The Type 69 and Type 79 are Chinese first generation main battle tanks. Both were developments of the Type 59 medium tank with technologies derived from the T-62. They were the first indigenously developed main battle tanks by China, although also classified as medium tanks while in development and service. Their lineage from the T-54A can be seen through the distinct gap between the first and second road wheels. Other improvements included a new engine, ballistic computers, and laser rangefinders. The more advanced Type 79 variant was equipped with a 105 mm rifled gun which was also found on the Type 80 tank.
Iraqi Type 69-II captured during the Gulf War
Type 69 Main Battle Tank (MBT) north of the An Nu'maniyah Bridge on Highway 27 destroyed during the US Invasion of Iraq in April 2003.
Type 69
Type 69-II
The Type 59 main battle tank is a Chinese-produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an early model of the ubiquitous T-54/55 series. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963. Over 10,000 of the tanks were produced by the time production ended in 1985 with approximately 5,500 serving with the Chinese armed forces. The tank formed the backbone of the Chinese People's Liberation Army armoured units until the early 2000s, with an estimated 5,000 of the later Type 59-I and Type 59-II variants in service in 2002.
A Type 59 tank in Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Type 59 tanks participating in the PRC's 10th National Day parade in 1959
Type 59-IIA tank
A former North Vietnamese Type 59 tank, captured by South Vietnamese ARVN troops on 4 July in 1972 during the Vietnam War, now on display at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum.