Just a year after its first public appearance, the Chinese army has deployed the ZTZ-100, a Type 100 main battle tank, into its combat fleet. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force shared training footage on a Chinese social media site confirming the tank had entered service. 

As warfare enters a new era, with drones and long-range missiles enabling more remote attacks, the role of main battle tanks seems to be diminishing. However, nations have not given up on developing new-age battle tanks in the event of a major war. 

Russia and the US have developed their own variants, such as T-14 Armata and AbramsX, respectively, capable of modern-day warfare. China, too, isn’t lagging behind, having rapidly developed the Type 100 tank between 2016 and 2022 and making it battlefield-ready within 4 years. 

Features of ZTZ-100

With an estimated height of 7.2 to 8.2 feet (2.2-2.5 meters) and a weight of 35 to 45 tonnes, the ZTZ-100 appears to be a medium battle tank that will operate in a mixed fleet alongside the Type 99 heavy tank and Type 15 light tank. 

Manufactured by the Baotou Tank Plant under Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group, the ZTZ-100, or Type 100, has entered production in a low-rate initial batch, with just more than 4 units observed so far. 

The tank features a fully remote-operated, unmanned turret with an autoloader. The crew for this tank consists of a driver, commander, and gunner who have been relocated to a sealed compartment in the forward hull. The intentional design separates the crew from the ammunition stored in the turret, while integrated blowout panels and venting systems have been put in to manage overpressure events and internal explosions. 

The main armament of the Type 100 is a 105 mm smoothbore gun with an estimated rate of fire of up to 12 rounds per minute. While the gun caliber is less than that of NATO and Russian tanks, it achieves the same penetration thanks to its armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds, which have a reported muzzle velocity of 1,706 meters per second.

The turret’s unmanned configuration provides additional space for a 40-round ammunition load, with an engagement range of 1.2-2.4 miles (2-4 km). The secondary armament is a 7.62 mm QJY-201 coaxial machine gun. A 12.7mm remote weapon station (RWS) with thermal and optical sights serves as a counter-drone and air defense system. 

New generation tank

China classifies the Type 100 as a fourth-generation battle tank. While this is not an internationally standardized classification, one can definitely see how it is a major improvement over conventional tanks. 

The periscopes and optical sights have all been replaced with augmented reality (AR) helmet systems that provide a 360-degree visual environment, using data from camera feeds, radars, and sensors. The helmets overlay information about targets, navigation, and vehicle status into the operator’s field of view, while head tracking allows the weapons to align with the line of sight, enabling faster engagement by up to 40 percent. 

Instead of relying on heavy armor alone, the Type 100 uses an active protection system comprising eight interceptors that can take down anti-tank guided missiles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), top-attack and loitering munitions, and loitering munitions at distances between 32-98 feet (10-30 m). 

The tank’s hybrid-electric propulsion system generates 1,500 horsepower and can attain speeds of about 50 mph (80 km/h) on road and 31 mph (50 km/h) off road, with a range of up to 372 miles (600 km), largely driven by its diesel engines.