Chinese VT-5 tanks did not get from the ship to the ball

New Chinese-made VT-5 tanks were unable to take part in the military parade on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence. The first batch of these combat vehicles was manufactured at the end of November. But even if they managed to be transferred to the buyer's territory, the crews, apparently, did not have time to master the equipment enough to drive it in a parade formation.

Therefore, the already familiar MW-2000, Type-59BD Durjoy and Type-69Mk2G passed through the streets of Dhaka.

The first are also known as VT-1A and are a joint Sino-Pakistani project. If in the latter they continue to be produced under the name Al-Khalid, then in China, due to friction with Ukraine over the supply of 1200-horsepower 6TD-2 engines, Norinco Corporation stopped production.

Therefore, the ground forces were able to purchase only forty-four units, which before the arrival of the VT-5 were considered the most modern tanks in the armed forces of Bangladesh.

Type-59BD are deeply modernized versions of samples developed back in the 50s. They reinforced armor protection, installed 125 mm smoothbore guns, modern fire control systems with thermal imagers. The weight of the tank increased from 36,000 kg to 40,000, but satisfactory mobility was preserved due to the new 800 hp powertrain.

It was reported about plans to purchase three hundred of these updated "fifty-niners", but so far there are only 174 pieces in parts.

Type-69Mk2G - only about six dozen. At the present time, they are already considered obsolete, primarily for armored protection. It is expected that over time they will be replaced with more advanced tanks, perhaps even with VT-5 new batches.

Alexey Moiseev