Type 59 tank

Type 59
A Chinese Type 59 tank at the Beijing Military Museum
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	China
Service history
In service	1959 – present
Wars	Vietnam War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Sino-Vietnamese War
Production history
Manufacturer	First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory, Norinco
Produced	1958 – 1985
No. built	9,500
Specifications
Weight	36 tonnes (35 long tons; 40 short tons)
Length	6.04 metres (19.8 ft) (hull)
Width	3.27 metres (10.7 ft)
Height	2.59 metres (8 ft 6 in)
Crew	4
Armor	20 - 203 mm
Main armament	100 mm rifled gun
Secondary armament	2 x Type 59T 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, Type 54 12.7 mm air-defence machine gun
Engine	Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel 520 hp (390 kW)
Power/weight	14.44 hp/tonne
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	450 km, 600 km with external tanks
Speed	50 kilometres per hour (31 mph)

The Type 59 (Chinese: 59式; pinyin: Wǔ shí jiǔ shì; industrial designation: WZ-120) main battle tank is a Chinese-produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, the earliest model of the ubiquitous T-54/55 series. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963. Over 10,000 of the tanks were produced by the time production ended in 1980 with approximately 5,500 serving with the Chinese armed forces. The tank formed the backbone of the Chinese People's Liberation Army until the early 2000s (decade) with an estimated 5,000 of the later Type 59-I and Type 59-II variants in service in 2002.

The Type 59 was modified several times during its service. It was also the basis of several later Chinese tank designs including the Type 69 and Type 79 tanks.

Essentially the Type 59 is almost identical to the early production Soviet T-54As, however there are some key differences. The Type 59 was not originally fitted with the infrared searchlight or main gun stabilization of the T-54.

The Type 59 has a conventional post-war layout with the fighting compartment at the front, an engine compartment at the rear, and a cast dome-shaped gun turret in the centre of the hull. The hull is welded steel varying in thickness between 99 mm on the front lower glacis to 20 mm on the hull floor. The turret varies from 39–100 mm thick.

The driver sits in the front left of the hull, and is provided with a hatch immediately above his seat, which opens to the left. The driver has two pop-up vision blocks which give coverage ahead and slightly to the right when buttoned up. The commander sits in the turret along with the gunner and loader. The commander's hatch is on the turret left, with the gunner sitting forward and below him. The loader sits on the right of the turret and has a hatch above him. The turret has a non-rotating floor, which complicated the crew's operations.