Type 79
In service 1984 - 2010s
Based onType 69 (derived from)
The first Chinese tank with a Western-derived 105 mm gun and a laser rangefinder fire control system, developed from the Type 69 during the brief warming of relations with the West.
Built byNorinco
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
The Type 79, initially designated Type 69-III, was China's first serious attempt to bring foreign technology into a domestic tank. Access to Western suppliers in the early 1980s brought a licensed derivative of the British L7 105 mm gun, a laser rangefinder in an armoured box above the mantlet, a two-axis stabilised sight and a night vision suite. The hull and running gear remained recognisably descended from the Soviet T-54 by way of the Type 59 and Type 69. It was a substantial improvement in gunnery but still a 1950s hull, and around five hundred were built before attention moved to the Type 80 with its new torsion-bar chassis and six-roadwheel layout.