ZTZ98/99 History

The development of a successor to the PLA’s obsolete Type 59 was put on a halt in the early 1970s following the cancellation of the unsuccessful Type 122 medium tank development programme. In February 1977, the PLA resumed the development of the new generation tank as a counter to the Soviet T-72, which was being fielded by the Soviet Army in the Far Eastern region. The PLA and the defence industry held a meeting in April 1978 to discuss the operational requirements. The meeting led to the decision to develop a 120mm gun-armed main battle tank (MBT) based on the German Leopard 2, with the Soviet Union T-72 being the intended target.

617 Factory (now Inner-Mongolia First Machinery Group Co., Ltd, FIRMACO) in Baotou, Inner Mongolia and 201 Institute (China North Vehicle Research Institute, NEVORI) in Beijing introduced a design concept prototype codenamed 1224 in March 1979. The tank featured a 120mm smoothbore gun, a hydro-mechanical transmission, torture bar suspension, and a German-made MB8V331tc41 diesel engine. The vehicle was mainly used to test the chassis and powerplant. Later an additional two concept prototypes 1226 and 1126F2 featuring Chinese-made 1,000hp diesel and gear box, torture bar suspension with hydraulic shock absorbers, and turret bustle were built and tested. All three prototypes had features borrowed from the Leopard 2.

ZTZ98 prototype in field test (Chinese Internet)

However, the development of the new-generation 120mm gun-armed MBT faced numerous technical difficulties. Due to the slow progress in the development programme, the PLA decided in 1981 to choose the Type 80 MBT, a Type 59/69 derivation armed with a Western 105mm rifled gun and British fire-control system, as its second-generation MBT. The 120mm gun-armed MBT was to be realised in the future third-generation MBT programme instead.

Following the initial setback, the design team of the third-generation MBT soon split into two sides. One side supported a Soviet-style design based on the T-72, with a 125mm smoothbore gun and an autoloader. The other side of the argument supported a much more radical design featuring Merkava-style front-mounted engine, 120mm smoothbore gun, and high-power gas turbine or diesel engine. The PLA was in favour of the T-72-copy proposal partially due to its lower development risk and costs, and also partially due to the T-72’s association to older Soviet tanks such as T-54/55, which the PLA was still operating in the local production variant Type 59. China obtained few examples of the T-72 from the Middle East in the early 1980s, and they were used for analysis to help develop China’s own MBT.

The third-generation MBT programme entered engineering development phase in the mid-1980s with Zhu Yusheng appointed as the chief designer. China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO), the parent company of 201 Institute and 617 Factory, was officially awarded the contract for the first phase of the third-generation MBT development in Spring 1989. An early prototype was built and tested in 1990. After some further evaluation, operational requirements for the third-generation MBT was increased from 40 items to 70 items. Four revised prototypes were produced by 617 Factory in 1992. In 1993, the PLA demanded that the MBT’s front armour protection should be increased from 600mm to 700mm.

ZTZ98 in 1999 National Day military parade (Chinese Internet)

From 1994, few prototypes received extensive tests in various road and terrain conditions. Test results showed that the tank had met the operational requirements and was ready for design finalisation tests. In December 1996, a small number of the production prototype variant MBTs were handed over to the PLA for test and evaluation. In late 1996, four prototypes were sent to Heilongjiang Province in Northern China to test their performance under extreme low temperature conditions. The tests covered a total distance of 6,900km. In late 1997, four prototypes were tested again in Heilongjiang Province, covering a total travelling distance of 20,000km and firing over 200 rounds. The tests for design finalisation was completed in late 1998 and the tank was officially designated ZTZ98 (Type 98). A small number of the Type 98 was produced to participate the national day parade held in Beijing on 1 October 1999 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

The Type 98 did not enter operational service with the PLA. A further improved variant featuring an arrow-shaped front add-on armour modules, explosive reaction armour, improved thermal imager, and a more powerful 1,500hp diesel engine was developed in 1999. This variant was designated ZTZ99 (Type 99), with the first batch of 40 examples delivered to the PLA in late 2001.

Last update: 20 February 2009