ZPT98 (125 mm)

Description

The ZPT-98 is a 125 mm Chinese tank cannon equipped on its top tier MBTs. It fires the same ammo as the earlier Type 88C cannon, and gets access to an improved APFSDS round.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• MBT-2000
• ZTZ99-II
• ZTZ99-III
• VT4A1

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

• DTP-125: HEATFS; stock round that can easily kill light tanks, but is not very effective against composite armour and ERA.
• DTB-125: HE; high-explosive round with a large explosive filler, it can take out many tanks in a single shot by hitting roofs with overpressure and is great at damaging tracks and barrels.
• 125-I: APFSDS; armour-piercing dart with a good penetration for use against composite armour and ERA.
• DTC10-125: APFSDS; improved armour-piercing dart with higher penetration.
• GP125: ATGM (tandem)
• DTB12-125: HE-VT*

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
DTC10-125	APFSDS	577	575	566	555	544	533
GP125	ATGM (tandem)	850	850	850	850	850	850
DTB12-125	HE-VT*	43	43	43	43	43	43

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°
DTC10-125	APFSDS	1,770	4.85	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
GP125	ATGM (tandem)	445	5,000	17.2	0.4	0.01	5.72	80°	82°	90°

Proximity-fused shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
									0%	50%	100%
DTB12-125	HE-VT*	850	23.2	0.3	0.1	500	7	5.3	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

• 2A46M-1 and 2A46M-5 - Similar Soviet/Russian cannons with similar performance that also have access to ATGMs.

Usage in battles

Since the gun was based on the earlier Type 88C cannon, players of the Soviet and Chinese tech trees might find themselves at ease using the ZPT98 cannon, as they share many traits and flaws. It has overall higher velocity and access to HEATFS, as well as slow (albeit still faster than the former) traverse speed and subpar reload compared to NATO manually reloaded guns. Its velocity and penetration help players knock out most of the targets it may face thanks to the 125-I and the later DTW-125 APFSDS. DTB-125 HE is also worth mentioning with its explosive mass and penetration which can make enemies be extra cautious to not get overpressurized by this shell. Overall the gun is very similar, if not the same as later 2A46 guns found on many Soviet/Russian tanks, and the playstyle should be similar as well.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Access to 2 high penetration APFSDS shells
• HE shell has the highest explosive mass of all MBTs
• Autoloaded

Cons:

• Stock HEATFS round struggles against other MBTs
• Long reload compared to other MBTs
• Lack of tube-launched ATGMs in contrast to Soviet/Russian counterparts

History

With the success in making a new 125 mm gun for future PLAGF MBTs, NORINCO decided to take a step further and lengthen the previous Type 88C from 48 calibres to 50 calibres, further enhancing its anti-tank capabilities with new munitions like advanced APFSDS and possibly tube-launched ATGMs.

The new gun then came into commission with "Project 9910" aka Type 98 as stated by the USDoD; later modifications of ZTZ99s based on the Project 9910, as well as the latest ZTZ99A also saw the use of the same gun, serving as the spearhead weapon of PLAGF elite armoured units.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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 article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

China tank cannons
30 mm	ZPL02 · ZPZ02
73 mm	Type 86
76 mm	M32K1
85 mm	Type 56 · Type 63
100 mm	PTP86 · Type 59 · Type 69 · Type 69-II · ZPL04
105 mm	88B-105T · Type 83 · WMA301 · ZPL94 · ZPL98A
120 mm	122TM · PTZ89
125 mm	Type 88C · Type 99A · ZPT98
130 mm	PL59A Gai
152 mm	PL66 Gai
	Foreign:
20 mm	KwK30 (Germany)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
45 mm	20-K (USSR)
47 mm	Type 1 (Japan)
57 mm	Type 97 (Japan) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
75 mm	M2 Howitzer (USA) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA)
76 mm	D-56T (USSR) · F-34 (USSR) · M1 (USA) · M7 (USA) · ZIS-3 (USSR)
85 mm	ZIS-S-53 (USSR)
90 mm	M3 (USA) · M41 (USA)
100 mm	D-10S (USSR)
105 mm	M68 (USA) · M68A1 (USA)
115 mm	U-5TS (USSR)
122 mm	A-19 (USSR) · D-25T (USSR)
152 mm	ML-20S (USSR)