While the Chinese Navy has been flexing its stealth ships and floating airports, the ground forces haven’t been slacking either. Case in point: the ZTZ-99A main battle tank. Think of it as China’s answer to the Abrams—if the Abrams spent its weekends in a high-tech upgrade montage.
The ZTZ-99A (a.k.a. Type 99A2) is a souped-up evolution of the original ZTZ-99 from 2001, now packing a 1,500-horsepower turbo diesel engine and a top speed of 76 km/h (47 mph). That’s brisk for a 55-ton hunk of angry metal. It’s armed with a 125mm smoothbore cannon that can fire everything from standard tank rounds to laser-guided missiles.
It also features explosive reactive armor, laser warning systems, thermal imaging, and hunter-killer fire control—so yes, it sees you before you see it. It’s even got soft-kill defenses that confuse incoming threats, which is tank-speak for Jedi mind tricks.
Crew of three, 600+ km (370+ miles) range, and enough firepower to make most things stop being problems—this beast isn’t just rolling around for show. The ZTZ-99A is China’s tip of the spear, and it’s not here to mess around.
Images: Norinco [CH]/Army Recognition.
Story via Army Recognition.
