page_title: Type 62
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: Type 62 / Service history
caption_attribution_description: English: Chinese-made Type 62 light tank in Vientiane, Laos. Used from 1971 to 1973. Français&#160;: Char de combat de fabrication chinoise (Type 62) exposé à Vientiane (Laos). Probablement fourni par le Viêt Nam. Utilisé en 1971-1973.
context_page_description: The Norinco Type 62 is a Chinese light Tank developed in the early 1960s and is based on the Chinese Type 59 with a reduced main gun calibre, lighter armour and a smaller suite of electronics and other equipment to help reduce weight. The Type 62 is retired from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces, but is still in use with other nations. It had recently been upgraded to modern standards and to provide the PLA with a dedicated light tank. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ131.
context_section_description: Type 62 light tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963. More than 1,393 vehicles were produced between 1963 and 1989 when it ended. The Type 62 was primarily deployed in Southern China. The most famous unit to operate the Type 62 light tanks is the recon battalion directly attached to the 43rd Army HQ, Guangzhou Military Region.
  It first saw combat during the Vietnam War. The PRC supplied the Type 62 light tanks to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the 1960s and 1970s and took part in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975. In 1979 it again saw combat against the PAVN during the Sino–Vietnamese War, when the PLA used about two hundred tanks, mostly Type 62s. They suffered severe losses in combat due to tank's poor protection as the tank’s thin armour could be easily penetrated by hand-held rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers. An upgrade package was developed for the Type 62 soon after the war and was designated Type 62-I. Based on the improvement programs after the Sino–Vietnamese War the Type 62 was found to be too lightly armoured and too poorly armed to be used as a normal tank. Of the two hundred tanks which invaded Vietnam about half were knocked out, underscoring the Type 62's lack of armour and armament. Since then the Type 62 has been shifted to secondary duties in Southern China, such as reconnaissance, fire support and combat with enemy lightly armoured vehicles.
  400 Type 62 light tanks had been upgraded to Type 62-I and Type 62G standard. The upgrading to Type 62-I standard started in 1979 and upgrading to Type 62G standard started in 2000. It is unknown exactly how many Type 62 light tanks were upgraded or what units operate the upgraded variants but in January 2005 CCTV showed two Type 62G light tanks belonging to an artillery regiment, Guangzhou MR and the tanks are serving as the recon company of this regiment. The Type 62 tank was retired from Chinese service in early 2013.
  The Type 62 has also been exported widely. Foreign nations which field, or have fielded, the Type 62 include North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Mali, Albania and Sudan. There is a lot of confusion concerning the North Korean Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank which is sometimes considered to be an upgrade of Type 62 light tank. This is incorrect as the Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank is based on the Soviet T-62 main battle tank. This originated from the fact that many times tanks like Type 59 and Type 62 are listed as T-59 and T-62. This leads to many confusions which in turn lead to, for example, listing the Albania as T-62 main battle tank operator and calling the Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank an upgrade of Type 62 light tank. It's not clear which nations still have them in service, although based on available knowledge it seems that all original users still have it either on active or reserve status except for North Korea which didn't have them in service as of 1995.
  In Africa, the Type 62 was the standard tank of the Tanzanian Armed Forces during the Uganda–Tanzania War in 1977-1978, alongside the larger Type 59. Some Zairian Type 62 were deployed during the last days of the First Congo War but they were abandoned by their crew without firing a shot. Still in service with the new forces armées congolaises in 1998, many were captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Army and the Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma during the Second Congo War. Particularly, Type 62 tanks driven by ex-Zairian soldiers spearheaded the Rwandan attack on Kinshasa.
caption: Chinese-made Type 62 light tank in Vientiane, Laos.
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