WZ-111 Heavy Tank

WZ-111 Heavy Tank
WZ-111 at the Tank Museum, Beijing
Type Heavy tank
Place of origin  PRC
Specifications
Weight 44 to 46 tonnes (based on the specific variant (none exists as only one single prototype was designed and then built))
Length 10.625 m (with the tank gun facing forward)
Width 3.3 m
Height 2.497 m
Crew 4 (The commander, the loader, the gunner and the driver)
Armor 80 to 200 mm
Main
armament
 122 mm "Y-174" tank gun
Secondary
armament
 One 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun
Two 7.62 mm medium machine guns (one co-axial and one mounted on the hull's right-side front)
Engine 12-cylinder supercharged diesel engine attached with a radiator
750 HP (or 390 KW)
Power/weight 12.5 KW/T
Suspension Torsion-bar suspension system

The WZ-111 heavy tank (Chinese: WZ-111重型坦克) was a heavy tank that was developed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the 1960s but was eventually cancelled in 1966 due to many mechanical problems.

History

The WZ-111 featured a 750 hp supercharged diesel engine and torsion bar suspension system. The idler wheels were in front with drive sprockets in the rear. Many of the suspension components were the same type used in Soviet heavy tank designs such as the IS-2. [1]

The first prototype began testing in 1964. This prototype lacked a turret, but was fitted with a steel weight to simulate the actual mass of the turret during testing. Because of many technological problems that surfaced during testing, the design was shelved about 1966.[2][3] [4] A WZ-111 tank hull is now displayed at the Tank Museum near Beijing.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "中國60年代重型坦克項目 因發動機不過關而流產". Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  2. ↑ WZ111研制始末
  3. ↑ WZ111重型坦克
  4. ↑ 鲜为人知的钢铁巨兽，WZ-111重型坦克


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.