Type 88 tank (China)

Type 80
Type 80 with 105mm rifled gun
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	People's Republic of China
Service history
In service	1980 – 2005 (China)
Used by	See Operators
Production history
Designed	1981 – 1987
Manufacturer	First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory
Variants	Type 80/80-II Type 85/85-I/85-II/IIA/IIM/AP Type 88A/B/C
Specifications
Weight	38-39.5 tonnes
Length	6.325 m (10.369m gun forward for Type 85-III)
Width	3.372 m
Height	2.29 m
Crew	4 (3 in Type 85-IIA/Type 88C)
Armor	Type 80: Cast Steel Turret Type 85II/Type 88: Welded Steel/Composite Armor Turret. May be fitted with Explosive Reactive Armor
Main armament	Type 80/85: 105mm Type 83 or 83-I rifled gun Type 85IIA/Type 88C: 125mm smoothbore gun
Secondary armament	7.62 mm coaxial machine gun 12.7 mm air-defence machine gun
Engine	12150L-7BV diesel 730 hp (544 kW)
Power/weight	18.5-19 hp/tonne
Transmission	Mechanical, planetary
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	430 km, 600 km with external fuel
Speed	57.25 km/h

Type 80: Cast Steel Turret

Type 80/85: 105mm Type 83 or 83-I rifled gun

The Type 80 (Chinese: 80式; pinyin: Bālíng Shì) and the Type 88 (Chinese: 88式; pinyin: Bābā shì) are a family of Chinese second-generation main battle tanks (MBTs). They are also known as the ZTZ80 and ZTZ88.

In the early 1980s China's primary MBT in service was the aging Type 59 which was obsolete compared to the Soviet T-62, T-64 and T-72 and other Western designs. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) thus requested new tanks that could match Russian designs, which led to the development of the Type 69 tank that incorporated some technologies from a captured Soviet T-62 tank. However the Type 69 failed to satisfy PLA requirements and was only an export success that saw limited domestic service.

Further tank development commenced which led to the WZ122, Type 80 and Type 90 prototypes. The Type 80 began development in 1980 under 617 Factory along with 201 Institute, 447 Factory, and 616 Factory. The only variant that went into PLA service was the Type 88 in the late 1980s. The Type 88 was further developed into the Type 96 in the 1990s.

The Type 80 inherited the design philosophy of the Type 69/79 which combined a Soviet style chassis and turret with Western technology. Like the Type 69 series, the initial Type 80 design possessed a hemispherical bowl-shaped turret similar to the T-54/55. Another similarity was that the driver sat in the left forward section of the hull. However, the Type 80 used a local copy of the NATO 105mm rifled gun instead of the Soviet 100mm rifled gun. It was also the first Chinese design to be observed using a system of six road wheels and three support rollers. The first Chinese tanks to incorporate applique composite armor were later variants of the Type 80 family.