The VT-4 (), also known as the MBT-3000, is a Chinese third generation

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension s ...

built by Norinco for overseas export.

Development

During the development of Type 90-II/Al-Khalid (also known as MBT-2000) in the 1980s, the gearbox and engine were originally imported from Germany, but this plan was shelved due to the Western arms embargo. The powertrain instead was sourced from Ukraine, the same for most Chinese export vehicles at the time. China eventually developed domestic powertrains, which led to the creation of the MBT-3000 program for export customers. MBT-3000 was the successor of the Type-90II (MBT-2000) export tank. The MBT-3000 project later named as VT-4 began development in 2009 as a co-operation with First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory and other companies. The MBT-3000 concept debuted at the 2012 Eurosatory. The tank was subsequently shown at the 2014 Norinco Armor Day and the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition as the VT-4.

Design

The VT-4 shares many subsystems technology and features from other latest Chinese main battle tanks such as Type 96B and Type 99A. Key examples are an automatic transmission system, 125mm smoothbore cannon, muzzle reference system, FY-4 ERA, carousel style autoloader, and overall geometry.

Armament

The VT-4 has a 125mm smoothbore cannon capable of firing

APFSDS Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), long dart penetrator, or simply dart ammunition, is a type of kinetic energy penetrator ammunition used to attack modern vehicle armour. As an armament for main battle tanks, it succeeds ...

HESH HESH or Hesh may refer to: Places * Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, is an international airport in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Science and technology *High-explosive squash head High explosive squash head (HESH) in British terminology, or hi ...

HEAT In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

and HE rounds and guided missiles. There is also a remote weapon station on the turret armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The fire control system has

hunter-killer Hunter-killer may refer to: Military terminology * Hunter-killer team, a team that separates the tasks of "hunting" and "killing" to two or more individuals * Hunter-killer armored-vehicle team, scout vehicles and tanks operating in concert as "h ...

capabilities, laser rangefinder, panoramic sight, and a third-generation thermal imaging system. According to the chief designer, the APFSDS used by VT-4 can reach 700mm penetration which is enough to penetrate any armoured target, although the distance in which 700mm of penetration was achieved was not disclosed.

Protection

The tank is protected by dual-layer protection consisting of composite armor and FY-4 explosive reactive armour. According to the chief designer Feng Yibai, the frontal protection force is equivalent to 500mm homogeneous steel armor, and the explosive reaction armor is around 700mm. Although not the best protection on the market it's been said that this level of protection is sufficient for the needs of developing nations. The front turret has wedge-shaped armor similar to other contemporary Chinese MBT's and the hull sides have conventional metal sideskirts. The tank can be equipped with a ′hardkill′

active protection system An active protection system is a system designed to actively prevent certain anti-tank weapons from destroying a vehicle. Countermeasures that either conceal the vehicle from, or disrupt the guidance of an incoming guided missile threat are desig ...

designated GL5, defensive grenade launchers and a laser warning device. The vehicle also has an

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is bicondi ...

system, NBC protection, explosion-suppression system, fire-extinguishing system and air conditioning.

Mobility

According to Norinco, the VT-4 uses a locally produced 1,300 hp diesel engine with

torsion bar suspension A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end term ...

and an integrated hydraulic transmission system. Steering and acceleration is handled by a steering wheel and automatic gear transmission. VT-4 is also capable of neutral steering.

Command and control

The tank is also integrated with digital communications systems for tank-tank communication and communication between commanders.

Variants

;MBT-3000: Prototype. ;VT-4: Production model. ;VT-4A1: Improved model with a modified turret. The new turret features radar panels, repositioned grenade dischargers, new hard-kill active protection system and a launcher for small attack drones.

Operators

*Vehicles delivered to the Nigerian Army in April 2020. *300 VT-4 tanks will be delivered to the

Pakistan army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

by 2023 along with an option for 160 more in accordance to the 2017 deal. *The

Royal Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...

has 38 VT-4 in service, with the first 28 delivered in October 2017. The deal, thought to be valued at about US$150 million, included an option to buy a further 153 vehicles. In April 2017, the Royal Thai Army ordered an additional 10 VT-4 main battle tanks from China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) worth US$58 million that was delivered as of early 2019.

References

External links

CCTV news footage of VT-4 driving past obstacles
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Main battle tanks of China Post–Cold War main battle tanks Tanks with autoloaders Military vehicles introduced in the 2010s Norinco