Armor
The Chinese Type 98 MBT: A New Beast
from the East
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The Chinese Type 98 Main Battle Tank:
A New Beast from the East
by Jim Warford
Finally, the Type 98's turret is fitted with six lifting "eyes;" four on the turret front (two on either side of the main gun) and two on the turret roof (one on either side of the main gun), just inside the welding seams on the flat part of the turret. While it's clear that these lifting eyes are not intended for lifting the entire turret, their purpose is still the subject of speculation. If they were used solely for the initial installation or attachment of the frontal armor arrays to the rest of the turret, it would be unnecessary to keep them fitted to the tanks after they left the factory. In fact, all 18 Type 98s that participated in the parade were fitted with the lifting eyes.
All of this information concerning this new tank's turret seems to point to a very interesting possibility: that the lifting eyes may be intended to facilitate the removal, upgrade and/or modernization, and sub-sequent replacement of both turret frontal armor arrays. The triangular arrangement of the lifting eyes does generally support the use of a "T-shaped" lifting "sling" that would certainly be available in a variety of maintenance organizations. If true, this would mean that the Type 98's turret frontal armor could be completely changed on an as-needed basis. Like the Cold War "shell game" established by the evolution of Soviet/Russian tank turret armor, perhaps the Type 98 and the potential of its turret armor has ushered in a shell game all its own.
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| Chinese Type 98 MBTs on the parade in Beijing in October, 1999. Note the new hull skirts, rubber padded tracks, and the raised turret roof. |
The production status of the Type 98 is still unclear. The group of Type 98s that participated in the Beijing parade may be prototypes. But unlike the infamous PLA tanks photographed crushing a historic rebellion in Beijing, the tanks that re-turned to Tianenmen Square for the 1999 parade provide a clear glimpse of both the present and the future of Chinese MBT development.
Like the majority of potential threat military forces around the world, the PLA is modernizing at a significant pace. So fast, in fact, that many of the new weapons systems that remain on the drawing boards throughout the West are at risk of being surpassed by our potential opponents.
As the U.S. Army turns its focus inward and reconsiders the design of its own armored force, it could be a costly mistake to underestimate the heavy threat represented by tanks like the Chinese Type 98 - the Beast from the East.
Copyright © 2000-2001 Jim Warford
All rights reserved.
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