Type 62
Encyclopedia
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 caliber, lighter armour and a smaller suite of electronics and other equipment to help reduce weight. The Type 62 is still used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army
Ground Forces and other nations. It has recently been upgraded to modern standards and provides the PLA with a dedicated light tank. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132.
. These areas mostly consist of mountain ranges, hills, rice paddy fields, lakes and multiple rivers which many times are without a bridge or with bridges which couldn't withstand the weight of the Type 59 tank. Therefore in the late 1950s the PLA Ground Force submitted requirements for a light tank which could be successfully deployed in the areas of southern China
. The development of the Type 62 light tank began at Factory 674 (Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd
) in 1958. Construction of the first Type 62 light tank prototype, Type 59-16, began in 1960 and ended in 1962. The tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963.
Based on experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War
an update for Type 62 was designed, consisting 33 different improvements and was designated Type 62-I.
After an unsuccessful attempt at fitting the Type 62 light tank with the turret from the Type 63A amphibious light tank a new turret was designed and fitted on the Type 62. This new variant was designated Type 62G.
The Type 62 light tank was designed to be a downscaled Type 59 main battle tank, armed with a smaller 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled
main gun and with a much simpler gunner sight and thinner armour in order to reduce overall weight. As such it has a typical tank layout: steering compartment at the front, fighting compartment in the center and the engine compartment in the back. Although the Type 62 light tank is similar to the Type 59 main battle tank in appearance, it has a smaller hull and turret. The Type 62 light tank was given a four man crew configuration, with the driver seated on the left hand side of the front of the hull, the tank commander and gunner seated on the left side of the turret in a tandem formation and the loader on the right hand side of the rear of the turret. The driver's hatch is located on the left hand side of the front of the hull, directly in front of the turret. It has three periscope vision blocks which provide the driver with forward vision. The center vision block may be removed and replaced with a low-light periscope with a 50 m vision range. The left hand side turret hatch also has a periscope vision block on top of it and is most probably used by the commander. There's another periscope vision block in the front of each turret hatch. Apart from his usual duty of reloading the gun after it has been fired by the gunner, the loader is also responsible for operating the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on the turret's roof.
Primary armament consists of 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled
main gun with fume extractor almost at the end of the barrel. It is the same gun as the one used in Type 63 amphibious light tank and can fire AP, APHE, HE, Frag-HE, HEAT, APFSDF-T and smoke rounds. The gun has maximum range of 12,200 m and maximum aimed range of 1,870 m and has a rate of fire of 3 to 5 round per minute. The HEAT projectile can penetrate 495 mm of armour at 1,000 m while the APFSDF-T projectile can penetrate 360 mm of armour at 1,000 m. The Type 62 light tank is characterized by having poor accuracy, given the primitive optical gun sights that the gunner has to use and lack of a gun stabilizer (which differs it from Chinese main battle tanks), a fire control system and night vision equipment. As a secondary armament the Type 62 light tank was given the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (Chinese copy of Soviet 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46
heavy machine gun) mounted on a rotatable mount on top of the loader's hatch on the right hand side of the roof of the turret and two 7.62 mm Type 59T medium machine guns, one mounted coaxially with the main gun and the other one mounted at the bow of the tank. Also a 7.62 mm Type 59T anti-aircraft medium machine gun can be additionally fitted to left hand side turret hatch. The cast turret features the Soviet-style half-egg shape. The tank carriers 47 rounds for the 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun, 2,000 rounds for the two Type 59T medium machine guns and 1,250 rounds for 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.
The Type 62 light tank uses the torsion bar suspension which consists of five road wheels on each side with a prominent gap between the first and second road wheel and an even space between second, third, forth and fifth road wheel. The road wheels are smaller and lighter than those from the Type 59 main battle tank. The track is driven by a drive sprocket at the rear, with an idler at the front. There are no return rollers. In effort to reduce the overall weight of the tank the original 12150L 12-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine from Type 59 main battle tank was powered down from 523 hp (390 kW) to 430 hp (321 kW). This modified version of the 12150L engine weights considerably less and was designated 12150L-3. This new engine gave the Type 62 a maximum road speed of 60 km/h, maximum cross country speed of 35 km/h, maximum road operational range of 500 km and power-to-weight ratio of 20.5 hp/tonne (15.3 kW/tonne). The tank can cross 0.8 m high vertical obstacles, 2.85 m trenches, 30° side slopes and ford 1.4 m deep water obstacles (5 m when equipped with a snorkel).
The Type 62 light tank is protected by steel armour. The front armour on the turret is 50 mm thick while armour thickness on the hull armour varies from 15 mm to 35 mm. The armour of the Type 62 is so thin that any light anti-tank weapon (like hand-held rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers) can perforate the frontal plate.
the Type 62 light tank is equipped with a radio for which it has an antenna on the left hand side of the turret, in front of the left hand side turret hatch. It is also equipped with a dome shaped ventilator on the right hand side of the turret in the front of the loader's hatch. The tank can be fitted with Type 762 light mine clearance system and Type 762A light multi-purpose mine-clearance system in the front of the hull. There are spots for stowage boxes and additional duel tanks on both fenders. Four on the right hand side fender and three on the left hand side fender. Like the Type 59 main battle tank the Type 62 light tank has a capability to make its own smoke screen by injecting raw diesel fuel into the exhaust manifold.
It first saw combat during Vietnam War
. The PRC supplied the Type 62 light tanks to the NVA before the invasion of Kampuchea. They were widely used by the Vietnam People's Army
in 1960s and 1970s and took part in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign
in 1975. In 1979 it again saw combat in Vietnam but during the Sino–Vietnamese War. PLA used about two hundred tanks in Vietnam during this conflict and most of these were Type 62 light tanks. 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.
Most of 400 Type 62 light tanks which are now in service with PLA Ground Forces have 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 coy of this regiment. There aren't any indications that suggest retirement of the Type 62 light tank from the Chinese military in the near future.
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.
The Upgraded New version of the tank was seen in the Chinese television series Soldiers Sortie.
and 22 were converted into 105mm self-propelled gun
s. - 30 including 20 ordered in 1977 from PRC and delivered in 1978. - More than 1,499 produced. 800 in service as of 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2003. 400 in service as of 2005. 400 are currently in service some of which are modernized. - 48 - 8 - 18 ordered in 1980 from PRC and delivered in 1981. Together with PT-76
s they form a battalion. - 70 ordered in 1970 from PRC and delivered between 1971 and 1973. - 66 including 30 ordered in 1969 from PRC and delivered between 1970 and 1972. - 200
Norinco
The China North Industries Corporation , official English name Norinco, manufactures vehicles , machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, civil and military firearms and ammunition, etc...
Type 62 is a Chinese
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
light tank
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
developed in the early 1960s and is based on the Chinese Type 59
Type 59
The Type 59 main battle tank is a Chinese produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an improvement over the ubiquitous T-54/55. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963...
with a reduced main gun caliber, lighter armour and a smaller suite of electronics and other equipment to help reduce weight. The Type 62 is still used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
Ground Forces and other nations. It has recently been upgraded to modern standards and provides the PLA with a dedicated light tank. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132.
Development history
When the Type 59 main battle tank was being developed it became apparent that because of high weight of the tank it would have difficulties operating in areas of southern ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. These areas mostly consist of mountain ranges, hills, rice paddy fields, lakes and multiple rivers which many times are without a bridge or with bridges which couldn't withstand the weight of the Type 59 tank. Therefore in the late 1950s the PLA Ground Force submitted requirements for a light tank which could be successfully deployed in the areas of southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The development of the Type 62 light tank began at Factory 674 (Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd
Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd
Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd is a military equipment manufacturer in China.It began as state owned 674 Factory, it is now a contractor to the PLA Army....
) in 1958. Construction of the first Type 62 light tank prototype, Type 59-16, began in 1960 and ended in 1962. The tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963.
Based on experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
an update for Type 62 was designed, consisting 33 different improvements and was designated Type 62-I.
After an unsuccessful attempt at fitting the Type 62 light tank with the turret from the Type 63A amphibious light tank a new turret was designed and fitted on the Type 62. This new variant was designated Type 62G.
Description
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
main gun and with a much simpler gunner sight and thinner armour in order to reduce overall weight. As such it has a typical tank layout: steering compartment at the front, fighting compartment in the center and the engine compartment in the back. Although the Type 62 light tank is similar to the Type 59 main battle tank in appearance, it has a smaller hull and turret. The Type 62 light tank was given a four man crew configuration, with the driver seated on the left hand side of the front of the hull, the tank commander and gunner seated on the left side of the turret in a tandem formation and the loader on the right hand side of the rear of the turret. The driver's hatch is located on the left hand side of the front of the hull, directly in front of the turret. It has three periscope vision blocks which provide the driver with forward vision. The center vision block may be removed and replaced with a low-light periscope with a 50 m vision range. The left hand side turret hatch also has a periscope vision block on top of it and is most probably used by the commander. There's another periscope vision block in the front of each turret hatch. Apart from his usual duty of reloading the gun after it has been fired by the gunner, the loader is also responsible for operating the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted on the turret's roof.
Primary armament consists of 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
main gun with fume extractor almost at the end of the barrel. It is the same gun as the one used in Type 63 amphibious light tank and can fire AP, APHE, HE, Frag-HE, HEAT, APFSDF-T and smoke rounds. The gun has maximum range of 12,200 m and maximum aimed range of 1,870 m and has a rate of fire of 3 to 5 round per minute. The HEAT projectile can penetrate 495 mm of armour at 1,000 m while the APFSDF-T projectile can penetrate 360 mm of armour at 1,000 m. The Type 62 light tank is characterized by having poor accuracy, given the primitive optical gun sights that the gunner has to use and lack of a gun stabilizer (which differs it from Chinese main battle tanks), a fire control system and night vision equipment. As a secondary armament the Type 62 light tank was given the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun (Chinese copy of Soviet 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
heavy machine gun) mounted on a rotatable mount on top of the loader's hatch on the right hand side of the roof of the turret and two 7.62 mm Type 59T medium machine guns, one mounted coaxially with the main gun and the other one mounted at the bow of the tank. Also a 7.62 mm Type 59T anti-aircraft medium machine gun can be additionally fitted to left hand side turret hatch. The cast turret features the Soviet-style half-egg shape. The tank carriers 47 rounds for the 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun, 2,000 rounds for the two Type 59T medium machine guns and 1,250 rounds for 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.
The Type 62 light tank uses the torsion bar suspension which consists of five road wheels on each side with a prominent gap between the first and second road wheel and an even space between second, third, forth and fifth road wheel. The road wheels are smaller and lighter than those from the Type 59 main battle tank. The track is driven by a drive sprocket at the rear, with an idler at the front. There are no return rollers. In effort to reduce the overall weight of the tank the original 12150L 12-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine from Type 59 main battle tank was powered down from 523 hp (390 kW) to 430 hp (321 kW). This modified version of the 12150L engine weights considerably less and was designated 12150L-3. This new engine gave the Type 62 a maximum road speed of 60 km/h, maximum cross country speed of 35 km/h, maximum road operational range of 500 km and power-to-weight ratio of 20.5 hp/tonne (15.3 kW/tonne). The tank can cross 0.8 m high vertical obstacles, 2.85 m trenches, 30° side slopes and ford 1.4 m deep water obstacles (5 m when equipped with a snorkel).
The Type 62 light tank is protected by steel armour. The front armour on the turret is 50 mm thick while armour thickness on the hull armour varies from 15 mm to 35 mm. The armour of the Type 62 is so thin that any light anti-tank weapon (like hand-held rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers) can perforate the frontal plate.
the Type 62 light tank is equipped with a radio for which it has an antenna on the left hand side of the turret, in front of the left hand side turret hatch. It is also equipped with a dome shaped ventilator on the right hand side of the turret in the front of the loader's hatch. The tank can be fitted with Type 762 light mine clearance system and Type 762A light multi-purpose mine-clearance system in the front of the hull. There are spots for stowage boxes and additional duel tanks on both fenders. Four on the right hand side fender and three on the left hand side fender. Like the Type 59 main battle tank the Type 62 light tank has a capability to make its own smoke screen by injecting raw diesel fuel into the exhaust manifold.
Service history
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, where it remains in active service to this day. The most famous unit to operate the Type 62 light tanks is the recon battalion directly attached to the 43rd Army Group HQ, Guangzhou MR.It first saw combat during Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The PRC supplied the Type 62 light tanks to the NVA before the invasion of Kampuchea. They were widely used by the Vietnam People's Army
Vietnam People's Army
The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of Vietnam. The VPA includes: the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces , the Vietnam People's Navy , the Vietnam People's Air Force, and the Vietnam Marine Police.During the French Indochina War , the VPA was often referred to as the Việt...
in 1960s and 1970s and took part in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign
Ho Chi Minh Campaign
The Hồ Chí Minh Campaign was the final title applied to a series of increasingly large-scale and ambitious offensive operations by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam which began on 13 December 1974...
in 1975. In 1979 it again saw combat in Vietnam but during the Sino–Vietnamese War. PLA used about two hundred tanks in Vietnam during this conflict and most of these were Type 62 light tanks. 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.
Most of 400 Type 62 light tanks which are now in service with PLA Ground Forces have 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 coy of this regiment. There aren't any indications that suggest retirement of the Type 62 light tank from the Chinese military in the near future.
The Type 62 has also been exported widely. Foreign nations which field, or have fielded, the Type 62 include North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. There is a lot of confusion concerning the North Korean Ch'ŏnma-ho
Ch'onma-ho
The Ch'ŏnma-ho or spelled as Chonma-ho , which means "Sky Horse" or Pegasus, is one of North Korea's secretive indigenous main battle tank designs. The tank is also known by the name of 천리마 전차 （千里馬 or the "Chollima Tank". The original Ch'ŏnma-ho is based on the Soviet T-62. There are at least five...
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
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
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.
The Upgraded New version of the tank was seen in the Chinese television series Soldiers Sortie.
Bangladesh
- Type 62 light tank converted into a tracked armoured personnel carrierArmoured personnel carrierAn armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
. - Type 62 light tank converted into a tracked self-propelled gunSelf-propelled gunA self-propelled gun is form of self-propelled artillery, and in modern use is usually used to refer to artillery pieces such as howitzers....
People's Republic of China
- Type 59-16 - Prototype of Type 62.
- Type 62 - Scaled down, lightly armed and thinly armoured variant of the Type 59. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132.
- Type 62-I - Type 62 upgrade designed basing on the experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War. It features 33 different improvements including an external double lens laser range finder mounted above the mantlet of the 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun for better firing accuracy and a shield for the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132-1.
- Type 62-I fitted with external turret storage racks and hull sideskirts for additional protection against HEAT projectiles and anti-tank missiles. It is a late model.
- Type 62G (G stands for Gai - "Improved") - Most recent Type 62 light tank upgrade with improved armour layout and original cast turret replaced by a new welded flat-plate turret which also incorporates an improved armour layout as well as four smoke grenade dischargers on each side of the turret. It is armed with a more powerful 105 mm rifled main gun with fume extractor in center of barrel, vertical stabilization system, primitive fire-control system, and night vision equipment. Adopted by Pakistan in Al-ZarrarAl-ZarrarThe Al-Zarrar is a modern main battle tank developed and manufactured by Heavy Industries Taxila of Pakistan for the Pakistan Army. The KMDB design bureau of Ukraine also took part in the development project....
and Al-Khalid tank. - Type 70 - Rebuild Type 62 and like the Type 62-I it is fitted with an external double lens laser range finder mounted above the mantlet of the 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun but without the shield around the AA HMG. It also has improved sights and a gun stabilization system.
- Type 79 - Experimental armoured recovery vehicle based on Type 62 light tank.
- GJT 211 - Armoured bulldozer based on Type 62 light tank chassis.
- GSL 131 - Mine clearing variant of the GSL 211. It is also known as Type 82.
- Type 62-I - Type 62 upgrade designed basing on the experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War. It features 33 different improvements including an external double lens laser range finder mounted above the mantlet of the 85 mm Type 62-85TC rifled main gun for better firing accuracy and a shield for the 12.7 mm Type 54 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132-1.
- Type 62 - Scaled down, lightly armed and thinly armoured variant of the Type 59. It is also known under its industrial designation, WZ132.
Operators
- 75 including 35 ordered in 1970 from PRC and delivered in 1971. - 36 ordered in 1984 from PRC and delivered in 1985. At peak there were 320 Type 62s in service. Currently there are 140 Type 62s in service. Some were upgraded to the late Type 62-I standard. 60 were converted into APCsArmoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
and 22 were converted into 105mm self-propelled gun
Self-propelled gun
A self-propelled gun is form of self-propelled artillery, and in modern use is usually used to refer to artillery pieces such as howitzers....
s. - 30 including 20 ordered in 1977 from PRC and delivered in 1978. - More than 1,499 produced. 800 in service as of 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2003. 400 in service as of 2005. 400 are currently in service some of which are modernized. - 48 - 8 - 18 ordered in 1980 from PRC and delivered in 1981. Together with PT-76
PT-76
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank which was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like India, Iraq, North Korea and North Vietnam. Overall,...
s they form a battalion. - 70 ordered in 1970 from PRC and delivered between 1971 and 1973. - 66 including 30 ordered in 1969 from PRC and delivered between 1970 and 1972. - 200