Full reveal of new monster on Type-59 tank chassis
At the 2018 Zhuhai Airshow, China's NORINCO Defense Industry Group launched a new IFV variant on the Type-59 tank chassis.
Last year, the VN11 heavy armored personnel carrier (APC) was officially introduced for the first time at the Norinco Armor Day 2017 event, as a solution to utilize the outdated Type 59 tank chassis that no longer has the potential to be modernized.
The Chinese VN11 has many similarities with the Ukrainian BMP-55. During the conversion process, the vehicle was refurbished, installed with a new engine and transmission, along with additional armor.
The turret was removed and replaced with a separate superstructure to create a troop compartment. In addition, the vehicle was also equipped with additional modular armor panels for superior protection.
The VN11 offers better protection than any modern APC, and the engine is placed at the front for added reliability. The main role of the VN11 is to transport troops from the rear to the front, hence its nickname as a battle taxi.
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| VN11 heavy armored personnel carrier converted by China from Type 59 main battle tank |
But it seems that NORINCO is not satisfied with the plan to convert the Type 59 tank into a VN11 armored personnel carrier, in which the biggest drawback is that its firepower system does not meet the requirements, so at the Zhuhai Airshow 2018, NORINCO brought an outstanding upgrade.
The new configuration of the armored vehicle converted from the Type 59 main battle tank that NORINCO has just introduced has truly "transformed" from a "battlefield taxi" into a true infantry fighting vehicle (IFV).
This IFV still carries a 30mm main gun and a 7.62mm coaxial gun, but adds 4 GAM-102 anti-tank missiles (152mm diameter, 1,200mm length, 26kg weight, mounted in a disposable launcher, capable of penetrating 1,000mm of homogeneous armor, 4km range, accompanied by 20 rockets of unknown type.
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| The infantry fighting vehicle version based on the Type 59 tank chassis was just launched at Zhuhai Airshow 2018 |
With the above firepower, it can be seen that the power of this IFV can even be compared with the "Terminator" - Russia's BMPT tank support combat vehicle and far surpasses the VN11 prototype launched last year.
It is expected that through this exhibition, China will promote the export of the above upgrade package to countries that are using many Soviet Type 59 or T-54/55 tanks and are in need of converting them into heavy armored personnel carriers.
In addition, it is not impossible that China will widely deploy the above conversion package with its Type 59/69 tanks, especially when they are installed, they will proceed to decommission them en masse to replace them with the more advanced Type 96/99.