Type 80-II

## Crew

* Commander
* Driver
* Gunner
* Loader

The **Type 80-II** is a Tier 4 progression Main Battle Tank under Zhang Feng's dealership.

## History

Class: Main Battle Tank

Developed: 1981-1987

Service: 1988-1995

Vehicles Built: cca 500-700

Operators: China, Sudan (allegedly)

The Type 80-II Main Battle Tank is an advanced of the first indigenous Chinese MBT, the Type 80. In the early 1980s, it became more and more obvious to the commanders of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army that the tanks they had on hand became obsolete. The models in active service were all basically just heavily upgraded Type 59s and despite numerous attempts to improve them further, the upgrade potential of the platform was limited.

Starting from the early 1980s, China sold a number of Type 69 MBTs to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. These didn’t perform well even against such a disorganized opponent as Iran was and Type 69’s performance came as an unpleasant surprise to the Chinese. They did have access to the T-62 technology, but by then, the T-62 was old news. Furthermore, back then, the Chinese couldn’t get their hands on more advanced Soviet equipment directly, but their involvement in the Iran-Iraq side gave them some opportunity to study the T-72.

Despite these obstacles, the Chinese managed to study enough foreign design elements to come up with a new program to build a second generation Main Battle Tank in 1978 with the intention of replacing the aging Type 59-based fleet of domestic tanks. In 1981, this program received the designation of WZ-122 with NORINCO being the primary developer. As usual with the Chinese tanks, it is difficult to find any information on the development of the tank and much of what is available are western speculations. We do know, however, that it ran from 1981 to 1987. The resulting vehicle was deemed superior to any Type 59 variant and was officially accepted in service under the designation of Type 80 on February 4 1988.

The original Type 80 was a classic design, resembling the Soviet vehicles with its round, cast turret. It had a crew of four and was actually really light, as it weighed only 38 tons. What makes it instantly recognizable and distinctive from the earlier Type 59 variants is the new suspension, using dual, rubber-banded roadwheels with torsion bars. The tank still had steel armor only. Overall, the protection level of the vehicle was inferior to the one of T-72, despite both being second generation MBTs. It was powered by a 730hp diesel and armed with the manually loaded 105mm Type 83 gun (a copy of the NATO L7).

The Type 80 MBT was never really used in mass service but it was upgraded over the years that followed. The first upgrade called Type 80-I featured a new FCS co-developed by Marconi. The second variant called Type 80-II featured multiple other upgrades such as a 790hp engine, improved gun optics, smoke generator, NBC equipment and more. Domestically, the Type 80-II was accepted in Chinese service as the Type 88 Main Battle Tank and saw limited production with perhaps around 500 built (and all stationed around the Beijing region) between 1989 and 1995. The Type 80-II MBT was also allegedly exported in limited numbers to Sudan. This export batch is however unclear, other sources claim it did not happen at all.

## Vehicle Traits

* Armored: This vehicle's armor can withstand a lot of punishment, allowing it to survive even serious firefights.
* HESH Rounds: This vehicle can fire special Squash Head rounds. These are extremely effective against angled armor that is typical for Soviet tanks.

## Upgrades

### Armor

Type 80-II Stock Armor
 This tank features basic sheet armor without any advanced components, making it vulnerable to HEAT shells and ATGMs.

Composite Appliqué Armor
 The basic hull plating was improved by an appliqué kit of composite armor, increasing the overall protection of the vehicle.

### Weapon

**Stats:**

* **Depression/Elevation**: -6.0° / 18.0°

## Footnotes

1. ↑ 480 mm at 150m;
360 mm at 500m
2. ↑ 510 mm at 150m;
383 mm at 500m
3. ↑ 18 mm at 100m;
9 mm at 1000m

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