Russian Τank Βiathlon

I looked videos, it seems russian tank fired a HEAT indeed, because it's rather slow and made an explosion on the target... But, might as well be training APDS hitting soil.

And, I can't post links (i'm new member), but if you write in youtube "ztz 96 vs T-72" you will find parts of the show, and clearly show the T-72 nearly stops to shoot, while the 96 goes fast (~30km/h) and hit all targets... Maybe it's not a joke, type 96 has a damn good fire control system and better than even T-72B3

cracker wrote:I looked videos, it seems russian tank fired a HEAT indeed, because it's rather slow and made an explosion on the target... But, might as well be training APDS hitting soil.

And, I can't post links (i'm new member), but if you write in youtube "ztz 96 vs T-72" you will find parts of the show, and clearly show the T-72 nearly stops to shoot, while the 96 goes fast (~30km/h) and hit all targets... Maybe it's not a joke, type 96 has a damn good fire control system and better than even T-72B3

FCS is not everything the crew and their experience and skill count also.

Crew is #1, even though a good FCS system does help.

But, might as well be training APDS hitting soil.

Isn't it just an inert training shell?

FCS is not everything the crew and their experience and skill count also

I aslo heard that using a FCS is prohibited by the ruls as it's a tankmen competition not FCS one, but it must be a rumor

Asf wrote:

But, might as well be training APDS hitting soil.

Isn't it just an inert training shell?

FCS is not everything the crew and their experience and skill count also

I aslo heard that using a FCS is prohibited by the ruls as it's a tankmen competition not FCS one, but it must be a rumor

Even better, that means it is all the crew...

TAPFSDS , yes, training shell... Steel APFSDS with reduced range and of course worthless against real armour (maybe penetrate up to 250mm 90° armour at 500m, but not much, or if the round is not proper AP shell hardened steel, probably 80mm.)

I figured it was some sort of training shell... At least APFSDS rounds have a higher velocity, which means a better representation of accuracy etc.

 - This post got me on the Top 20 posters page. - Not exactly a good thing...

[quote="Werewolf"]

magnumcromagnon wrote:

Not sure if that is true, but i thought all of them were shooting APFSDS training rounds. Do you have a source?

It's true,Chinese used APFSDS rounds.
http://www.redstar.ru/index.php/component/k2/item/17999-bronetankovyj-triumf

Thanks for the source.

Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

Regular wrote:Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

The tank is one thing, and the crew is the another thing...

Regular wrote:Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

In many countries, including mine, people have a stereotype of Chinese goods as "copy, low quality junks".

I admit that I am ignorant about Chinese weapons' quality. But I am very sure about the "copy" part.

higurashihougi wrote:

Regular wrote:Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

In many countries, including mine, people have a stereotype of Chinese goods as "copy, low quality junks".

I admit that I am ignorant about Chinese weapons' quality. But I am very sure about the "copy" part.

Trust me, that isn't only true in your country... People here in the US either don't care about Chinese-made products, or they avoid them like the plague...

Mike E wrote:

higurashihougi wrote:

Regular wrote:Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

In many countries, including mine, people have a stereotype of Chinese goods as "copy, low quality junks".

I admit that I am ignorant about Chinese weapons' quality. But I am very sure about the "copy" part.

Trust me, that isn't only true in your country... People here in the US either don't care about Chinese-made products, or they avoid them like the plague...

Well that is impossible since not a single electrical device in anyones house that will not have large amount of parts with the label "Made in China".


This thingy with "Made in China" and linking it to low quality is utterly stupid nonsense. The fact that most of the stuff people buy and labeled Made in China in our western markets are designed by companies that belong to our western countries that just exploit cheap chinese labor. Things are already designed to be cheap as possible to keep the costs low and maximize the profit for the companies. Meaning "Made in China" products are poorly designed by western companies for western markets and upside of this is it is only bad image for China not for the companies itself who create lot of crappy products like apple.

Chinese tank really surprised me. It really needs some work on engine and maybe armour needs to be rearranged, but it's not worthless tanks like some .pk .in blogs try to portray it. It went against though competition.

What i heared it is less the engine but mainly the gearbox that makes problems, which is not really a suprise since most had at some point problems with their gearbox while engines were mostly rather easier to handle.
It surely has higher quality than most would like to admit or just simply remain to "Made in China" stereotypes.

Can someone recognize which specific APFSDS-T rounds this are that were used by Chinese Team in biathlon?

Can't tell for sure, but at the end of one of those numbers was an H, which would be a cyrillic letter rather than a Chinese one...

A Chinese railway composition loaded with tanks and other vehicles has crossed into Russia. The Chinese hardware is for the upcoming Tank Biathlon, which the Chinese are hell bent on winning this year.

The Russian team will apparently also sport new tanks and will be using new type of ammo - according to VIM (V. Murakhovski) at Otvaga

Cyberspec wrote:A Chinese railway composition loaded with tanks and other vehicles has crossed into Russia. The Chinese hardware is for the upcoming Tank Biathlon, which the Chinese are hell bent on winning this year.

The Russian team will apparently also sport new tanks and will be using new type of ammo - according to VIM (V. Murakhovski) at Otvaga

What tank biathlon is already on the door step? Damn time flies by...

Cyberspec wrote:A Chinese railway composition loaded with tanks and other vehicles has crossed into Russia. The Chinese hardware is for the upcoming Tank Biathlon, which the Chinese are hell bent on winning this year.

The Russian team will apparently also sport new tanks and will be using new type of ammo - according to VIM (V. Murakhovski) at Otvaga

nice, this should be a fun year!

collegeboy16 wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:A Chinese railway composition loaded with tanks and other vehicles has crossed into Russia. The Chinese hardware is for the upcoming Tank Biathlon, which the Chinese are hell bent on winning this year.

The Russian team will apparently also sport new tanks and will be using new type of ammo - according to VIM (V. Murakhovski) at Otvaga

nice, this should be a fun year!

I wonder what China will bring to raise their chances....maybe a Type-99 variant? 

The 96's did well last time around but didn't do so great in regards to mobility. I kind of doubt they'll be sticking with that platform.

sepheronx wrote:If China can use top of the line tanks, then why not Russia use T-90A then? T-72B3's clearly are not as nearly upgraded as Chinas main tank....

Who knows, they may... Then again China might bring back the T-96. Either way Russia already knows what tanks it will be going up against.

IMHO T-72 modification for biathlon, unofficially called b4 is very decent tank. New FCS, engine, sights. Not to mention tank is specially tailored for biathlon. I imagine China will modify few tanks too as last time I've seen they had terrible mobility issues.

Werewolf wrote:What tank biathlon is already on the door step? Damn time flies by...

I think it's about 6 weeks away.....I guess the Chinese are coming early to prepare properly

China has brought four ZTZ-96's. All of which look to have their basic sighting systems. Chances are they are packing a bigger engine and new tracks...