It’s rumored that China’s next-generation tank is in its infancy and will weigh only half of Type 99A tank due to its all-electric power system. It’s reported that Chinese tank expert Zang Kemao gave the good news recently: using electromagnetic armor for the new-generation tank can greatly save its weight!
So, the next-generation tank of China could be called all-electric tank or electromagnetic tank. The principle of electromagnetic armor is to use the high voltage produced by the electromagnetic field to damage the incoming ammunition of the enemy, in either active or passive ways.
China’s successful development of electromagnetic armor will inject new vitality into tank armored vehicles
In simple terms, the high-voltage damage caused by the ammunition contact is passive, and the board ejection is active. And the active effect would be better. The impact energy of the enemy ammunition flying at high speed is used to destroy the enemy. For the high-speed jets generated by the armor-piercing projectiles and anti-tank missiles, the projected board can immediately deflect the jet production, greatly reducing the damage to the main armor. And for the most common tail-stabilized shell-piercing armor-piercing projectile of a tank, the breeching speed is 1800 meters per second, and the electromagnetic armor adopts an active strike mode, which actively launches one or more armor plates to make the armor-piercing projectile deviate from the predetermined direction and reduce damage! This is also an unprecedented active armor that can actively attack enemy ammunition, while traditional armor is almost passive, allowing the enemy to come over and carry it hard!
Tank defense technology has been popular in recent years as an active defense system. The principle is to use sensors to detect the enemy’s oncoming target, and then fire high-speed projectiles at a short range to shoot them down. The biggest advantage of this design is that it has good suitability, but its weak point is it’s not effective for common armor-piercing missiles in tanks and can only deal with slow anti-tank missiles or individual rocket launchers.
In addition to electromagnetic armor, Chinese designers have also developed new interceptor armor
Electromagnetic armor is a completely new type of armor. In principle, it has the characteristics of light weight and good defensive effects. But the current design has a relatively good effect on slow armor-piercing or anti-tank missiles, and for high-speed armor-piercing missiles, there is no satisfactory results yet.
If the new technology can solve the problem of high-speed armor-piercing missile defense at low cost and high efficiency, this will have a huge impact on the future of tank armored vehicles.
The maximum weight of the main battle tank is likely to be reduced to 30-40 tons – compared to nearly 60 tons of Type 99A, which will greatly improve the mobility and deterrence. Ordinary military vehicles would be equipped with thick electromagnetic armor, so they cannot be intimidated by danger, and can calmly move forward in the face of enemy fire.