Type 89 AFV

The Norinco Type 89 tracked armoured fighting vehicle is a Chinese armoured personnel carrier. It was developed from the earlier export market Type 85 AFV vehicle. It entered service in the late 1990s and was first shown publicly in 1999. There are approximately 1,000 in service. It has the industrial index of WZ534 and although it was mainly developed for the PLA, there is also an export version YW534.

In the 1990s a new designator system was introduced in the PLA and the Type 89 APC is nowadays known as ZSD-89.

Description

When compared to the Type 85, the Type 89 is slightly larger and heavier. The hull is made of welded steel, and provides protection against small arms fire. The vehicle carries a maximum of 15 including crew. The driver sits in the front left of the hull, and has a single piece hatch, which opens to the left. The driver is provided with three day periscopes which cover the front and right of the vehicle. One of the driver's periscopes can be replaced by a night vision device. The commander sits behind the driver and has a single piece hatch.

The air-cooled, turbocharged diesel engine sits to the right rear of the driver. It has a large intake located in the top of the hull, with an exhaust on the right hand side. The engine feeds a manual transmission with five forward gears and one reverse gear. Track is driven at the front by a drive sprocket, and passes over five dual rubber-typed road wheels and track-return rollers, then loops over an idler at the rear, before returning to the front again.

A 12.7 millimetre calibre machine gun is located in an open mount at the front of a small hatch in the center of the hull which opens into the troop compartment. The gun can traverse through 360 degrees and can be elevated to an angle of 90 degrees. Two oblong roof hatches and a large rear door provide access to the troop compartment. On either side of the forward hull, a cluster of four 76 mm smoke grenade dischargers is mounted.

The vehicle is amphibious, a folding trim board stowed at the front of the hull needs to be raised, and the vehicle can then propel itself in the water using its tracks. Standard equipment includes an NBC system, a Type 889 or CWT-167 radio, and a Type 803 or CYY-168 intercom system.

Type 89A is developed in the 2010s as support vehicles for PLA's heavy mechanized brigades.

Variants

Type 89

Baseline Type 89 AFV, developed in 1980s.
* Type 89 Tracked Armoured Personnel Carrier or Type WZ534 – Basic version, as described. Military designator: ZSD-89.
* Type 89 Infantry Fighting Vehicle or Type YW307 – Fitted with a one-man turret with 25 mm automatic gun (400 rounds) and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun (1,000 rounds). Crew: 3+7. Military designator: ZSD-89-II.
* Type 89 Armored Command Vehicle – Fitted with a higher roofline and with a longer chassis with 6 double road wheels either side. Armament consists of a 12.7 mm HMG on the commander's station behind the driver.
* Type 89 Armored Ambulance or Type WZ752 – Unarmed ambulance with a red cross mark on each side.
* Type 89 Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle or Type WZ731 – Variant for armored reconnaissance: ZZC-01.
* Type 89 Artillery Front-line Observation Vehicle or GCL-45 – Variant for artillery forward observers, equipped with an unarmed turret with observation devices. Military designator. Military designator: ZZC-05.
* Type 89 Recce Radar Carrier – Equipped with a battlefield surveillance radar on a crane. Military designator: ZZC-02.
* Type 89 Refuelling Vehicle – Transport vehicle for fuel and lubricants, fitted with a higher troop compartment. Offered for export as the Amphibious Armoured Refuelling Vehicle.

* Type 89 Recovery Vehicle – Maintenance and recovery variant, fitted with a light crane on the left side of the hull roof, and a machine gun cupola in the roof center. Military designator: ZJX-93 (also called Type 93).
* Type 89 Supply Vehicle – Similar to the recovery variant and also equipped with a light crane, but the commander's cupola with HMG is located behind the driver's position. Military designator: ZHB-94.
* Type 89 AT missile carrier – ATGM carrier vehicle with double launch system for wire-guided HJ-8 missiles. A total of 12 missiles is carried on board. Military designator: ZDF-1 or ZDF-89.
* Type 89 Mine-Laying Vehicle – Has a modified rear hull that mounts a scatterable mine system, consisting of 6 launchers. Each launcher has 36 tubes of 122 mm with each tube containing 5 SATM mines, 15 SAPM mines, 45 SAPEM mines or a mix of SAPM and SAPEM mines. Military designator: GBL-130.
* Type 89 Obstacle-Removing Vehicle – Crowd-control variant for the PAP, equipped with an obstacle clearing blade.

Type 89A

Type 89A has extended chassis, higher roofline, and side armor is completely vertically welded (whereas Type 89 is sloped). The armor is reinforced with better ballistic protection, comparing to the original Type 89. The vehicle chassis features side-skirt with a distinctive wave pattern. Type 89A is developed in 2000s, complementing ZBD-04