Type 69-IIa
This page is about the gift Chinese medium tank Type 69-IIa. For other versions, see Type 69 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Type 69-IIa is a premium gift rank V Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Drone Age" as a premium pack purchasable briefly in the Gaijin store during the 2022 "National Day of the People's Republic of China" mini-event.
An upgraded version of the Type 69-II medium tanks solely for export orders, the Type 69-IIa featured a very similar performance to the T-55A in Soviet service with most of their shells being interchangeable. For players who need an extra tank for their line-up and are used to the performance of Warsaw Pact tanks, the Type 69-IIa will not disappoint players with its variety of shells as well as better FCS for long-range fights.
The Type 69-IIa was originally introduced in the Chinese (Tencent) server as a part of "The Might of Type 69" (六九扬威) event during the Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica" in 2017 as the National Day gift.[1]
General info
Survivability and armour
The overall appearance resembles a T-54/55 series medium tank, but the tank itself is in fact the domestic modified version of the WZ121 (Type 69) from Mainland China with a very similar appearance; the Type 69-IIa includes side skirts and turret fences for extra protection against HEAT projectiles as a part of the demand of their customers (namely Iraq). Other than that it performs exactly like the main tech-tree Type 69 but armed with a rifled 100 mm gun instead. Since there were no ERA packages or applique armour from Mainland China, the protection and its layout is totally identical to the Type 69; the wet ammo-rack might sometimes do magic against oncoming shots, but do not expect it to save you everytime as the odds of an ammo detonation is still high in this case.
Armour type:
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 100 mm (60°) UFP
100 mm (54°) LFP |
80 mm Top + 5 mm Side skirts 20 mm Bottom |
45 mm | 30 mm |
Turret | 200 mm Turret front (Volumetric) 200 mm Gun mantlet (Volumetric) |
165 mm (Volumetric) | 65 mm (Volumetric) | 30 mm |
Cupola | 100 mm | 40 mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Although claimed to be an upgrade from the original V-54/12V150L diesel engine, the engine (12V150L7BW) onboard shares the identical rated output at 580 hp as the Type 69, as well as its top speed at 50 km/h; although it is better than some NATO tanks at the era in terms of power-to-weight ratio, in case of faster tanks such as Leopards and AMX-30s, it would be unlikely to outrun them to vantage points.
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
Arcade | 56 | 9 | 36.7 | 899 | 1,107 | 24.5 | 30.16 |
Realistic | 51 | 8 | 513 | 580 | 13.98 | 15.8 |
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
Due to the lack of firepower for the original Type 69 100 mm smoothbore cannon, Factory 617 rearmed later Type 69s variants with a Type 69-II rifled cannon of the same calibre which the earlier export tanks opted for as well. Although still being a rifled gun at its tier, the gun itself comes with a variety of Warsaw Pact/Chinese shells and slightly faster gun traverse speed thanks to new gun-laying drivers.
100 mm Type 69-II | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 44 | -5°/+18° | ±180° | Two-plane | 14.3 | 19.8 | 24.0 | 26.5 | 28.2 | 11.05 | 9.78 | 9.01 | 8.50 |
Realistic | 8.9 | 10.5 | 12.8 | 14.1 | 15.0 |
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 59 APDS | APDS | 361 | 356 | 335 | 311 | 288 | 267 |
Type 44 AP | APCBC | 239 | 236 | 220 | 202 | 185 | 170 |
Type 1973 HEAT-FS | HEATFS | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 |
Type 44 HE | HE | 27 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 21 |
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 59 APDS | APDS | 1,432 | 3.18 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
Type 44 AP | APCBC | 887 | 15.88 | 1.2 | 19 | 100.1 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
Type 1973 HEAT-FS | HEATFS | 1,000 | 10.05 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1,180 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
Type 44 HE | HE | 900 | 15.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1,460 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
The Type 69-IIa shares very similar shells to a Type 59 with a rifled gun, but in the Type 69's case, it has slightly different types of shells. Since it is a premium tank, all the rounds onboard comes researched.
One of the first stock shells, Type 1959 APDS, is identical to the Soviet 3BM3 with sufficient penetration to deal with medium tanks of its tier; although it might have some trouble against tanks with rounded hulls or well-armoured late-WWII/Cold War tanks such as the Pattons, M103, and Maus. Do remember to place the shots on their weak spots. Since it is a premium tank, the Type 69-IIa comes with all shells unlocked, so this shell never needs to be used.
The other stock shell, Type 44 HE (OF-412), is again found on many tanks with the D-10T cannon; due to its lesser explosive content and penetration compared to other larger calibre shells, it is only good for taking out SPAAGs or light/open-top vehicles.
The first researchable shell, Type 44 AP (BR-412D), is again a common shell for 100 mm rifled guns on both Warsaw-Pact/Chinese tanks; infamous for its explosive content and sufficiently high penetration, any penetrating shots on enemy tanks are very likely to inflict severe damage, if not knock them out right away. This will be the go-to shell for the Type 69-IIa.
The second researchable shell, Type 1973 HEAT-FS, is identical to Soviet 3BK17M. Although it might not have the highest penetration among other HEATFS at its tier, it is still sufficient to take down well-armoured targets with its 390 mm penetration, while lighter vehicles will have to face the 10 kg of explosive contents that is more than enough to overpressure them right away. It is recommended to bring a few for use against both the most lightly and heavily armoured targets.
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
44 | 43 (+1) | 38 (+6) | 34 (+10) | 22 (+22) | 20 (+24) | 1 (+43) | No |
Machine guns
Like most Chinese tanks of the era, the Type 69-IIa is equipped with a Type 54 HMG on the commander's side of turret; although having only 50 rounds per magazine, the penetration and calibre can make sure aircraft that get too close will not have a good time, and sometimes even score a kill.
12.7 mm Type 54 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Pintle | 500 (50) | 600 | -4°/+82° | ±180° |
7.62 mm SGMT | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 3,000 (250) | 600 | - | - |
Usage in battles
Players who own a T-55A or Type 69 will get used to the Type 69-IIa very quickly as both of them share many features including a two-plane stabilizer and very similar appearance. However, players will soon find a distinctive feature on the 69-IIa: its fences on the turret, it might make it somewhat bold in terms of its look, these fences still have some chances to stop HEAT shells from lower tiers by detonating them before hitting the turret. Other than that, most of its performance is identical to Type 69 but being a bit heavier; the overall mobility is identical though. Do note that the overall turret traverse speed is not as fast as its NATO competitors, so be extra careful in close-quarters brawling; being prepared for any situation is the key to utilising the Type 69-IIa. Although it doesn't have the 3D3 smoke shell at disposal, it does comes with 8 smoke grenades with 2 shots per round which can mitigate the problem.
While it might not be the spearhead of the team, if being used properly, using a mix of HEATFS and APCBC can ensure maximum efficiency out of the Type 69-IIa depending on the scenario; for flanking operations, BR-412D can make sure tanks that showed their sides will meet their miserable end or at least disable them for a while, while HEATFS works fine dealing with heavier targets front-on as well. The tank has access to a laser rangefinder along with automatic ballistic solution, making it more comfortable in long-range engagements. But do not over-extend due to the low reverse speed and worse manoeuvrability than NATO tanks, plan ahead before assaulting enemies; the armour might sometimes save players from total destruction, but do not rely on it as HEAT warheads and APFSDS darts start to be common at later tiers.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Type 44 AP round is devastating when flanking thanks to the high explosive content
- Laser rangefinder with automatic ballistic solution makes distant engagement easy and effective
- Overall sufficient frontal protection at its tier especially against autocannons (e.g. ZSU-57-2)
- Extra turret fences that somewhat helps stopping HEAT projectiles
- Access to smoke grenade launchers
Cons:
- Inferior optics at its tier (no thermal)
- Cramped interior with high risk of detonation
- Rather slow reload
- Slow turret traverse speed
- Relatively inferior mobility, especially reverse speed, to NATO tanks like Leopard 1, OF-40, etc.
History
The WZ121/BW121 (Type 69 and 79; coded BW when exported) was a family of medium tanks in Mainland China; their first domestic designs with new technologies introduced during the '70s and '80s. It was also the first commercially exported tank of the newly founded NORINCO, as Mainland China was in dire for arms deals in view of funding for economic reforms in the 1980s. The 69-II variant was the precursor of all export BW121 series with revised fire control system and safety features with automatic fire suppression system. They were first delivered in 1982 and the later batches of BW121A received turret fences and NBC filtering system for the crew. Due to the relatively low price over NATO or even Soviet tanks, the BW121 series received bulks of orders from countries with tight budgets, aside from Pakistan who had licensed production line and others that ordered ranging from dozens to hundreds, Iraq was the largest user of the BW121 series (2,860 69-II series and ARVs), including the later Type 79-based variants with 105 mm gun and western FCS. They were first used during the Iraq-Iran conflicts where oddly enough, both sides owned quantities of BW121; but the later Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm also gave the death sentence to these tanks for its overall obsolete design and outdated systems.
While Type 69-IIAs are still being used by the current Iraqi Army in small quantities, insurgents in the Middle East do also own some quantities of Type 69-II.
Media
- Skins
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
References
- ↑ As shown in this PhlyDaily's video on 2017/10/13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FL-tjWJWOM
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 |
China premium ground vehicles | |
---|---|
Light tanks | T-26 No.531 · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M41A3 · M64 · WMA301 |
Medium tanks | ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545 · ZTZ59A · Type 69-IIa · T-69 II G · ZTZ96A (P) · Al-Khalid-I |
Heavy tanks | IS-2 No.402 |