Type 62

Type 62
Chinese Type 62 light tank at the China People's Revolution Military Museum.
Type	Light tank
Place of origin	China
Service history
In service	1963 - 2013 (China)
Used by	See Operators
Wars	See Combat History
Production history
Manufacturer	674 Factory (Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd)
Produced	1963 - 1989
No. built	More than 1,499
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	21 tonnes
Length	7.9 m overall 5.6 m hull only
Width	2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Height	2.3 m
Crew	4
Armor	35 mm (max hull) 15 mm (min hull) 50 mm turret
Main armament	85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun (47 rounds)
Secondary armament	7.62 mm Type 59T coaxial medium machine gun 7.62 mm Type 59T bow mounted medium machine gun 2,000 7.62 machine gun rounds 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (1,250 rounds)
Engine	12150L-3 V-12 liquid-cooled diesel 430 hp (321 kW) at 1,800 rpm
Power/weight	20.5 hp/tonne (15.3 kW/tonne)
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	500 km (road)
Speed	60 km/h (37 mph) on road 35 km/h (22 mph) cross country

The Norinco Type 62 (Chinese: 62式; pinyin: Liù'èr shì) is a Chinese light tank developed in the early 1960s and is based on the Chinese Type 59 with a reduced main gun calibre, lighter armour and a smaller suite of electronics and other equipment to help reduce weight. The Type 62 is retired from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces, but is still in use with other nations. It had recently been upgraded to modern standards and to provide the PLA with a dedicated light tank. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ131.

When the Type 59 main battle tank was being developed it became apparent that because of high weight of the tank it would have difficulties operating in areas of southern China. These areas mostly consist of mountain ranges, hills, rice paddy fields, lakes and multiple rivers which many times are without a bridge or with bridges which couldn't withstand the weight of the Type 59 tank. Therefore, in the late 1950s the PLA Ground Force submitted requirements for a light tank which could be successfully deployed in the areas of southern China. The development of the Type 62 light tank began at Factory 674 (Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd) in 1958. Construction of the first Type 62 light tank prototype, Type 59-16, began in 1960 and ended in 1962. The tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963.

Based on experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War an update for Type 62 was designed, consisting 33 different improvements and was designated Type 62-I.

After an unsuccessful attempt at fitting the Type 62 light tank with the turret from the Type 63A amphibious light tank a new turret was designed and fitted on the Type 62. This new variant was designated Type 62G.

The Type 62 light tank was designed to be a downscaled Type 59 main battle tank, armed with a smaller 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun and with a much simpler gunner sight and thinner armour in order to reduce overall weight. As such it has a typical tank layout: steering compartment at the front, fighting compartment in the centre and the engine compartment in the back. Although the Type 62 light tank is similar to the Type 59 main battle tank in appearance, it has a smaller hull and turret. The Type 62 light tank was given a four-man crew configuration, with the driver seated on the left hand side of the front of the hull, the tank commander and gunner seated on the left side of the turret in a tandem formation and the loader on the right hand side of the rear of the turret. The driver's hatch is located on the left hand side of the front of the hull, directly in front of the turret. It has three periscope vision blocks which provide the driver with forward vision. The centre vision block may be removed and replaced with a low-light periscope with a 50 m vision range. The left hand side turret hatch also has a periscope vision block on top of it and is most probably used by the commander. There is another periscope vision block in the front of each turret hatch. Apart from his usual duty of reloading the gun after it has been fired by the gunner, the loader is also responsible for operating the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on the turret's roof.