Can Type 96 tank fill PLA ranks?
The Type 96 (ZTZ-96) tank is already an important platform in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and its latest version could form the future backbone of China’s MBT fleet.
On 10 July the China Daily published an article to this effect, praising the capabilities of the latest ZTZ-96B variant.
The piece quoted Gao Zhuo, a Shanghai-based military observer, who said, ‘The Type 96B is the strongest variant of the Type 96 family, and is truly an advanced, third-generation main battle tank. The PLA will use it to replace old tanks such as Type 59 and Type 69 models.’
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