ZTS63

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Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
ZTS63
cn_zts_63_1980.png
GarageImage ZTS63.jpg
ZTS63
AB RB SB
7.7 7.7 7.7
Class:
Research:95 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:270 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The ZTS63 (Chinese:ZTS63式水陆两栖坦克, industry code WZ211), originally certified in 1963 as the amphibious tank for PLANMC or PLAGF units with the needs to cross waterbodies which were abundant in Asia, has received an upgrade as some of the technologies used on ZTZ59A or ZTQ62 have already been installed successfully by 1980; in ZTS63's case, it received a laser rangefinder and better fire control system for long-range fire support. These tanks have served PLAGF during the Sino-Vietnamese War in early 1980s as a supporter to troops against Vietnamese troops and militia with very few tanks at service, although having non-sufficient protection against cannons and RPGs, these vehicles were kept in service until later ZTS63A and eventually ZLT05 or newer IFVs that replaced its role as amphibious tank, marking the end of the prefix ZTS in PLA service.

Introduced in Update "Sky Guardians", players of Type 62 or Type 63-I will soon find themselves home thanks to its identical handling and overall design, some welcoming upgrades including better FCS and the installation of Type 54 DShK also makes it a more versatile alternative to its predecessors; the introduction of this tank also marked the earliest tank possible to equip with both APFSDS and LRF with automatic ballistic solutions, not only this greatly extent the combat distance of the tank, it also greatly increase its odds to survive as this feature is extremely rare at its tier. However, players would still have to beware of its below-average protection against even HMGs and rather slow turret traverse speed, these could be fatal if players must run into heated fights without the situational awareness needed.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull15 / 10 / 8
Turret20 / 20 / 20
Crew4 people
Visibility83 %

One thing to note is that the name of ZTS63 is interchangeable with Type 63, other than the name change after 1980, HMG on turret and a LRF on the mantle by the centerline, the overall design of these two tanks are totally identical. For the needs of amphibious operations, the protection is reduced to the bare minimum to stop rifle caliber bullets and shrapnel; other than the mantlet at 50 mm, the whole vehicle has only up to 20 mm of armor, enemies' autocannons and HMGs will be very happy to see ZTS63 as they could tear down the vehicle with ease. So it's better to keep the vehicle from the heated battlefield and act as a supporter of the team to deliver possible final blow to enemy vehicles or disabling enemies as much as possible.

Armour type:

Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 10 mm (82°) UFP

15 mm (54°) LFP

10 mm Top
8 mm Bottom
8 mm 8 mm
Turret 20 mm Turret front (Volumetric)
50 mm Gun mantlet
20 mm (Volumetric) 8 mm
Cupola 8 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Amphibious
The design allows you to swim and control movement in the water
Speedforward / back
AB72 / 9 km/h
RB and SB65 / 9 km/h
Number of gears5 forward
1 back
Weight18.4 t
Engine power
AB763 hp
RB and SB400 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB41.5 hp/t
RB and SB21.7 hp/t

The ZTS63 didn't receive any upgrade in terms of powerplant and transmission, so it shares the same 12150L-2 diesel engine found previously on Type 63-I; the very slight or even no weight change on the tank also means it can retain a sufficiently high power-to-weight ratio at around 20 hp/t. If players ever have the need to flank enemies by taking detours on waterbodies, it could also travel on water at 11 km/h, one of the fastest speed among other amphibious vehicle in game.

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 72 9 18.4 _,___ 763 __.__ 41.47
Realistic 65 9 _,___ 400 __.__ 21.74

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB3 163 → 4 402 Sl icon.png
RB3 777 → 5 257 Sl icon.png
SB5 145 → 7 161 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications76 500 Rp icon.png
128 600 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost2 000 Ge icon.png
Crew training78 000 Sl icon.png
Experts270 000 Sl icon.png
Aces1 100 Ge icon.png
Research Aces670 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
110 / 160 / 200 % Sl icon.png
190 / 190 / 190 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
5 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 600 Sl icon.png
260 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
3 600 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 800 Sl icon.png
175 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
3 600 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 800 Sl icon.png
175 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
5 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 100 Sl icon.png
250 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
3 400 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 600 Sl icon.png
260 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
2 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 800 Sl icon.png
175 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement cn.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
5 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 100 Sl icon.png
250 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Research:
5 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 600 Sl icon.png
260 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
3 600 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 800 Sl icon.png
175 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
85mm_APCBC_ammo_pack
Research:
3 600 Rp icon.png
Cost:
5 800 Sl icon.png
175 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
5 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 100 Sl icon.png
250 Ge icon.png
Mods airstrike.png
Airstrike
Research:
5 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
8 100 Sl icon.png
250 Ge icon.png
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png
Mods tank laser rangefinder.png
Laser rangefinder
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png
Mods scouting.png
Improved optics
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png
Mods tank ammo.png
85mm_cn_APFSDS_ammo_pack
Research:
4 300 Rp icon.png
Cost:
6 900 Sl icon.png
210 Ge icon.png

Armaments

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

Main armament

85 mm Type 63 cannon
Ammunition47 rounds
First-order6 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
9.6 → 7.4 s
Vertical guidance-5° / 22°
Main article: Type 63 (85 mm)

Still sharing the same gun as on Type 62 and 63, the Type 63 85 mm rifle cannon still handles totally identical to Type 63-I with some changes on the ammunition available; players will find the same exact advantage and flaws from previous users- while the caliber is larger than most light tanks of its tier with variety of ammunition and now APFSDS is among one of them, players need extra situational awareness to use the gun as it has way less reaction time than most light tanks at its tier as well; plan ahead and turn the turret before any close-quarter assaults.

85 mm Type 63 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 47 -5°/+22° ±180° - __._ __._ __._ __._ __._ _.__ _.__ _.__ _.__
Realistic __._ __._ __._ __._ __._

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 56 HEAT-FS HEATFS 300 300 300 300 300 300
Type 56 HE HE 19 18 17 16 15 14
Type 56 APCBC APCBC 164 162 154 143 134 125
DJW85 APFSDS 227 225 217 208 199 190
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 56 HEAT-FS HEATFS 845 7 0.05 0.1 822.8 65° 72° 77°
Type 56 HE HE 785 9.54 0.2 0.1 741 79° 80° 81°
Type 56 APCBC APCBC 792 9.2 1.2 14 77 48° 63° 71°
DJW85 APFSDS 1,290 2.1 - - - 78° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
47 __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __

Machine guns

12.7 mm Type 54 machine gun
Ammunition500 rounds
Belt capacity50 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate600 shots/min
Vertical guidance-4° / 82°
7.62 mm Type 59 machine gun (coaxial)
Ammunition2 000 rounds
Belt capacity250 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate600 shots/min

The previous Type 63-I has no HMG installed on top; in ZTS63's case, it has a pintle Type 54 DShK installed on the commander side of turret, giving it the chance to unleash 12.7 mm bullets against light targets or aircrafts/helicopters that came too close.

12.7 mm Type 54
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 3,250 (250) 600 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Amphibious, allowing the use of surprise tactics involving rivers
  • Fast and nimble enough to get into vantage points
  • LRF and automatic ballistic solution for long-range engagement
  • Access to HMG for self-defense against planes
  • The earliest non-premium vehicle to introduce APFSDS
  • Varieties of ammunition for different scenario

Cons:

  • Rather unprotected with its paper-thin armor
  • Slow turret traverse speed
  • Relatively slow reload speed
  • Still lacks NVD for night battles
  • No smoke grenades
  • Relatively large size for a light tank

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

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

See also

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


China light tanks
Type 63  Object 211 · Type 63 · ZTS63
Type 62  Type 62
WZ551  ZSL92 · PTL02 · WMA301
ZBL08  ZLT11
Type 86  ZBD86
WZ502  ZBD04A
ROC  M41D · M64
Type 59  QN506
USA  ␗M8 LAC · ␗M3A3 Stuart · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M5A1 · ␗M24 · ␗M18 GMC · ␗M41A3
USSR  ␗T-26 · T-26 No.531 · ␗PT-76