The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
China Shows Off 140mm Gun
by James Dunnigan
May 23, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
China is testing a 140mm gun on one its Type 98 tanks, and has released photos
of test firings. Other countries have been investigating this sort of weapon,
especially in the 1980s and 1990s. But no one has adopted the larger weapon for
their tanks, mainly because the Russian “super tank” (equipped with a 152mm gun)
that was supposed to justify it never appeared (when the Cold War ended).
Although the 140mm gun can fire an armor piercing round with twice the
penetrating power of one fired from a 120mm gun (about 22 mega joules of energy,
versus 11), the amount of ammunition carried is cut by about a third (to 20-30
rounds, depending on the tank). The 140mm shell is about fifty percent larger
than the 120mm one, and can probably knock out an M-1 tank. The 140mm round
weighs 80 pounds, and is loaded in two parts (so a human loader can handle it).
The Chinese tank uses an autoloader, so the round can be loaded in one
piece.
However, the recoil of a 140mm gun is pretty much the upper limit
of what a tank can handle. The pictures appearing on Chinese television showed
the 140mm gun mounted on one of the new, 50 ton, Type 98 tanks. But China is
known to have a heavier (over 60 tons) Type 99 design (bought from Russia, which
never adopted this particular model). The 140mm gun (which appears to be of
German design, technology which was either bought or stolen), would be a stretch
on the 50 ton Type 98, causing structural and maintenance problems, and perhaps
even restrictions on how often the gun could be fired. The recoil force of a
high-speed 140mm round creates some serious engineering problems for any tank
mounting it. China may decide it does not want to mass produce the larger Type
99, which is too heavy for many Chinese bridges, not to mention railroad
equipment. Most Chinese tanks are closer to 40 tons. A tank with a 140mm gun
would be useful against the most modern tanks now used by Japan, South Korea,
and the United States. But it would be cheaper to buy modern anti-tank missiles
if you wanted to go after these high-tech tanks. However, China may fear that
these countries will equip their tanks with one of the several anti-missile
systems appearing on the world market. Then again, China may just be checking
out this aspect of tank armament. Everyone else has. Keeping up appearances and
all that.
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