Object 122MT "MC"
Contents
Description
The Object 122 Medium Tank "Mechanical Controls" is a squadron rank VI Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Danger Zone".
Also known to the Chinese community as the 三机样车 ("triple-mechanical" prototype; mechanical suspension, transmission and control), it was the Chinese attempt to build new MBT during the heat of Sino-Soviet conflicts with their latest technology available. This version of 122MT introduced the very first 120 mm smoothbore gun in the world as well as a new ATGM welded onto the turret for extra firepower, as well as sporting their latest FCS with laser rangefinder and new diesel engine.
General info
Survivability and armour
At longer distance, 122TM looks exactly like any other Warsaw Pact or Chinese tanks in early Cold War with its iconic oval shape cast turret and sloped chassis; but in 122TM's case, it has higher slope angle at 67° that gives it more protection against late APCBC shells, while the turret itself is slight thinner than T-54s/Type 59. The sides look somewhat similar to a Leopard 1 with sloped plates that gives 122TM slightly higher protection on the sides, but the lower plate is the same 80 mm flat, it could stop autocannons from a distance (around 500m and above), but do not expect it can do miracle at close quarter brawling.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 100 mm (67°) UFP
80 mm (60°) LFP |
5 mm (49°)+ 80 mm Top 80 mm Bottom |
30 mm (25°) | 30 mm |
| Turret | 214 mm Turret front (Volumetric)
___mm Gun mantlet |
165 mm (Volumetric) | 65 mm (Volumetric) | 30 mm |
| Cupola | 30 mm | |||
Notes:
Mobility
An important aspect of 122TM is the overall upgrade on mobility, therefore Weifang Diesel developed a new 8V160 engine for the tank with higher output at 650 hp. It might not sound much against NATO tanks, but its design also makes sure the overall mobility is sufficient to move around at higher acceleration against Warsaw Pact tanks- which is the main enemy proposed by the engineers.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 62 | 9 | 37.5 | 1,007 | 1,240 | 26.85 | 33.07 |
| Realistic | 56 | 8 | 575 | 650 | 15.33 | 17.33 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
Based on the 115 mm U-5TS gun captured on Soviet T-62, Chinese engineers up-gunned the cannon into a stabilized 120 mm smoothbore cannon with automatic ballistic solution thanks to its laser rangefinder; although the overall gun handling is similar to a WZ120 (Type 59) or a T-62, the larger cannon with varieties of shells will make sure it can make short work of enemies at its tier.
| 120 mm 122TM | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 40 | -6°/+18° | ±180° | Two-plane | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | 12.0 | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| 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 | ||
| 120-I | APFSDS | 285 | 279 | 263 | 243 | 222 | 202 |
| 120-HE | HE | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 |
| 120-II | APFSDS | 350 | 347 | 322 | 300 | 283 | 270 |
| 120-HEAT | HEATFS | 440 | 440 | 440 | 440 | 440 | 440 |
| 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% | |||||||
| 120-I | APFSDS | 1,610 | 4.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 72° | 76° | 78° |
| 120-HE | HE | 940 | 16.5 | 0 | 0.1 | 2,760 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 120-II | APFSDS | 1,610 | 4.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 76° | 77° | 80° |
| 120-HEAT | HEATFS | 1,000 | 15 | 0.052 | 0.1 | 1,750 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
Thanks to its higher gun pressure and the development of new shells, 122MT also has a few varieties of shells at disposal.
The 120-I is among one of the stock shells for the tank, due to the fact that it was a steel core dart and statically similar to Soviet 3BM4, although being labeled an APFSDS, it might sometimes have problem facing tanks with rounded hull such as American M48 Patton series or Object 279; but in most cases it is sufficient to defeat most tanks at its tier.
The 120-HE is another stock shell for it as well, although the caliber might sound tempting and does has slightly higher mass and penetration from 3OF11, but the explosive content and penetration also means that only light vehicles or SPAAG will have a bad day facing this HE shell; well-armored targets are likely immune to it unless being hit from gun ports (overpressure) while some NATO tanks also have chances of being blasted by the shell from the roof.
The first researchable shell is the 120-II, a tungsten rod APFSDS; thanks to its tungsten core, it has higher flat penetration from its stock counterpart and performs similarly in terms of damage but also trades sloped penetration; it will have problem facing Soviet tanks at uptier.
The final shell awaits the 120-HEAT, performs similarly to 3BK4 but at slightly higher velocity and mass; but like many HEATFS of the era, it might face ERA or composite armor and do very little on them, as well as its jet stream doesn't have as much spalling as darts. Optionally this can replace HE shells and take it as a way to defeat light vehicles.
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 35 (+5) | 33 (+7) | 31 (+9) | 25 (+15) | 1 (+39) | No |
Additional armament
A unique feature of 122MT is the 2 pairs of 302 ATGMs welded onto the turret; as the ancestor of the later HJ-8 missiles, although it might not have the highest penetration and speed among ATGMs at its tier, 4 ATGMs can make sure most enemies will not have the chance to retaliate or in case players do not feel confident with its gun.
| 302 ATGM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer |
| 4 | -6°/+25° | ±180° | N/A |
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 | ||
| 302 Anti-tank Missile | ATGM | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
| Missile details | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Range (m) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
| 302 Anti-tank Missile | ATGM | 250 | 3000 | 11.2 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1960 | 80° | 82° | 90° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|
| 4 | No |
Machine guns
Although it has a slightly different DShK (Type 54) design with an anti-aircraft reticle, the overall performance of it is identical to any other DShK which is good for gunning down light vehicles or helicopters that get too close.
| 12.7 mm DShK | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 500 (50) | 600 | -10°/+60° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm SGMT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 3,000 (250) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
At first glance, some players might consider it as a reverse-engineered T-62 of Mainland China with 4 tubes welded next to the turrets; but as soon as they read the statcard, there are some major differences, namely the gun at 120 mm and those tubes are in fact ATGMs. The overall playstyle of 122MT is very similar to T-62 or previous T-54/55 family aside from the overall mobility being better thanks to the upgraded 650 hp engine; the steep slope on the UFP also helps it for a slightly better protection against full-caliber kinetic rounds from late WWII or early Cold War tanks; even if players are not confident with the darts onboard against "doomsday" tank such as the infamous Maus or bowl-shaped hull tanks like M103, it still comes with 4 ATGMs at its disposal with more than enough penetration against most targets of its tier. With that in mind, 122TM could be one of the most powerful medium tanks at its tier with better firepower.
But do note that, although it has better power-to-weight ratio to US tanks, British tanks or Warsaw Pact tanks of its era, it is still not the fastest tank, targets like Leopards and AMX-30 will likely outrun 122TM for vantage point; wheeled vehicles started to be common by this tier as well as APFSDS where it will have few problem penetrating 122TM's armor. Do also be well prepared for enemies by turning the turret to where they might appear- the turret traverse speed is unforgivingly slow (albeit better than original T-54s). The "302" missiles onboard are also relatively inferior to its counterparts and flies slow, in some occasions it will be jammed by either IRCM on certain tanks or being intercepted by hard-kill APS on namely T-55AMD-1, sometimes even by bullets. So either utilize them on unnoticed targets or those who had already been crippled by your 120 mm gun, they will very unlikely survive the upcoming missile; if any helicopters do show up within its 3 km radius, taking them out with "302" is also viable but do make sure you lead enough onto the target.
Overall, the 122MT is a very versatile tank of its tier, if on the right hands, it can tear down a defense line with relatively ease with its sufficient firepower onboard.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful 120mm APFSDS can frontally penetrate common foes (eg. M60, T-55, Leopard 1)
- 4 ATGM are a very useful backup (or primary) armament to finish off enemies
- Slightly better frontal protection than T-55/62, making angling a more effective tactic
- Low profile, harder to get spotted & hit
- Has a range of useful protective features like 12.7mm HMG and ESS.
- Access to laser rangefinder and 2-plane stabiliser for effective target acquisition
Cons:
- Awful reverse speed of -7 km/h, can sometimes put the player in a fatal situation
- While cannon and missiles are powerful, they still cannot penetrate well armoured tanks like T-55AM
- Insufficient gun depression
- Long reload, can be dangerous if the player fails to one-shot target
- No thermal imaging, a disadvantage in night battles against more advanced tanks like Leopard A1A1
- No ERA or composite armour, will get easily penetrated by HEAT (eg. M551, M901)
- 120-II APFSDS doesn't offer any substantial upgrade, trading worse angled penetration for a slightly more flat penetration
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
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
| 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 |
| Squadron ground vehicles | |
|---|---|
| USA | M901 · M1A1 AIM |
| Germany | Leopard 2 PL |
| USSR | BMP-2M · T-80UK |
| Britain | Bhishma TWMP |
| Japan | RCV (P) |
| China | Object 122MT "MC" |
| France | CV 9035NL |
| Sweden | T 80 U |
| Israel | Magach 6B Gal |
