ZTZ96A (P)

This page is about the Chinese medium tank ZTZ96A (P). For other versions, see ZTZ96 (Family).

ZTZ96A (P)

ZTZ96A (P)

China

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.0	10.0	10.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The ZhuangJia Tanke ZhuZhan 96A, Prototype is a premium gift rank VII Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 10.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

The ZTZ96A (P) is a prototype of the ZTZ96A. It has a different turret armour arrangement from the serial production version: instead of the arrowhead-shaped ERA mount, it has high-hardness spaced armour in an interesting "needle-nose" shape reminiscent of the Chieftain's profile. But the main selling point is the soft-kill APS system consisting of two JD-3 jammers mounted on the turret sides, which function similarly to the T-90A's "Shtora" and are a first for Chinese ground vehicles. This prototype trades some turret protection in exchange for the ability to disrupt the guidance of enemy ATGMs. In all other respects the ZTZ96A (P) is practically identical to the production version, with thermal sights and a powerful gun, and makes a good partner for a lineup.

General info

Survivability and armour

ERA

Effective action against the cumulative ammunition

Composite armour

Balanced protection against all types of ammunition

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull100 / 50 / 45

Turret220 / 50 / 20

Crew3 people

Visibility75 %

This tank, the failed bid for ZTZ96A, shared the very same chassis of its main tech tree counterpart. Having the same LFP with little to none protection while it UFP is among one of the strongest at its tier thanks to the FY-4 ERA blocks. While the turret is another story- this prototype has a oddly shaped wedge mounted on the front of turret, so players can tell this tank apart from the main tree one right away; the pair of wedge does provide sufficient protect against kinetic or chemical shells at similar tier, this only apply to the part in front of the turret but not the area in front of the mantle- this part has only 340 mm RHA equivalent protection so it will be penetrated with ease; another note is that this wedges don't provide full protection, angling them is the last thing to do as this will decrease the protection severely.

The internal design of this prototype is identical to ZTZ96A so the crew of 3 and its ammo carrousel sit at the very same place on both tanks, a penetrated shot up front will either knock down either of the crews or set off the carrousel and sent the turret sky high.

In fact, both ZTZ96A prototypes during testing have installed a JD-3 IR jammer; while the production run canceled this design, this prototype still retained the pair of jammers, giving it some chance on jamming missiles that use laser as its guidance.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB66 / 7 km/h

RB and SB60 / 6 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight43.0 t

Engine power

AB1 526 hp

RB and SB800 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB35.5 hp/t

RB and SB18.6 hp/t

Since one of the major upgrades of ZTZ96A is the engine, it was upgraded to a NORINCO 12150ZLD 800 hp engine; the ZTZ96A (P) is no exception. Although it might not have the overall mobility of NATO tanks, but the power/weight ratio (at 18.6 hp/t) is higher than mostly Soviet tanks, giving a better handling than the latter.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	66	7	43	_,___	1,526	__.__	35.49
Realistic	60	6		_,___	800	__.__	18.6

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB3 363

RB3 260

SB3 794

Crew training10 000

Experts1 160 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces2 150 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 150 / 200 / 250 %

2 × 232 / 232 / 232 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE NVD Crew Replenishment Smoke grenade ESS	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire Laser rangefinder Elevation Mechanism 125mm_china_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Artillery Support

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

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

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

125 mm Type 88C cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition40 rounds

First-order22 rounds

Reload7.1 s

Vertical guidance-5° / 12°

ZTZ96A (P) again inherited the same 125 mm ZPT88C cannon from ZTZ96, which is one of the best tank cannon at its tier; both the prototype and production tanks share the same traits- high velocity shells, sufficient turret traverse speed and the very same autoloader with fixed 7.1 second reload per (consecutive) shots.

125 mm Type 88C					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	40	-5°/+12°	±180°	Two-plane	28.6	39.5	48.0	53.1	56.5	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.1
Realistic					17.9	21.0	25.5	28.2	30.0

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
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

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%
DTP-125	HEATFS	905	18	0.05	0.1	2,190	65°	72°	77°
DTB-125	HE	850	23	0	0.1	5,460	79°	80°	81°
125-I	APFSDS	1,730	4.02	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

All three ZTZ96s in-game shared the very same shells so players from the main tech tree ones will soon find themselves home; since this is a premium tank, all the ammunition shown above comes stock with the tank.

The first ammunition is DTP-125 HEATFS, once again shared the same penetration of NATO 120 mm HEATFS while having the mass of Warsaw Pact 125 mm HEATFS; since ERA is commonplace at this tier, this round is best used on enemies showing their sides or against light targets- its explosive mass is sufficient to knock them down right away.

The second ammunition: DTB-125 HEFS is infamous for its explosive mass at nearly 5.5 kg, which is still the highest among any explosive rounds of all MBT; as a research paper from NORINCO suggested that DTB-125 is suited for knocking enemies down with its explosive mass, this also applies to any enemies you might face at similar tiers- a precise hit to weakspots that would trigger overpressure damage could sent even the toughest enemies straight back to the hanger with ease, let alone light vehicles. In case of sniping hiding enemies or need a quick knock-out on light vehicles, bring some HEFS is viable.

The third ammunition is the 125-I dart, thanks to its high velocity, it can penetrate 466 mm at point-blank range; the sheer penetration is more than enough to finish most NATO or Warsaw Pact tanks with very few exception. This would be the go to shell for ZTZ96A (P).

Ammo racks

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
40	Projectiles Propellants	40 (+0) 39 (+1)	38 (+2) 38 (+2)	37 (+3) 37 (+3)	35 (+5) 31 (+9)	32 (+8) 27 (+13)	29 (+11) 23 (+17)	24 (+16) 39 (+1)	23 (+17) N/A	39 (+1) N/A	No

Machine guns

12.7 mm QJC88A machine gun

Ammunition600 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

Vertical guidance-6° / 85°

7.62 mm Type 86 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate700 shots/min

12.7 mm QJC88A
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Commander's cupola	500 (150)	700	-5°/+60°	±180°

7.62 mm Type 86
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,500 (250)	700	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:

• Infrared jammer is effective against SACLOS ATGMs
• Sturdy UFP and turret front against common foes such as the XM-1
• Adequate mobility allows it to follow the team's advance
• Gunner thermal is useful for spotting targets, especially at night
• 125-I APFSDS has great penetration and damage against common tanks like the T-72, XM-1, Leopard 1, etc
• Roof-mounted 12.7 mm HMG is effective against light armour and helicopters
• 2 salvos of smoke grenades can cover the tank's retreat

Cons:

• Frontal weak spots are obvious and fatal: large and weak LFP and gun mantlet can be easily penetrated
• Slow reverse speed of only -5 km/h cannot pull it out of danger in time, and heavily limits tactical agility
• IR jammer has narrow vertical range, cannot defend missiles from above
• Side protection is weak, can be easily penetrated by tanks like the BMP-2 and aircraft like the A-10
• 8x zoom on gunner sight is disadvantageous in ranged engagements and CQC
• Turret add-on armour gives much less protection than the ERA on the regular ZTZ96A

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

• [Devblog] Pre-order: ZTZ96A Prototype (China)

China North Industries Corporation - NORINCO 中国兵器工业集团有限公司
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