New tanks have no match in Asia

The PLA ground force's advanced armaments have given the army an offensive capability that is unparalleled in Asia, said military observers.

During the Tian'anmen Square parade on Thursday, the PLA ground force displayed its Type-99A main battle tank, the ZBD-04A infantry fighting vehicle and the HJ-10 anti-tank missile.

Gao Zhuo, a military observer in Shanghai, said that the Type-99A is a third-generation tank with strong firepower, an advanced active protection system, cutting-edge composite armor and supreme mobility.

"What further adds to the tank's combat capability is the adoption of a high-technology data link that gives the tank access to battlefield information obtained by other combat platforms," he said.

Liu Qingshan, editor-in-chief of the Tank and Armored Vehicle magazine, said the Type-99A tank has the world's most powerful engine, adding that it also boasts a high level of automation and information capacity.

According to a ranking by Germany's Focus magazine, the Type-99A is the third-best tank in the world, only surpassed by Germany's Leopard 2 and the United States' M1A2 Abrams. The report said the Chinese tank features a 125-mm smoothbore gun capable of firing anti-tank guided missiles and a 1,500-horsepower diesel engine.

Other unique elements include an active laser self-defense weapon and laser warning receiver, both of which are top countermeasure technologies rarely used in other tanks, Russian media previously reported.

Gao said that the ZBD-04A infantry fighting vehicle has a set of lethal weapons－a 100 mm rifled gun, a 30 mm auto-cannon and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun－strong enough to destroy any soft or hard target in its way.

Compared with its predecessor, the ZBD-04, the new model has improved fire-control equipment and additional armor. It also has an advanced information system capable of being integrated with that of the Type-99A tank, he noted.

In addition to these heavy-duty armaments, military watchers should not neglect the HJ-10 missile, said Xiao Ning, editor of Weapon, a popular defense technology magazine.

As the PLA's latest multipurpose anti-tank missile, the HJ-10 can be used to hit not only tanks but also armored vehicles, small fortifications and even helicopters flying at low altitude, he said.

Gao said that the strike spearhead composed of the Type-99A, ZBD-04A, HJ-10 and the PLZ-05A self-propelled howitzer "will have no rivals in Asia", noting some of the PLA ground force's heavy-duty mechanized infantry divisions have been equipped with all of these weapons.