China has seen during the essays of its great military parade a new combat car that breaks with the established. It appears to be lighter and mobility oriented. Mainly he has drawn attention for his aesthetics and for visible technological details in the disseminated photographs. American sources As Chinese identify him as ZTZ-201an “middle tank” that aims to combine advanced electronics, active defense and possible hybrid mobility.
For now, what is known proceeds exclusively from indirect observation. The alleged ZTZ-201 has been photographed during the essays of the event that will be held on September 3 in Beijing, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Its identification and technical characteristics, from weight to propulsion, come from Osint Fuentes. At the moment, it is a visible armored, not a formally presented system.
What changes. Army Recognition points out That the most relevant is not the shape of the armor, but the category to which it points: an average tank with modular design, capable of assuming different configurations according to the operational environment. This flexibility, unusual in armored vehicles, suggests a change in the way of understanding the role of the combat car. Instead of designing a closed system for all scenarios, it is committed to a base platform that can adapt and evolve more quickly.
A hybrid vehicle? Defense Blog adds other details. The vehicle would use a diesel-electric train of more than 1,500 horsepower of combined power. Beyond the speed, the relevant of this architecture would be its use in pure electrical mode for covert operations or silent displacements, especially in urban environments. This modality would reduce noise, thermal signature and fuel consumption in specific missions.
Ambitious weapons system. We are facing a shielded that would bet on a new generation 105 mm caliber. The initial velocity of certain APFSD projectiles is estimated at 1,706 m/s, a figure that, in theoretical terms, could bring its energy closer to that of largest guns. However, this equivalence is only indicative: there are no public ballistic evidence that supports a real equivalence in penetration or terminal effects.
One of the most significant aspects of the armor observed in the trials is its approach to electronic protection. Some images disseminated in Weibo and other networks show Perimeter sensors distributed in the chassis. These devices would probably be connected to an Active GL system, for which there are precedents In public tests of the G-6 intercepting ammunition released from drones. In the upper part there is also a remote weapons station that would be oriented to face aerial threats, including FPV drones.
What to look at September 3. The military parade in Beijing could clear several unknowns. Among them, the official name of the vehicle, its technical file, the confirmation of the hybrid system and the armament used. It will also be relevant to know if some increased reality helmets are part of the operational equipment. The sensor configuration, the remote tower and the active defense could offer more clues if the armor occurs in detail. For now, everything indicates that it will be one of the main foci of the event.
With or without formal presentation, what China has seen is already significant. The appearance of an average tank with modular architecture and perimeter sensors marks a possible inflection in the evolution of the battleship. In the absence of official data, everything indicates that the ZTZ-201 is not a simple technical exercise, but one more piece in the transformation of the Chinese army.
Images | Weibo @恩宇-
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