Forever Type59 Main Battle Tank

Surprise, surprise, yet another Type 59 main battle tank variant entered the export market.

This latest offering comes from Liaoning Poly Special Vehicle Co., Ltd. (辽宁保利特种车辆有限公司), a private enterprise that traces its roots back to the former PLA Factory No. 6409. Established on May 17, 2006, with a workforce of just 80 employees, the company now presents the Type 59G-125 to foreign buyers.

The upgraded model boasts a completely redesigned turret, composite armor, a new 125mm ZPT-98 smoothbore gun, and a modernized engine alongside advanced internal systems. At its core, the tank is powered by a 730-horsepower 12V150ZLC engine, delivering significantly enhanced performance compared to earlier iterations of 520-horsepower Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel

 

 

Sunday, November 11, 2018

QN506, the MOUT of Type59mod with a 3-man crew

 

Monday, December 26, 2011

Photo of the day: Type59G in Tanzania

Speaking of ERA blocks.....could this be the ultimate edition of the old T54/55 family?


Thanks Imp for the photo.

Bangladesh Army also ordered 300.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Bangladesh Army's New Type59G MBT

According to our friend, the Bangladesh Military Forum, (http://www.bdmilitary.com), the first public appearance of the long-expected Type 59G was reported by today's Channel-i news.

In essence, this latest Type59MBT variant is a Type 96G in a Type59 body modified to carry a 125mm main gun, a modern fire control system, and the latest Chinese armor protection package. A total of 300 examples of the Type59G will be rebuilt from the existing fleet.  In addition to the Type59G rebuild program, the Bangladesh army will procure the Type96 MBT in due course as part of a greater modernization drive.  Since both MBTs are sharing many common components, this will greatly reduce the load on the existing logistics infrastructure.

Here is a list of Chinese land forces hardware to be procured by the Bangladesh Army compiled by BMF.


****
* 7 x Type 96 MBTs (Not delivered yet, but eventually a couple of regiments)
* 5 x MBT ARV (Chinese, for MBT2000/Type 96 recovery)
* 300 x Type 59 MBT Upgrade (1 spotted at Dhaka; Army named them as "Type 59 G")
* 1 x SPH Regt (Chinese 122 or 155 mm SPH is expected)
* 1 x ADA Regiment (This complements another air defence regiment in BDA. Regiment is equivalent of brigade; Equipped with Chinese AAGs and MANPADS).

****

Profile for new Type 59G MBT at bdmilitary.com created with input from armoured corps officer, photo analysis and Chinese defense websites:

http://www.bdmilitary.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=333&Itemid=97

Including a couple of pictures, which might be interesting reference material.

 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Photos of the day: Forever the Type59 MBT mod!

Surprise of the day: Z-21 Heavy Attack Helicopter in PLAAF numbers

"The new PLA Z-21 heavy attack helicopter has long been expected to enter service with the PLA Ground Force’s Army Aviation (LH)units, in line with the introduction of other recent helicopter models. However, another photo showing a Z-21 bearing PLAAF serial numbers (6232) and camouflage suggests that the aircraft is instead joining the Helicopter Regiment of the 130th Air-Assault Brigade, 15th Airborne Corps, under the PLAAF,  a rather surprising development. Although not widely publicized, the PLAAF does maintain one organic air-assault brigade equipped with helicopter units under its command.

 

 

Monday, July 14, 2025

Photo Of The Day: Z-21 heavy attack chiopper with millimeter-wave fire-control radar (FCR)

 

Sunday, December 08, 2024

CG Of The Day: Z-21 Heavy Attack Helicopter with Millimeter-wave AESA phased array mast fire control radar

 CG Credit, of course, goes to 大包CG

 

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Confirmed, the new PLAAF airborne brigade has an organic chopper regiment

Helicopter Regiment, 130th Air-Assault Brigade, 15th Airborne

A WZ-10 attack helicopter attached to a helicopter regiment with a PLA airborne brigade lifts off from the parking apron of an airbase for a round-the-clock flight training mission on March 6, 2019. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Deng Xiaoning)
 http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2019-03/08/content_9444969.htm

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

PLAAF Airborne's new assault brigade

12 months after the last great PLA orbat reform, CCTV airs its first report on PLAAF's assault brigade thus confirming its existence.   Source (here)

央视网消息：作为国防和军队改革后组建的新质作战力量，日前，组建刚刚一年的空军空降兵某空中突击旅首次亮相练兵场，开展多机型伞降训练和空地协同训练，迈开了由传统伞降部队向多能空中突击部队转型的坚实步伐

Saturday, April 29, 2017

15th Airborne Corps' new ORBAT

The CMC decommissioned three divisional headquarters (43rd, 44th and 45th) on April 19th,  their regiments are now reformed into 6 brigades (127th, 128th, 130th, 131st, 133rd, and 134th) directly under the corps headquarters .   Additionally,  there will be a new SpOps Brigade , a Strategic Support Brigade (Engineering, Communication, etc) and an Aviation Brigade(Fixed And Rotary Wing Aircraft) bringing to a total of 9 line brigades. 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

PR Photos of the day: Vertical assault of an PLAAF airborne battalion combined arms battlegroup

Monday, January 18, 2010

15th Airborne Corps (ABC) is testing their vertical envelopment/air mobility capability

The 15th ABC's organic helicopter regiment was first revealed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake rescue work and then by a high profile fly-by during the 60th national day celebration.

It is now time for the 15th to test its newly found air mobility assault capability in a large military exercise. The advantage of air mobile assault over airdrop are many: ranging from entire unit delivery in one place--which immediately allows combat-readiness, precision resupply landings, to on-station fire support from helicopter gunships. In time, it will be interesting to see if a small portion of the 15th ABC will be converted into air-cavalry to enhance the corps' mission profile.

 

Family photo of the day: 6th Landing Ship Flotilla, Southern Theater Command Navy, Dec 1st

Since our last update on the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla of the Southern Theater Command Navy, the unit has commissioned an additional Type 075 landing helicopter dock, Hubei (34), into its table of organization and equipment (TOE). This formidable amphibious formation now fields a total of two Type 075 LHDs and five Type 071 LPDs making it the largest and most capable landing ship flotilla within the PLAN.

 

unday, April 20, 2025

6th Landing Ship Flotilla, Southern Theater Command Navy, Heads To Swim

"Million Man Swim" The Next Generation 

The PLAN's 6th Landing Ship Flotilla homes five of the eight Type 071 amphibious transport docks (LPDs) currently in service with the PLA Navy. These include: 985 Qilian Shan, 987 Wuzhi Shan, 989 Changbai Shan, 998 Kunlun Shan, and 999 Jinggang Shan. Additionally, it also homes both Type 075 amphibious assault ships, 31 Hainan and 32 Guangxi commissioned into the PLAN. This combination makes the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla the most powerful amphibious unit within the PLAN.

Recently, the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla conducted one of the largest amphibious exercises in PLA history. The operation featured One Type 075 amphibious assault ship,  31 Hainan, five Type 071 amphibious transport docks, and a Type 901 replenishment ship. The following video is from that exercise off the coast of Hainan Island.

 

Sunday, January 28, 2018

This is a drill

This seemingly staged PR photo shoot is actually a kick off ceremony for yet another amphibious assault drill.  After being sent off by Xi, the 1st PLAN Smurfs Brigade, together with the 6th Landing Ship Flotilla, South Sea Fleet "liberated" a tiny island in a drill.  No big deal, just another glorious day in the corps!