. To this end, China asked the Soviet Union to provide a complete set of drawings and production processes for the T-54A medium tank, and in April 1956 began construction of the country’s first tank factory (Inner Mongolia No. 1 Machinery Factory, code: 617 Factory).
At the end of 1958, the first Chinese-made T-54A, assembled from Soviet parts, rolled off the assembly line. By 1959, Plant 617 was already able to produce T-54A medium tanks completely independently. On October 1, 1959, the first batch of 32 Chinese-made T-54As participated in the military parade for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which was also the first time that Chinese-made tanks were unveiled to the public. At the end of 1959, the Chinese-made T-54A was officially named the 1959 medium tank, referred to as: Type 59 tank, and the production plant developed the code: WZ120
The base version of the main character of the proposal: the Type 59-1 medium tank
In 1979, after the Sino-Vietnamese War, China decided to carry out the first round of improvements to the Type 59 medium tank in view of the backward fire control system and weak protection capability exposed in the operation of the Type 59 medium tank. In 1979, the improved design began, and the product code was WZ120A. After the improvement plan was approved, trial production and improved tactical and technical performance tests were put into operation. In 1984, the Type 59 Improved Medium Tank passed the type test and was officially finalized, named the “Type 59-1 Medium Tank”. The Type 59-1 medium tank is the first relatively concentrated improvement since China’s own production of the Type 59 medium tank, marking that China’s main battle tank has embarked on the road of combining research and reform. The improved Type 59-1 medium tank has a greater degree of improvement in the first hit rate, protection capability and mobility of the Type 59 tank than the Type 59 tank, and has accumulated experience for the continuous improvement of old armored equipment. The improvements are as follows:
- The tank artillery is equipped with a simple fire control system for automatic meter loading and a Type 73 laser rangefinder, which improves the first hit rate of the gun and shortens the aiming time.
- Equipped with parallel machine gun bullets and anti-aircraft machine gun bullet pressers. The parallel machine gun shells of the original 59 tank had to be manually pressed by the crew, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive.
- An 80-watt 6610 infrared headlight is installed in front of the left wing outside the car to improve the infrared illumination and improve the observation effect of night vision devices.
- The hydraulic power assist device of the control system is added to reduce the operation intensity of the driver.
- Add anti-slip crawlers. The improved 59-1 tank has an additional storage box behind the exhaust pipe on the left wing to store non-slip tracks, which can be added directly to the tracks when needed.
- Add a camouflage antenna to the non-command tank. The improved 59-1 tank had an additional camouflage antenna attached to the rear of the turret top deck of the non-command vehicle, making it difficult for the enemy to distinguish between a battle tank and a command tank.
- The safety door is changed to a three-point support type circular door that opens outward. The safety gate is the passage for the tank crews to hide and quickly leave the tank in an emergency such as being shot in a vehicle, and the tank soldiers call it an “escape door”. The safety door of the 59 tank had to open four handles and open inward, and the gun had to turn an angle to get out of the car, which was very inconvenient. It was improved to three handles and pushed outwards so that the crew could quickly drill out no matter what angle the gun was at.
- An air cylinder inflator is installed. The high-pressure air cylinder of the 59 tank ran out of gas after several uses, and it had to be dismantled and sent to the repair detachment for inflation during maintenance. And once the battery voltage is insufficient on the battlefield, and the high-pressure air cylinder is empty, the tank cannot move. The improved 59-1 tank is equipped with an inflatable joint on the connecting pipe of the high-pressure air cylinder, which can use the two-way barrel of the gun to inflate the air cylinder, and it can be inflated while firing the gun in combat.
- The engine oil pressure loss alarm is added. The 59 tank often had accidents caused by the rupture of the engine oil pipes and water pipes, which caused the engine to burn out. The improved 59-1 tank is equipped with oil pressure sensors, oil pressure indicators, alarms and indicator lights, etc., which will automatically alarm once the oil pipe bursts and other reasons cause pressure loss.
- Installed a motorcycle hour meter.
The above are the improvements of the Type 59-1 tank, and the engine and other equipment are the same as the original Type 59 tank.
Proposal protagonists:
The protagonist of this proposal was designed in the case of the rupture of relations between China and the Soviet Union, China was forced by the pressure of the Soviet T72 and T80 tanks to develop weapons that could penetrate both, but the performance of the experimental weapon needed to defend against the target, so the Chinese tank designers on the basis of the Type 59-1 tank on the hull and turret front of the composite armor to improve the defense power, the defense parameters are based on the T80U tank. The tank’s artillery and power systems have not changed, but Chinese designers have developed a 100mm rifled gun shell with the type APFSDS.
Introduce:
Spoiler
The tank’s main armament is a Type 59 100mm rifled gun with a reserve of 34 ammunition
The secondary armament is a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, with 500 and 3000 spare ammo, respectively
The shells that can be fired are:APFSDS,APDS,HEAT-FS,HE
APFSDS Model:AP-100-2 and Type 1959
The shell uses a semi-flammable charge with a muzzle velocity of 1480 m/s and can penetrate 150 mm/65° homogeneous steel armor plates at 2000 meters.
APDS,HEAT-FS,HE Same as Type 59 in the game
The engine model is 12150L 12V water-cooled diesel engine with a rated power of 382 kW and an engine speed of 2000 rpm
The transmission type is fixed shaft mechanical,Forward gear: 5th gear, reverse gear: 1st gear, and the steering gear is a two-stage planetary type.
Parameter:
Spoiler
Country of origin: China
Number of members: 4 people
Main armament: Type 59 100mm rifled gun
Spare ammunition: 34
Secondary armament: 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun
Spare ammo: 500
Secondary Armament: 7.62mm Coaxial Machine Gun
Spare ammo: 3000
Engine: 12150L
Engine type: 12V water-cooled diesel
Engine power rating: 382 kW
Engine speed: 2000 rpm
Transmission type: fixed shaft mechanical type
Forward/Reverse: 5/1
Steering device: two-stage planetary type
Rate of fire of the main gun: 7 rounds per min
Turret drive mode: electric/manual
Turret rotation range: 360°
Pitch angle: -5~+18°
Maximum pitch speed of the gun: 4.5°/s
Maximum turret rotation speed: 10°/sec
Stabilizer type: Vertical unidirectional stabilizer
Rangefinder type: Laser rangefinder
Fire control system: automatic meter-loading periscope micro-disturbance
Fuel reserve: 812 liters
Maximum road travel: 420~440 km
Gradeability: 58%
Roll Grade: 58%
Climbing vertical wall height: 0.8 meters
Wading depth (unprepared): 1.4 m
Width of the moat: 2.7 meters
Length (muzzle forward): 9.000 meters
Length (muzzle backward): 8.485 meters
Body length: 6.002 m
Vehicle width: 3.307 meters
Vehicle height: 2.750 m
Vehicle height (to the top of the turret): 2.400 m
Height of the line of fire: 1.738 meters
The height of the bottom of the car from the ground: 0.425 meters
Track width: 580 mm
Track length: 3.840 m
Track center distance: 2.640 m
Artillery shell information and data:
Spoiler
（AP-100-2)
(Type 1959）
calibre：100mm
Shell weight: 3.44kg
Shell length:472mm
Armour piercing part length: 424mm
Armour piercing part diameter: 36mm
Tungsten core shell length: 77mm
Tungsten core shell diameter: 24mm
Tungsten core shell weight: 1kg
Tungsten core shell material: Tungsten alloy
Initial velocity: 1435m/s
Photo:
Sources:
Spoiler
[59式中型坦克_百度百科 (baidu.com)](59式中型坦克_百度百科?
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Citations:
[1]中国第一坦克系列的发展——59式中型坦克型号演变和变型车[J].宁夏科技,2003(02):4-15.
[1]钟柏.中国100毫米、105毫米穿甲弹[J].军事展望，2001(09):26–27.
[1]吴哲仁.虎啸东方——中国59式到88式主战坦克的技术发展[J].国际展望,2004(14):24-31.