India once again expressed concern about the superiority of the Chinese Army in light tank equipment in the conflict area
Initially, Indian military officials emphasized the fear of the so-called Chinese ZTQ-15 mountain tank, or Type 15 light tank
now China is also noticed by the ZTL-11 armored fire support vehicle, also known as the "self-propelled anti-tank gun"
In fact, the ZTL-11 can also be classified as a light tank with a wheeled chassis, it uses an 8x8 wheel configuration, providing very high mobility
This Chinese armored vehicle attracts special attention from Indian military experts because it can be transported relatively easily by air
This greatly increases the flexibility of the Chinese army in the combat zones, providing a great advantage in firepower
The ZTL-11 is already in service with the Chinese Marine Corps and was first shown to the public in September 2015 during a military parade in Beijing
The vehicle was designed to provide a fire support vehicle with high mobility and firepower
based on Type 08 8x8 wheeled armored chassis, with a 105mm cannon
The design of the ZTL-11 is very similar to the Italian-made Centauro
It has a crew of four, with the driver seated at the front left of the hull
The turret is mounted in the middle of the chassis with commander, gunner and loader
The powerpack is located at the rear of the vehicle
The hull and turret of the ZTL-11 are of all-welded steel armour constructio
which provides protection for the crew against the firing of small arms fire and artillery shell splinters
Over the frontal arc, protection is provided against penetration from 20 mm projectiles and against 12.7 mm attack all round
The main gun is a 105mm British-originated Royal Ordnance L7 rifled main gun with full armor-defeating capability at-range
It can fire the armour piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), high explosive (HE)
and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds
and the Chinese indigenous 105mm gun-fired laser beam riding guidance anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) derived from the Russian 9M117 Bastion technology
The second armament includes one 7.62mm machine gun mounted coaxially to the right of the 105mm cannon
A 12.7mm machine can be mounted on the loader hatch
The 105 mm gun is fully stabilized which is used in conjunction with a computerized fire-control system
with the commander and gunner having day/night sights and the latter also having a laser range-finder
The ZTL-11 is fully amphibious and propelled in the water thanks to two waterjets mounted one either side at the rear of the hull
Standard equipment of the ZTL-11 includes an automatic fire extinguishing system, CBRN protection system and air conditioning
According to Chinese military sources, the vehicle is equipped with a battlefield management system
data link communication radio, and a satellite position system
It seems that a satellite communication antenna is mounted on the upper part of the turret
China is very focused on developing light armored vehicles for potential conflicts in the mountains or amphibious assault
This fact makes the Indian military especially worried.
Indian media believe that to meet the needs of the country's armed forces
the government must urgently buy at least 100 light tanks Indian media believe that to meet the needs of the country's armed forces
the government must urgently buy at least 100 light tanks
One of the options being considered is the Russian Sprut-SDM self-propelled anti-tank gun, or the Korean K21 light tank
There is also another opinion that there is no need to worry too much about China's light tanks
because India has quite a large transport force, capable of bringing the T-90 main battle tanks to the front line
In terms of firepower or armor protection, neither the ZTL-11 nor the ZTQ-15 are rivals of the T-90