What to Expect From China’s New Type 15 Battle Tank: Built For Mountain Warfare and Amphibious Assaults

China’s latest class of battle tank, the Norinco Type 15 was confirmed to have entered service in December 2018 and made its first official appearance during the country’s National Day Parade in October 2019. The tank is distinct from other recent additions to China’s tank forces such as the Type 99A and Type 96, and is considerably lighter, faster and more mobile. While the Type 99A is today considered one of the world’s foremost battle tanks, the Type 15 fulfils a highly complementary role and was designed to operate in mountains, forests and water heavy terrain which heavier platforms often struggle to traverse. The new tank will replace the lightweight Type 62, a slower design which entered production in 1963 and was designed for a similar role, and has an engine approximately twice as powerful.

The Type 15 is approximately 40% lighter than the Type 99 and uses a much less powerful 105mm cannon - although with specialised munition types such as laser guided anti tank missiles and kinetic energy penetrators it can still threaten modern armour. Use of a modern autoloader means the tank’s crew requirements are reduced to three. A key advantage of the design is its hydro-pneumatic suspension system, which dynamically adjusts ground clearance to maximise manoeuvrability and combat efficacy when operating in rough terrain. The Type 15 will be highly prized by units deployed near China’s Afghan and Indian borders, and provide a considerable advantage over Indian armoured units which lack comparable lightweight battle tanks. The emergence of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan could also lead to these tanks being deployed for counterterrorism operations on the Afghan border.

The Type 15’s size and weight makes it easy to transport both by air and by sea, meaning its design is ideal not only for units operating near mountainous areas but also for Chinese marines. The tank will reportedly serve in a complementary role alongside the marines' ZBD05 tracked amphibious infantry fighting vehicles, ZLT05 amphibious assault guns and FHJ-02 rocket artillery systems, and their compact size and ability to traverse rough terrain makes them highly well suited to carrying out amphibious landings. Several dozen of the new tanks are expected to be deployed from the Navy’s new Type 075 Class assault ships for this purpose. Unlike the heavier Type 99A, the Type 15 will be marketed abroad as the VT-5 making it the only modern tank in service in China's own armed forces which is being offered to foreign clients.