The Chinese state media CCTV hit the training ground on January 31, Beijing time, and revealed that Type 15 light tanks advanced into the plateau and were first equipped with troops from the Xinjiang Military Region, which was training by Lake Mandong (also known as “Spanggur Tso”) at the southwestern foot of Pangong Mountain on the Sino-Indian border.
The CCTV program “Military Report” officially posted on Weibo that the Type 15 light tank, which was unveiled at the military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, features lightweight, good protection capability, high degree of information technology, and strong offensive power. It is another leap of China’s tank technology, suitable for combat in mountains, jungles, plateaus, and alpine regions, and is affectionately called “Black Panther” by officers and soldiers.
The news pointed out that recently, this type of tank entered a highland training ground, and this is the first time that the Xinjiang Military Region has been equipped with Type 15 light tanks.
Previous reports of exercises conducted by the Tibet Military Region indicated that Type 15 tanks have been deployed to Tibet.
According to expert analysis, Type 15 tank is far superior to the 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled anti-tank gun that India is preparing to import from Russia, while the T-90S tank of India is not suitable for high altitude operations and is likely to become live targets for HJ-10 anti-tank missiles.
In addition, the new generation of 105mm APFSDS ammunition used by the Type 15 tank poses a good threat to all second-generation tanks and some third-generation tanks at regular combat distances.
Even in the face of T-90S, it remains a considerable deterrent and can penetrate the front of its body. Although the T-90S turret is equipped with contact 5 explosion reaction armor, which has a certain degree of weakening of the shelling armor-piercing shell; however, as the new-generation 105 mm APFSDS has enough armor-piercing margin, the probability of the frontal breakdown of the T-90S turret is not small.