Type 62 Light Tank

     Notes: The Type 62 is a scaled-down Type 59 tank, with a bit smaller body, reduced-caliber main gun, and thinner armor, in order to reduce weight. The object was to produce a tank that is more agile in areas of China like the mountainous southwest, like Tibet, and southern China with its rice paddies, lakes, ponds, and rivers and streams. The prototypes were developed from 1960-62, and the vehicle entered service in 1963. The vehicle is armed with an 85mm Type 62-85TC main gun, with Type 59T (PKT) machineguns at the coaxial position and bow, and a Type 54 (DShK) 12.7mm machinegun at the commander’s hatch.  The 85mm main gun is the same as mounted on the Type 63 Amphibious Light Tank below. The commander is on the left side of the main gun with an overhead cupola; the gunner is on the left side of the gun, and the loader on the right rear of the turret. The driver is on the front center offset to the left; he has three vision blocks to the front and sides, and the front block may be removed and replaced with a night vision block which slightly amplifies night vision through optics, allowing the driver to see to a range of 50 meters.  The gunner’s sights have been dumbed-down and are rather primitive, and the gun installation has poor accuracy, with only a very limited facility for fire on the move. Fire control equipment is likewise lacking in capability. Elevation maximum is +20, while depression is -4 degrees.

     The suspension is also lightened, with small roadwheels of aluminum. The Type 59’s original engine was made into a smaller version called the 12150L-3 powered down to 430 horsepower. The Type 62 can cross over 0.8 meters high, 2.85-meter trenches, and 30-degree side slopes.  The Type 62 can ford 1.4 meters deep without preparation, or 5 meters with a snorkel. The turret is noted to have a large bulge at the right roof, which is a forced air blower, as the main gun has an inadequate fume extractor. There are lugs for stowage boxes or external fuel tanks on the rear fenders, four on the right and three on the left. The Type 62 may lay a thick, oily smoke screen by injecting diesel fuel into its exhaust, but has no smoke grenade launchers.

     The Type 62-I upgrade was based on combat use in the Sino-Vietnamese War. The upgrade adds a laser rangefinder, side skirts, and a forward AV2 gun shield for the Type 54 gun on the roof. An external stowage rack for crew equipment is added to the turret sides and rear, and this also adds additional protection to the turret armor. The Type 70 is a Type 62-I with single-axis gun stabilization and improved sights, and without the gun shield for the Type 54 machinegun.

     The Type 62G has an improved armor layout with applique and Kevlar antispalling liners for the interior. The original round turret is replaced with a new flat-plate welded turret that also has an increase in armor. This turret has four smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret. The main gun is now a copy of the British L7 105mm gun with a fume extractor, and which has one-plane stabilization and a laser rangefinder with a ballistic computer.  The Type 62G is equipped with night vision gear and sights.

Type 63 Light Tank

     Notes: In the mid-1950s, China received a few PT-76 light amphibious tanks from the Soviet Union for test and evaluation purposes.  While the PLA felt the design had some merit, they also felt that a good deal of improvements could be made to the PT-76 before accepting into service.  The first such attempt resulted in the Type 60, but this design was unsuccessful and a more comprehensive redesign was undertaken.  This resulted in the Type 63, accepted into service in April 1963.

     The design of the Type 63 is largely conventional, with the driver in the front left, commander and gunner in tandem on the turret left, and the loader at the turret rear on the right, with the engine in the rear of the vehicle and the turret in the center. The Type 63 has a flat, boat-like hull, with a nearly-horizontal glacis plate and a high-gradient bow.  The sides are slightly bulged in the center.  The turret looks like that of the Type 62, but is actually modified from the prototypical Type 60. The turret armament is an 85mm Type 62-85TC gun, the same as on the Type 62 light tank above, with a Type 59T coaxial machinegun and a Type 54 heavy machinegun on the roof, manned by the loader. Like on the basic Type 62 light tank, the main gun has poor accuracy and virtually no stabilization. The Type 63 uses the Soviet-style Christie suspension. The driver has a special night vision front vision block like that of the Type 62 above, but no true night vision devices are installed. Armor is of welded steel, with a cast turret; the Type 63 has no side skirts and the roadwheels are easily damaged. The overall armor is poor, giving protection primarily against small arms fire and shell fragments, though frontal armor can protect against heavy machineguns to an extent.  The Type 63 is powered by a 6-cylinder 4-stroke inline diesel engine developing 241 horsepower, making it somewhat underpowered, and using a manual transmission. Amphibious operation requires switching on the bilge pumps, erecting the trim vane, and the replacement of the driver’s front vision block by a special periscopic vision block that allows the driver to see over the trim vane.  This preparation takes six minutes. The Type 63 is propelled in water by a pair of water jets as well as by track movement. The Type 63 can swim in wetlands and rice paddies and also seas with high Sea States.

     The updated Type 63-I has its engine replaced with a 12150-L2 diesel developing 402 horsepower.  The increase in performance is dramatic. The Type 63-II is the Type 63-I equipped with night vision equipment and a laser rangefinder for the turret armament.  The laser rangefinder is the same as on the Type 59-I MBT.  The Type 63-II upgrades were made in the early 1970s. 

     The Type 63HG (stands for “Sea Modification” in Chinese) was designed to increase swimming capability.  There is a rounded bow extension which increases swimming stability and has incidental armor value. The main gun is also replaced by the 105mm Type 83.  The main gun is too powerful to allow it to be fired while swimming.

     The Type 63A is a greatly-upgraded Type 63-II.  It has a new engine developing 581 horsepower, and this in addition to a modified bow profile enables a much higher swimming speed. This is further enhanced by additional floatation modules at the front and rear of the vehicle. The main gun is a low-pressure version of the 105mm Type 83 called the Type 83-I, and that along with a computerized fire control system and gun stabilization allows the main gun to be fired in the water. The main gun may also fire a 105mm version of the Russian 9M117 Bastion ATGM. The Type 63A has a GLONASS-based satellite navigation system with a mapping module. The Type 63A-I is a Type 63A with a further bow extension, wider track skirts, and lugs for ERA on the turret front. A small amount of applique armor has been applied. It also has more advanced sighting devices. The Type 63A-II adds lugs for ERA on the turret sides, hull front, and hull sides.

Notes: A Chinese version of the PT-76, used by China, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and Vietnam, with a beefed-up suspension, transmission, and engine, and more powerful gun.