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Chinese Type 05 Amphibious Tank
From China Defense Blog
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2019/06/pla-unit-of-day-14th-combined-arms.html
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If you were the defender, would you rather face the US Marine's AAV with a 0.50 cal machine gun or the Chinese ZTD-05 amphibious tank with a 105 mm gun, 12.7 mm gun, and 7.62 mm gun plus 105 mm laser guided anti-tank missiles?
We kick around the idea of an amphibious tank, though not very seriously, while the Chinese actually have built and deployed them.
At 24 knots, the ZTD-05 is about three times faster in the water than a AAAV-7. A huge advantage in an amphibious assault.
ReplyDeleteThat speed over something like 500km is astounding. Finally a way to get Marines ashore from a 25-50 mile standoff. Sounds like just what we need, and its a family of vehicles which is even better...
ReplyDeleteWikipedia lists the speed as 28 kilometers per hour, or 17.5 miles per hour - which, to be fair, is still twice the speed of the AAV. At the 50 mile point, that means the Type 05 will be swimming for just under three hours to hit the beach.
DeleteWhat is needed for the amphibious assault type vehicles is variety. We probably have the APC portion covered fine. Now we need AFV and IFV's to go with the assault. Of course a few funnies wouldn't hurt.
ReplyDeleteThey are building war machines to fight wars. We are playing with fancy gadgets that may or may not work. Not good trends. They are a long way from being able to do much beyond the First Island Chain. But they are getting close to being able to dominate inside the China Sea.
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