ZTZ88A
Contents
Description
The ZhuangJia Tanke ZhuZhan 88A (88A式主战坦克, coded WZ122G) is a rank VI Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 9.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".
An attempt of the PLAGF to modernize from the previous masses of ZTZ59 medium tanks, the ZTZ88A offers a superior engine, slightly better hull protection thanks to a new hull, and better firepower with a long barrel 105 mm gun, making it a more mobile alternative to previous tanks while retaining decent armour and powerful firepower.
General info
Survivability and armour
At first glance, the ZTZ88A still resembles a T-54 or its Chinese domestic counterpart, ZTZ59, but with a closer look at its hull, players will find that it is a new design. The UFP is more angled than the T-54's (67° vs 60°), so the base protection is slightly better than that of the T-54/T-62, in fact giving the ZTZ88A one of the most protected hulls at its tier. Furthermore, thanks to the advancement in composite armour in China, it is also the first Chinese vehicle to be equipped with composite armour as an applique on UFP; although it can't stop most APFSDS or HEATFS at its tier, APDS from lower tiers will have a hard time penetrating. The sides were reduced to 60 mm, so do be aware of any vehicles with autocannons - at the tier, most autocannons have APDS or APFSDS at their disposal. The turret is very similar to previous Soviet/Chinese designs so do not expect the turret to survive many shots of APFSDS or HEATFS.
Like the previous Soviet/Chinese designs, the crew of 4 tankers is packed in a slightly bigger but still confined space. Although the ammo rack is protected by fuel tanks, the abundance of APFSDS or HEAT at the tier isn't really concerned about these improvements. Be very careful when moving on the battlefield, a penetrating shot will very likely result in a knockout of the crew or ammunition detonation.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 100 + 20 mm (67°) Upper 80 mm (52°) Lower |
60 mm Top 50 mm Bottom |
45 mm (3°) | 30 mm (89°) |
| Turret | 200-300 mm Turret front (Volumetric) 70-400 mm Gun mantlet (Volumetric) |
165-250 mm (Volumetric) | 60-100 mm (Volumetric) | 30 mm (87°) |
| Cupola | 80 mm (cylindrical) | 30 mm | ||
| Composite armour | Frontal effective protection | Sides |
|---|---|---|
| Hull | Upper glacis: 280 mm Kinetic / 380 mm Chemical |
N/A |
Notes:
- Tracks and suspension wheels are 20 mm thick
Mobility
Thanks to improvements during the early 1980s, the ZTZ88A is equipped with a NORINCO 12150ZL engine with 730 hp, the same as the succeeding ZTZ96. This gives the ZTZ88A a vast improvement in power-weight ratio and thus better top speed at 57 km/h to its predecessors. Although it is not as fast as NATO counterparts at similar tier, it is certainly a welcomed improvement.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 64 | 10 | 38.5 | 1131 | 1,393 | 29.38 | 36.18 |
| Realistic | 58 | 9 | 646 | 730 | 16.78 | 18.96 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
The introduction of the Royal Ordnance 105 mm L7 cannon marked the transformation of PLAGF from Warsaw Pact armaments to western ones, the ZPL94 mounted on the ZTZ88A is among one of the longest barrels in the L7 family, giving it a higher velocity over its western counterparts.
| 105 mm ZPL94 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 45 | -4°/+18° | ±180° | Two-plane | 19.0 | 26.4 | 32.0 | 35.4 | 37.6 | 9.75 | 8.63 | 7.95 | 7.50 |
| Realistic | 11.9 | 14.0 | 17.0 | 18.8 | 20.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| Type-83 HEAT | HEATFS | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| DTB-1 | HE-VT* | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Type-83 HESH | HESH | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 |
| Type-83 APDS | APFSDS | 351 | 349 | 343 | 336 | 328 | 321 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| Type-83 HEAT | HEATFS | 1,200 | 11 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1,270 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| DTB-1 | HE-VT* | 825 | 16.2 | 0 | 0.1 | 1,660 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| Type-83 HESH | HESH | 750 | 15 | 0.1 | 4 | 4,310 | 73° | 77° | 80° |
| Type-83 APDS | APFSDS | 1,500 | 3.79 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
The ZTZ88A offers a range of shells at the player's disposal, and players who already own the T-69 II G will be very familiar with them as both tanks share the same shells.
The first option that comes stock is the Type 83 HEAT having identical performance to NATO's DM13 HEAT. At its tier, it is still sufficient to penetrate most tanks without ERA (which is rare at the tier) and its explosive mass is enough to knock out lighter vehicles.
The DTB-1 is very different from most HE shells at its tier - it is a VT shell, meaning that the shell detonates when it is close to other vehicles, including aircraft; this is a trait that NATO counterparts don't have. It has 16.2 kg of explosive mass, which can knock out lighter vehicles, and it is suggested to use to target aircraft or helicopters which happen to be within your elevation angle - a hit from DTB-1 is very lethal to aircraft.
The Type 83 HESH is another story. It is a common HESH found on NATO vehicles - a solid hit on vehicles can trigger a lethal post-penetration effect, but the results of HESH is mixed. It is still possible to snipe stationary vehicles with Type 83 HESH in some cases so bring some if desired - the laser rangefinder will certainly help with this.
The last round available is Type 83 APDS. Thanks to the longer barrel of the ZPL94, the overall penetration is slightly higher than M111/DM23 APFSDS at 351 mm point-blank; this is the go-to shell for the ZTZ88A. It might not have the highest penetration at its tier, but it can still hit enemies hard.
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 40 (+5) | 23 (+22) | 1 (+44) | No |
Although there are 23 shells in the ready rack, only 19 of them are protected by the fuel tanks, not the 4 shells on the left side; so it is suggested to bring only 20 shells into battle (19 in the rack + 1 preloaded in the breech).
Machine guns
The ZTZ88A still uses the same machine guns from the obsolete T-54s despite its introduction date in the early 1990s. The DShK is still sufficient to gun down strafing aircraft/helicopters or lighter vehicles, while the SGMT is only good for harassing enemies or sometimes targeting exposed crews.
| 12.7 mm DShK | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 500 (50) | 600 | -5°/+60° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm SGMT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 2,500 (250) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
For Soviet or Chinese players, the ZTZ88A would feel like a faster T-55 or ZTZ59D1, which is indeed true thanks to its 730 hp engine, giving it higher mobility over them; it might not be the fastest tank at its tier, but the ZTZ88A can still follow up with the main forces with its speed. For those who are playing against the ZTZ88A, the tank looks very similar to T-55s but they will be surprised when they don't penetrate its UFP thanks to the applique armour, it might not stop most APFSDS or HEATFS at similar tiers, but it certainly helps stop earlier shells. The turret is another story however - although being slightly thicker than the T-55s, it will not stop any well-placed shots at its tier.
The firepower of the ZTZ88A is certainly sufficient thanks to the longer barrel ZPL94 gun with a variety of shells; but like many Eastern Bloc/Chinese tanks, it doesn't have the reaction time of NATO counterparts and the gunsight is fixed at 8x magnification, so sniping with this gun may be a problem.
Overall, the ZTZ88A provides a more mobile and higher firepower alternative for the PLAGF compared to NATO or Soviet counterparts but still has some flaws.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good frontal arc protection for its tier
- Long barrel L7 with a variety of shells at its disposal
- Improved engine with a higher output than its predecessors
Cons:
- Tightly packed crew and components
- Poor gun depression and gunsight
History
After the Damansky/Zhenbao Island (珍宝岛) incident where the PLAGF captured a T-62 from the Soviet border guard, they soon realized that the existing ZTZ59s and later WZ121 (ZTZ69) were nowhere near comparable with the masses of latest Soviet MBTs. The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (国防科学技术委员会, COSTIND) and Fifth Ministry of Machine Building (第五机械工业部;五机部) accelerated their project coded "Project 2-4" (二四会战; established on 1970/2/4) for a new MBT which would be known as Project 122 (122工程). The project was dropped a few years later after revisions on the development route but this trained new batches of tank designers and engineers for future projects.
Meanwhile, one of the "fail-safe" versions of the designs in Project 122, WZ1225 with the newly-imported 105 mm gun and improved engine, designed by Fang Weixian (方慰先, designer of later ZTZ85, 88, and 96) passed state evaluation and inherited the industrial code WZ122. The later revised design of WZ1225 would become the basis of the later domestically designed ZTZ80 (80式主战坦克) tanks.
The ZTZ88 series was a hybrid of the ZTZ85 (85式主战坦克) with a redesigned hull and the turret from ZTZ80, aka ZTZ80-I. The ZTZ88A was the improved version with a ZPL94 105 mm gun. What was achieved in ZTZ85 and ZTZ88A would later be used in the new 2nd generation MBT of PLAGF - the ZTZ96 (ZTZ88C).
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 series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| 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 |
