Overview
The chief engineer of the Type 80 was Fang Wei Xian, who also designed the Type 69 and Type 90 tank families.[12][4]
The Type 80 inherited the design philosophy of the Type 69/79 which combined a Soviet-style chassis and turret with Western technology. Like the Type 69 series, the initial Type 80 design possessed a hemispherical turret similar to the T-54/55. Another similarity was that the driver sat in the left forward section of the hull.[13] However, the Type 80 used a licence-built L7 rifled gun instead of the Soviet 100 mm rifled gun.
The Type 80 family marked a number of firsts for Chinese tanks. Beginning from the Type 85, they were the first Chinese tanks to use a welded turret, allowing it to make use of composite armor.[4] It was also the first tank to use six road wheels instead of five for a smoother ride at higher speeds. The Type 80 was the first Chinese tank to have applique composite armour. This was later integrated into the turret in the Type 85. Type 85-III was the first Chinese tank to use both composite armor (in its turret) and explosive reactive armour (ERA).[4]
The Type 85-I (Storm-1) series had a new welded turret design that was angular instead of the familiar bowl-shape. The Type 85IIAP/M was the first tank in the series to be equipped with a 125 mm smoothbore gun.
Armaments
Type 80 served as a testbed for the imported ZPL-79 105 mm rifled gun. On Type 88 and Type 88B, the main armament is a dual-axis stabilized ZPL-83 and ZPL-83A 105 mm rifled gun with a fume extractor at its midway point. On Type 88A, the main gun is replaced by a longer, 62-caliber ZPL-94, offering longer range, higher accuracy, and capability to launch laser-guided gun-launched missiles. The main gun has an elevation of -5 to 18 degrees and electronic turret drive of 20°/s for horizontal control and 6°/s for vertical. The main gun on Type 80 is loaded manually, and has a rate of fire approximately 7 rounds per minute. On Type 88B, a form of assist loader is introduced for quicker and easier reload operations with reportedly 13 rounds per minute maximum rate of fire.[14]
Secondary armaments for all variants are the same, including one Type 59 12.7 mm heavy machine gun mounted on the turret roof, and one Type 59 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun. The Type 80 and Type 88 can store 44 rounds of ammunition for the main gun. On Type 88B and Type 88A, the tank features redesigned ammo racks with 48 rounds of ammunition. The 12.7 mm heavy machine gun has 300 rounds of ammo, while the coaxial machine gun has 2250 rounds.
Electronics
The Type 80 tank is equipped with laser rangefinder, digital ballistic computer, power supply, target angle measurement sensor, velocity measurement sensor, and gun positioning sensor. The driver periscope and gunner sight is fitted with passive night vision device (1st generation), daylight periscopes. The commander is fitted with one rotating periscope and four additional observation periscopes. The driver and loader have their own periscopes. The commander can override the turret direction. Type 80-I replaced the external laser rangefinder with an integrated multi-function gunner sight. The gunner sight was upgraded to second generation passive night vision.[15]
The Type 88 tank features improved Type 37A fire control system. Type 37A features integrated gunner sight with daylight optics, passive night vision channel, and laser range finder. The daylight emergency sight from Type 80 is kept at its original location. The new fire control system has improved ballistic computer, new radio communication system, dual-axis stabilizer, self-diagnosis software, and second generation passive night-vision device for driver and gunner.[16]
The Type 88B and Type 88A tanks are equipped with improved ISFCS-212 fire control system, with driver, gunner and commander all have access to 2nd generation passive night vision devices. The gunner sight is stabilized. Type 88A and later batches of Type 88B had its gunner sight replaced by thermal imagining devices. The fire control computer of Type 88B and Type 88A allows the commander to acquire and engage enemy target through the optical periscope mounted on the commander's hatch.[17]
Protection
Starting from Type 80, the tank is protected by composite armor plates are mounted on the vehicle frontal chassis and composite rubber/metal side armor skirts.[15][16][17] The turret of Type 80/88 is still made of rolled homogeneous armour, with the exception being Type 85 series, which is constructed with welded turret and composite armor layers.
Original prototype of Type 80 had cut out on the frontal cast turret for gunner observation sight, similar to Type 59 tank. This was removed in Type 80-I and Type 88 models with roof-mounted periscopes and fire control sights.[14]
All versions of the Type 80/85/88 tanks are fitted with thermal suppression camouflage paint, collective NBC protection system, air filtration and ventilation system, automatic fire/after-effect suppression system, and 2 sets of four 76mm smoke grenade dischargers.[15]
Mobility
Type 80 and Type 88 tank are powered by 12150ZL diesel engine developing 730 hp (537 kW). The maximum road speed is 57 km/h and average off-road speed is 32 km/h. The power-to-weight ratio is about 18.9 hp/ton. The transmission has 5 forward gears and 1 reverse gear. It has a maximum cruising range of 500 km and can negotiate a gradient of 61% and side slope of 58%. It can cross a vertical obstacle of 0.8 m and trench of 2.7m.[15][16][17]
