China Re-Equips Bangladeshi Armoured Units with Advanced New Type 15 Light Tanks

The Bangladesh Army has received a new batch of Chinese Type 15 lightweight battle tanks, otherwise known as the VT-5, which are expected to equip a second segment, after one regiment equipped with 44 of the tanks completed its rearmament in 2025. The vehicles are among a wide range of equipment that has recently been procured from China, with the purchase of SY-400 tactical ballistic missiles having been approved in November, while orders for J-10C and JF-17 Block III fighters are both reportedly under consideration. It has been widely speculated that following the toppling of the Bangladeshi government in July 2025 by mass student riots, the coming to power of a government closely aligned with the United States and broader Western Bloc would result in a reorientation of defence procurements away from China and towards the Western world, raising questions regarding the future of the Sino-Bangladeshi defence partnership. 

The Type 15 is approximately 40 percent lighter than China’s heavyweight Type 99 main battle tank, and accommodates a significantly smaller 105mm main gun. The tank relies on specialised munition types such as laser guided anti tank missiles and kinetic energy penetrators to threaten modern armour and compensate for the size of its armament, with Bangladeshi sources reporting that its advanced penetrative rounds can frontally penetrate the armour of much larger tank types such as the Russian T-90. The Type 15 is prized for its ability to operate effectively in mountainous regions, such as in western China where it provides a particularly important advantage over neighbouring India which lacks any similar mountain-friendly tanks. The tank has a particularly advanced hydro-pneumatic suspension system which dynamically adjusts ground clearance to maximise manoeuvrability and combat efficacy in rough terrain.

A next generation lightweight battle tank which appears to have been developed as a direct successor to the Type 15 was first seen in June 2024, and was confirmed to have already reached a prototype and trial stage. It is expected to introduce a range of revolutionary new features never before seen on operational armoured vehicles, including reduction of crew requirements to just two personnel through very high levels of automation. Artificial intelligence is expected to play a major role in reducing crew requirements, which in turn can facilitate a more compact design and greater levels of armour protection on the vehicle relative to its weight. China’s tank industry has increasingly widely been assessed to be the world leader in the performance of its products, with a major turning point being the unveiling of the Type 100 main battle tank, which was confirmed in September 2025 to have entered service as the first in the world of a new generation. The new lightweight tank is expected to have many of the same features as the Type 100, including a side by side crew seating arrangement in the centre of the vehicle for a more efficient design with greater crew survivability.

In August 2025 the VT-4 main battle tank appeared for the first time appeared in Bangladesh Army camouflage, fuelling speculation that a contract for the sale of the vehicles had already been signed. The tank was a modernised variant integrating the new GL-5 hard-kill active protection system, which has not been procured by other clients. Developed in parallel to the Type 15 as a heavier counterpart, the VT-4 is produced solely for export, and has been acquired in significant numbers by Pakistan and Thailand while also being evaluated by Algeria. The Type 15 and VT-4 are between them expected to replace the over 100 Bangladesh Army Type 59 tanks, which were produced in China during the Cold War as enhanced derivatives of the Soviet T-55 design.