WZ-132 Light Tank () was a Chinese
light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...
which was developed between the 1960s and 1970s. Its development lasted for more than ten years before it was set aside, ultimately proving too technical to be brought into production.
Design and development
During the 1960s and 70s, in what became known as the
Sino-Soviet split, the relationship between China and the Soviet Union became extremely tense. In competition with Soviet tank designers, the Chinese developed several tanks including the
Type 59,
Type 62, and
Type 63 variants. The WZ-132 was also designed around this time; however, its technical indicators were too high for China at that time to produce it in large numbers and as a result, its specifications were changed several times before the design was set aside in 1975.
[Foss, p. 771.]
The vehicle was long, including its gun, and by 1973 weighed . It was high and wide. With a crew of four – commander, loader, gunner, driver – the vehicle's primary armament consisted of a single 100 mm (4 in)
smoothbore gun
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.
History
Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...
, with a single 12.7 mm (0.5 in)
machine gun and two 7.62 mm (0.3 in) machine guns as secondary weapons. At least two other vehicles were equipped with different weapons, with one tank sporting a 85mm smoothbore gun, and another having a 76.2mm gun as its main armament with an alleged autoloader that was never completed. It had a power to weight ratio of 18 kW/t and was capable of achieving a speed of on road, with a range of . The vehicle used
torsion bar suspension.
Towards the end stage of development, the WZ-132 incorporated a new fire control system including a ballistic computer and a two-plane stabilizer, as well as an image intensifier and laser rangefinder for the gunner. The late-stage prototypes also received an infrared searchlight and respective infrared night vision devices for the commander and the driver.
See also
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WZ-111
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Type 69
The Type 69 () and Type 79 () are Chinese second generation main battle tanks. Both were developments of the Type 59 medium tank (a locally produced Soviet T-54A) with technologies derived from T-62. They were the first indigenously developed ...
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Type 62
References
Citations
Bibliography
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Light tanks of the People's Republic of China
Light tanks of the Cold War
Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s