Type 69 The Type 69 was a Chinese MBT created from a captured T - 54 of soviet making it was made as a replacement of the Type 59 and is still in operation as the Type 79 that is an improvement of the Type 69 . Description . The Type 69 ( manufacturer designation WZ121 ) was an improved version of the Type 59 ( Chinese copy of the T - 54A ) . The PRC ’ s first independently developed main battle tank ( MBT ) , the Type 69 is generally identical to the Type 59 / T - 54A in appearance , but added with indigenous dual - way stabilisation and night vision . Later versions of the Type 69 was also incorporated with Western technologies including British 105mm rifled gun and computerised fire - control . As well as serving with the PLA , the Type 69 was exported to countries in Asia , Africa and Middle East in significant numbers . Programme . 617 Factory ( now Inner - Mongolia First Machinery Group Co . Ltd ) began to develop a successor to the Type 59 ( Chinese copy of the T - 54 ) in 1963 , but the progress in the programme had been slow due to technical difficulties and the turmoil caused by the ‘ Culture Revolution ’ in the late 1960s . In March 1969 , during an armed clash between the PRC and the Soviet Union along the Ussuri River on Damansky Island , the Chinese troops captured a Soviet T - 62 tank . The tank was carefully examined by Chinese engineers and its night vision and other components were copied and integrated into the Type 69 design . The Type 69 was finally certified for design finalisation in 1974 . Compared to the Type 59 , the Type 69 features a Chinese indigenous dual - way stabilised Type 69 100mm smoothbore gun , capable of firing the armour - piercing fin - stabilised discarding sabot ( APFSDS ) round . The tank also had a laser rangefinder and an infrared searchlight . However , by that time the tank was already obsolete compared to the tanks equipped by the Soviet and Western armies . Additionally , the performance of the 100mm smoothbore gun was also unsatisfactory . The basic variant Type 69 only saw very limited service in the late 1970s and was soon completely withdrawn from service . The improved Type 69 - II introduced in 1982 had the original 100mm smoothbore gun replaced by a 100mm rifled gun developed from the gun of the Type 59 . This variant also featured a more powerful diesel engine . Later production Type 69 - II tanks were added with rubber track skirt and storage rack on the turret . This design was proved highly successful in the export market , with over 2 , 000 examples sold to a number of third - world countries . The Iraqi Army was equipped with over 1 , 000 Type 69 tanks in the 1980s , most of which were destroyed during the 1991 Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom . As the Sino - Western relations warmed up in the 1980s , the PRC was able to use Western technologies to upgrade the Type 69 design . A Sino - British co - operation project led to the introduction of the Type 69 - III ( also known as Type 79 ) , which was equipped with a British L7 105mm rifled gun and the Marconi fire - control system . The tank entered service with the PLA in the late 1980s . It was estimated that several hundred Type 69 tanks of various models have been delivered to the PLA . Additionally , the hull of the tank has been used as the chassis of a range of armoured combat and support vehicles , including the Type 84 armoured recovery vehicle ( ARV ) , Type 84 mechanical bridge , PGZ88 dual - 37mm self - propelled AAA , GSL130 mines sweeper , and GCZ110 multifunctional vehicle . The Type 69 is near identical to the Type 59 in appearance , with a typical Soviet - style “ half - egg ” shape cast turret and conventional four - man crew layout . The tank has five large road wheels on each side , with rubber track skirt . Early variant of the Type 69 could also be identified by its large IR searchlight mounted on the right side of the main gun , and the a laser rangefinder mounted above the main gun . The Type 69 can be distinguished from the Type 59 by the position of the headlight : the Type 59 has only one headlight located on the hull front ( to right side ) , while the Type 69 has two headlights mounted on the track wings . The tank has a crew of four . The driver sits left in the hull and forward of the turret , while the loader , gunner and tank commander occupy the turret , with the loader situated to the right of the main gun and the gunner and tank commander sitting in tandem on the left side . The loader is also responsible for operating the 12 . 7mm anti - aircraft machine gun mounted on turret roof . The driver ' s hatch has three periscope vision blocks which provide for forward vision . The centre vision block may be removed and replaced with an low - light periscope ( 50m range ) . The gunner and commander sights both have low - light night vision ( gunner 600 ~ 800m range ; commander : 400 ~ 600m range ) . The tank uses steel armour on the turret and hull . The front armour on the turret is 202mm , and the front armour on the hull is 100mm . Wheels and tracks are protected by rubber hull skirts . On some variants the turret is also fitted with storage racks for additional protection against HEAT projectiles . Smoke can be generated by injecting diesel fuel in to the engine ' s exhaust . Later variants were also fitted with smoke grenade launchers . Early variants were powered by a liquid cooled , turbocharged 12150L - 7BW 580 hp diesel . Armaments . The basic variant Type 69 is fitted with a dual - way stabilised Type 69 100mm smoothbore gun . The gun could carry 44 rounds ( 10 more than Type 59 ) , consisting of 13 armour - piercing fin - stabilised discarding sabot ( APFSDS ) rounds , 13 high explosive fragmentation ( HE - FRAG ) rounds , and 18 high explosive ( HE ) rounds . The gun has a maximum range of 1 , 736m . The Type 69 - II is fitted with a Type 69 - II 100mm rifled gun , with a simplified fire - control / night observation equipment . The Type 69 - III ( Type 79 ) is fitted with a modified Type 83 - I 105mm rifled gun . The gun is derived from the L7 / Type 81 and capable of firing APFSDS , HEAT , and HEAT - FRAG . Auxiliary weapons include a 12 . 7mm anti - aircraft machine gun ( with 500 rounds ) mounted on the turret roof in front of the loader ' s hatchone , and a 7 . 62mm coaxial machine gun ( with 3 , 000 rounds ) . The Type 69 - II ' s fire control system includes a TLRLA laser rangefinder ( 300 ~ 3 , 000m range ) , BCLA ballistic computer , TGSA gunner sight , and dual - way stabilisation .