ZTZ96A (P)

This page is about the Chinese medium tank ZTZ96A (P). For other versions, see ZTZ96 (Family).

ZTZ96A (P)

ZTZ96A (P)

China

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.3	10.3	10.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

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Description

The ZhuangJia Tanke ZhuZhan 96A, Prototype was the failed prototype of what would have been known as the WZ122R where certain tank designers opted for an irregular, needle-nosed turret applique armour for what would later become the ZTZ96A. Due to undisclosed reasons, this design was ditched by PLAGF and the known design of what is now known as ZTZ96A won the competition; this prototype was then lost in history and only very few images could prove its existence.

Introduced in Update "Wind of Change", the ZTZ96A (P) is a prototype of the ZTZ96A. It has a different turret armour arrangement from the serial production version: instead of the arrowhead-shaped ERA mount, it has high-hardness spaced armour in an interesting "needle-nose" shape reminiscent of the Chieftain's profile. But the main selling point is the soft-kill APS system consisting of two JD-3 jammers mounted on the turret sides, which function similarly to the T-90A's "Shtora" and are a first for Chinese ground vehicles. This prototype trades some turret protection in exchange for the ability to disrupt the guidance of enemy ATGMs. In all other respects the ZTZ96A (P) is practically identical to the production version, with thermal sights and a powerful gun, and makes a good partner for a lineup.

General info

Survivability and armour

ERA

Effective action against the cumulative ammunition

Composite armour

Balanced protection against all types of ammunition

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull100 / 50 / 45

Turret220 / 50 / 20

Crew3 people

Visibility75 %

This tank, the failed bid for the ZTZ96A, shares the same chassis of its tech tree counterpart, having the same LFP with little to no protection while the UFP is among one of the strongest at its tier thanks to the FY-4 ERA blocks. The turret is another story - this prototype has an oddly shaped wedge mounted on the front of turret, so players can tell this tank apart from the main tree one right away. The pair of wedges does provide sufficient protection against kinetic or chemical shells at similar tier, though this only applies to the part in front of the turret but not the area in front of the mantlet - this part has only 340 mm RHA equivalent protection so it will be penetrated with ease. Another note is that the wedges don't provide full protection, and they should not be angled as this will decrease the protection severely.

The internal design of this prototype is identical to the ZTZ96A so the crew of 3 and its ammo carousel sit at the very same place on both tanks, a penetrated shot up front will either knock down either of the crews or set off the carousel and sent the turret sky high.

In fact, both ZTZ96A prototypes installed a JD-3 IR jammer during testing; while the production run canceled this design, this prototype still retained the pair of jammers, giving it some chance of jamming missiles that use laser guidance.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet, commander cupola)
• Rubber-fabric screens (side skirts)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20 mm (69°) Outer UFP 100 mm (67°) Inner UFP 60 mm (51°) Lower glacis	50 mm	45 mm (52°) Top 52 mm (15°) Bottom	20 mm (2-21°) 30 mm Centre and rear 10 mm Engine vents
Turret	15 mm Turret outer layer 220 mm Turret front 310 mm Gun mantlet	50-80 mm	20 mm	30 mm
Cupola	30 mm (Cylindrical)			30 mm

Composite armour	Frontal effective protection
Hull	Upper glacis (ERA counted): 540 mm Kinetic / 1,050 mm Chemical
Turret	Turret front: 400 mm Kinetic / 520 mm Chemical

Explosive Reactive Armour	Frontal effective protection	Sides effective protection
Hull	FY-4: 180 mm Kinetic / 550 mm Chemical	N/A
Turret	N/A	FY-4: 50 mm Kinetic / 350 mm Chemical

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 20 mm thick.
• Side skirts are 8 mm thick.
• Mudguards and storage boxes are 4 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB66 / 7 km/h

RB and SB60 / 6 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight43.0 t

Engine power

AB1 526 hp

RB and SB800 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB35.5 hp/t

RB and SB18.6 hp/t

Since one of the major upgrades of the ZTZ96A is the engine, it was upgraded to a NORINCO 12150ZLD 800 hp engine; the ZTZ96A (P) is no exception. Although it might not have the overall mobility of NATO tanks, the power/weight ratio (at 18.6 hp/t) is higher than most Soviet tanks, giving a better handling.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	66	7	43	1240	1,526	28.84	35.49
Realistic	60	6		708	800	16.47	18.6

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB3 363

RB3 260

SB3 794

Crew training10 000

Experts1 160 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces2 150 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 150 / 200 / 250 %

2 × 232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE NVD Crew Replenishment Smoke grenade ESS	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire 125mm_china_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism Laser rangefinder Artillery Support

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

125 mm Type 88C cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition40 rounds

First-order22 rounds

Reload7.1 s

Vertical guidance-5° / 12°

The ZTZ96A (P) inherited the same 125 mm ZPT88C cannon from ZTZ96, which is one of the best tank cannons at its tier; both the prototype and production tanks share the same traits - high velocity shells, sufficient turret traverse speed and the same autoloader with fixed 7.1 second reload between shots.

125 mm Type 88C					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Autoloader
Arcade	40	-5°/+12°	±180°	Two-plane	28.6	39.5	48.0	53.1	56.5	7.10
Realistic					17.9	21.0	25.5	28.2	30.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
DTP-125	HEATFS	480	480	480	480	480	480
DTB-125	HE	45	45	45	45	45	45
125-I	APFSDS	466	464	458	450	442	434

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
DTP-125	HEATFS	905	18	0.05	0.1	2.62	65°	72°	77°
DTB-125	HE	850	23	0.3	0.1	5.46	79°	80°	81°
125-I	APFSDS	1,730	4.02	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

All three ZTZ96s in-game share the same shells so players from the main tech tree ones will soon find themselves home; since this is a premium tank, all the ammunition comes unlocked with the tank.

The first ammunition is DTP-125 HEATFS, sharing the same penetration of NATO 120 mm HEATFS while having the mass of Warsaw Pact 125 mm HEATFS. Since ERA is commonplace at this tier, this round is best used against enemies showing their sides or light targets - its explosive mass is sufficient to knock them out right away.

The second ammunition, DTB-125 HEFS, is infamous for its explosive mass at nearly 5.5 kg, which is still the highest among any explosive rounds of all MBTs; as a research paper from NORINCO suggested that DTB-125 is suited for knocking enemies down with its explosive mass, this also applies to any enemies you might face at similar tiers - a precise hit to weakspots that trigger overpressure damage can send even the toughest enemies straight back to the hangar with ease, let alone light vehicles. In case of sniping hiding enemies or needing a quick knock-out on light vehicles, bringing some HEFS is viable.

The third ammunition is the 125-I dart. Thanks to its high velocity, it can penetrate 466 mm at point-blank range; the sheer penetration is more than enough to finish most NATO or Warsaw Pact tanks with very few exceptions. This would be the go to shell for the ZTZ96A (P).

Ammo racks

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
40	Projectiles Propellants	40 (+0) 39 (+1)	38 (+2) 38 (+2)	37 (+3) 37 (+3)	35 (+5) 31 (+9)	32 (+8) 27 (+13)	29 (+11) 23 (+17)	24 (+16) 39 (+1)	23 (+17) N/A	39 (+1) N/A	No

Machine guns

12.7 mm QJC88A machine gun

Ammunition600 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

Vertical guidance-6° / 85°

7.62 mm Type 86 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate700 shots/min

12.7 mm QJC88A
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	600 (150)	600	-6°/+85°	±180°

7.62 mm Type 86
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,500 (250)	700	-	-

Usage in battles

Since the ZTZ96A prototype shares the same chassis of the mass-production version, the protection all-round is identical to the ZTZ96A. The LFP will be the greatest concern players might have during gameplay; the relatively large LFP doesn't have enough protection against common shell types at its tier, and a penetration will certainly lead to a crew knock-out or detonation of ammunition, so keep it hidden as much as possible. Meanwhile, the UFP has blocks of FY-4 ERA that provide up to 500 mm protection at certain angles, making it one of the toughest MBTs at its tier in this regard; the blocks are one-off protection however so beware of subsequent shots on unprotected areas. As for the turret, the design of applique armour provides similar protection to the ZTZ96A against shells at this tier, but the overall design is flawed where the lower part of the wedge block and areas in front of the mantlet provide lesser protection. Aside from that, any angling of turret will result in easy penetration of the applique armour since the angling cancels out the frontal arc protection, so do keep your turret aiming at enemies.

The overall playstyle is very similar to that of a ZTZ96A, it might not have the best mobility at this tier, but it can still keep up with the main forces with its 800 hp engine; your UFP and turret is your best friend, misplaced shots from the enemies are very likely do nothing on the ZTZ96A (P) while your gun can do lethal damage to enemies thanks to its penetration and autoloader. Rushing with the ZTZ96A (P) could be fatal due to its lesser flexibility to retreat back to cover with a slow reverse at barely 5 km/h, planning ahead before assaulting enemies is the key. Thanks to the JD-3 jammer on the sides of the turret, some missiles that are in the way of your turret frontal arc will find it impossible to do any harm to you; do keep in mind that this only applies to SACLOS missiles, wire-guided or beam-riding missiles can still do lethal damage since those are not affected by the jammer.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Infrared jammer is effective against SACLOS ATGMs
• Sturdy UFP and turret front against common foes such as the XM-1
• Adequate mobility allows it to follow the team's advance
• 2nd generation thermal sight for the gunner is useful for spotting targets, especially at night
• 125-I APFSDS has great penetration and damage against common tanks like the T-72, XM-1, Leopard 1, etc
• Roof-mounted 12.7 mm HMG is effective against light armour and helicopters
• 4 salvos of smoke grenades can cover the tank's retreat

Cons:

• Frontal weak spots are obvious and fatal: large and weak LFP and gun mantlet can be easily penetrated
• Slow reverse speed of only -5 km/h cannot pull it out of danger in time, and heavily limits tactical agility
• IR jammer has narrow vertical range, cannot defend missiles from above
• Side protection is weak, can be easily penetrated by tanks like the BMP-2 and aircraft like the A-10
• Turret add-on armour gives much less protection than the ERA on the regular ZTZ96A

History

The overall information on this failed design on upgrading the later ZTZ96s with new appliqué armour was minimal; both ZTZ96A (WZ122R) were designed in the early 2000s in view of an upgrade scheme for later ZTZ96s in production line. While both tanks retained the same firepower and mobility, as well as a pair of Shtora-1-like IR jammers known as JD-3 developed domestically on the side of the turret (some suggest that JD-3 was based on the Ukrainian's Shtora-1 equivalent model of IR jammer), they have a very different turret designs, where this design has a pair of wedge blocks of appliqué armour in the front of the turret.

(Note: the trio of ZTZ96/96A/96B couldn't be upgraded from one another due to design differences and costs)

Due to unknown reasons, this design failed the bid for PLAGF and the later ZTZ96A/WZ122R became what is today's standard, with an arrow-shaped turret like those on ZTZ99-II and the IR jammer removed, likely for cost reductions.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the ZTZ96A (P) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] Pre-order: ZTZ96A Prototype (China)

Norinco (China North Industries Corporation)
Light AFV/IFV
WZ501	ZBD86¹
WZ131	▂Type 62 · Type 62
WZ211	Type 63 · ZTS63
WZ502	ZBD04A
MBT
WZ120	Type 59¹ · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
WZ121	Type 69
WZ122	ZTZ88B · ZTZ88A · ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
WZ123	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
WZ1001	WZ1001(E) LCT · ZTZ99A
Tank Destroyers	AFT09 · PTL02 · PTZ89 · ZLT11
SPH	PLZ83
SPAA	ZSD63/PG87² · PGZ09 · PGZ04A
Export
WZ121	Type 69-IIa · T-69 II G
MBT2000	MBT-2000 · Al-Khalid-I
MBT3000	VT4A1
Other	WMA301 · WZ305
	¹ License production / Reverse engineered · ² Field modifications

China medium tanks
ZTZ59	Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
ZTZ69	Type 69 · Type 69-IIa
ZTZ88/96	ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B
	ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
ZTZ99	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
ZTZ99A	ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT
Export series	MBT-2000 · VT4A1
ROC	CM11
Other	Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC"
Bangladesh	T-69 II G
Japan	␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Pakistan	Al-Khalid-I
USA	␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS
USSR	␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545