Hello everyone and welcome back to Fake tank Friday.
Today we’re going to be looking at the new Chinese heavy tank just introduced to World
of Tanks called the WZ-114.
Now as always when we talk about tanks from China I need to preface this with the disclaimer
that as we know very little about Chinese prototypes and different projects related
to them you always run into a bit of guess-work when discussing these topics.
However, I’ll be doing my best to cover it in as much detail as I can and try to work
out just how this vehicle came to life.
As far as I can tell from searching there is no real world vehicle or project which
uses the designation wargaming has given the vehicle.
The only hint of history behind the project is found in the video regarding the ingame
event which allows players to unlock this vehicle.
Unfortunately they really couldn’t have been more vague if they tried so that information
is virtually useless.
Although anything is possible, when we consider that the WZ-111 which was China’s only domestic
heavy tank was not a success I’m skeptical of whether or not another design would have
even been proposed.
From my limited knowledge on Chinese designations the 114 would indicate to me that this would
be the fourth generation of the heavy tank.
Quite odd for a class of vehicle that never entered service to begin with.
So that begs the question of where this tank came from.
The short answer is likely the imagination of someone working at wargaming, but I think
there is more to consider than just that.
If we look at several aspects of the design such as the turret and hull shape it does
somewhat line-up with the real world issues the 111 had.
Although these were largely due to the engine, the tank also suffered from the quality of
the steel used for the pike nose armor similar to the IS-3.
What I believe we are seeing with the WZ-114 is an attempt to create a vehicle which could
theoretically have been designed had the 111 program not been canceled.
The replacement of the pikenose hull with a slightly more traditional layout could have,
in theory, reduced the issues during construction.
Next up we can look at the engine of this vehicle which is listed as the V-2-54SC.
As with the tank itself this engine gave me no results but seems possibly to be related
to the Soviet V-2 engine from the name.
Either way this change in engine supports my hypothesis about the vehicle as the engine
was a major issue with the 111.
Finally we can compare the suspension of this tank to that of the WZ-111.
Here we see yet another difference, although much of it is hidden behind the side panels.
However we can clearly see that the 114 only has 6 roadwheels per side compared to 7 on
the 111.
These wheels also look to be more similar to roadwheels from something like a Type-59
than the all steel wheels on the 111.
Unfortunately we cannot compare the suspension system itself as we can’t really see it
but I think we can safely assume its been at least somewhat changed from the 111 considering
the difference in roadwheel size and quantity.
With that we reach the last parts of this tank to consider, that being the turret and
cannon.
Starting off with the cannon it seems to be based off of the 130mm Type-59 which itself
is a copy of the Soviet M-46.
This is where the realism ends though as the turret is probably the strangest part of this
vehicle to me.
Now I’m not saying this shape couldn’t have been created by China using it as a basis
but the shape and layout of the turret is nearly identical to that of the Soviet Object-120
“Taran” even down to the placement of the spotlight.
This could just be a coincidence but I have a sneaking suspicion this was where the inspiration
for the turret came from.
So, is the WZ-114 a real tank design?
Well as far as I can tell no it is not.
Some may try to call this a paper tank but that term is actually referring to something
like the VK 100.01 which did exist in blueprints but never was built.
With no information or historical drawings of this tank it is not a paper tank but rather
it is just a fake.
I know to some that may seem like a nitpick but personally I find that it is a very important
distinction to make.
Before I start a Spongebob type flaming torch riot against wargaming though I do want to
briefly discuss my personal opinion about this type of fake design.
First off, if I'm wrong about this and it is a real design I’ll happily remake this
video if someone from Wargaming is able to provide me with the information they have
regarding this tank.
Back onto my opinion though I really don’t have anything wrong with this particular fake.
I think it's a genuinely good attempt at a “what if” type tank that China could have
potentially designed and built.
My only issue stems from the extremely vague information given in the video alluding to
this tank really existing.
But that's just my opinion, if you’re enraged that wargaming would do something so heinous
let me know in the comments down below and use that rage to absolutely destroy the like
button.
If you’re a bit more cool-headed about this vehicle then have no fear you can still let
me know what you thought of the video down below as well.
Huge thanks to my conely fans who support the channel and allowed me to purchase the
tank ingame so I could provide the visuals of the tank you saw in this video.
Thank you all for watching and I will see you next week for another Fake tank Friday.