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TL;DR: A Type 69 with a lightweight 125mm cannon.
History:
After the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship in 1950, the Soviet Union pledged to assist China in building a tank manufacturing facility for the purpose of producing the Soviet T-54A in China. To get them started, the Soviet Union would supply them with the necessary parts, however, as time went on, these parts would be replaced by Chinese produced equivalents. These Chinese produced T-54As would enter Chinese service in 1959 under the designation of Type 59. After the Sino-Soviet Split, the Soviet Union withdrew all technical support for the Chinese arms industry, causing tank development to stagnate. This was until the 1969 Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, during which the PLA managed to capture a Soviet T-62. The vehicle was studied extensively and the knowledge and technologies gained were used to improve the fast depreciating Type 59s. These upgrades would turn the Type 59 into the Type 69, which would be upgraded into the Type 69-IIA and accepted into service in 1982, however, the PLA found the vehicle to be unsatisfactory, leading to it being replaced by the Type 79 in 1984, with the Type 69 and its variants being repurposed for export. By 1999, the Type 69 series was incredibly outdated and more modern vehicles were becoming more widely available on the export market. If China wanted to continue to export the Type 69, they’d have to make it more appealing to customers. One of the proposed solutions was simply to mount a lightweight 125mm cannon into a largely unmodified turret. On top of being lightweight, the 125mm cannon sported a porous muzzle break to optimize recoil reduction. It also received an upgraded fire control system to accurately guide the cannon, however, due to the limited size of the turret, an autoloading system was not an option, although an assisted loading mechanism did fit, allowing for a fire rate of 4-6 rounds per minute. 30 rounds could be carried at once and the cannon could depress -5 degrees. The upgrade was also offered for the Type 59, however, there does not seem to be any photographic evidence of a Type 59 with the 125mm lightweight cannon. Unfortunately, the upgrade did not attract any attention from the export market.
Place In War Thunder:
When it comes to strange one-off prototypes and failed export attempts, China stands at the top with the Big Three. They really try everything they can just to make a quick buck off their aging tech. The Type 69-IIA (125) is one such vehicle. It really is just a Type 69-IIA with a 125mm cannon forced into it. It would make for a very interesting event or premium vehicle. Playstyle would be relatively simple. Your armor is terrible, so you’d want to stay away from direct confrontation. Luckily, your cannon has quite the high velocity, making sniping a breeze, especially with a laser rangefinder. You’d want to make sure nothing can shoot back at you, however, as your reload can be as long as 15 seconds.
Specifications:
Armament: 125mm lightweight smoothbore cannon , 1x 7.62mm SGMT MG, and 1x 12.7mm DShK HMG
Dimensions: 6.24m, 3.30m, 2.80m (L,W,H)
Weight: 36800kg
Armor: Same as Type 69 in-game
Crew: 4
Ammunition: APFSDS, HEATFS, HE (Can fire both Chinese and Russian ammunition)
Speed: 50kph
Horsepower: 580hp
Picture:
Top View:
Sources:
Type 69 and Type 79 Chinese PLA Main Battle Tanks (1974)