Description[edit]

The Type 59 is almost identical to the early production Soviet T-54As, but there are some
key differences. The Type 59 was not originally fitted with the infrared searchlight or
main gun stabilization of the T-54.[citation needed]

The Type 59 has a conventional post-war layout with an engine compartment at the rear
and a cast dome-shaped gun turret in the centre of the hull. The hull is welded steel
varying in thickness between 99 mm on the front lower glacis to 20 mm on the hull floor.
The turret varies in thickness from 39–100 mm.

The driver sits in the front left of the hull, and is provided with a hatch immediately above
his seat, which opens to the left. The driver has two pop-up vision blocks which give
coverage ahead and slightly to the right when buttoned up. The commander sits in the
turret along with the gunner and loader. The commander's hatch is on the turret left, with
the gunner sitting forward and below him. The loader sits on the right of the turret and
has a hatch above him. The turret has a non-rotating floor, which complicated the crew's
operations as they would not rotate with the turret.

The turret mounts a rifled 100 mm Type 59 cannon, for which 34 rounds are typically
carried. A Type 59T 7.62 mm machine gun is mounted coaxially with the main gun. A
Type 54 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun (the Chinese copy of the Russian
12.7 mm M1938/46 DShKM[3] heavy machine gun) is provided above the gunner's hatch
for which 200 rounds are carried. A Type 59T 7.62 mm bow-mounted machine gun is
fitted and is fired by the driver through a tiny hole in the center of the front glacis plate.
3,500 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition are normally carried.

Type 59 tanks participating in the PRC's 10th National Day parade in 1959

The turret has a powered traverse mechanism that is probably comparable to the T-54
traverse mechanism which can rotate the turret through 360 degrees in 21 seconds. Very
early models of the Type 59 gun had manual elevation gear, later replaced with a
powered system which allowed the gun to be aimed at between +17 and −4 degrees (the
average depression for Western tanks is -10, which allows for better usage of hull-
down tactics). Later models added vertical stabilization to make firing on the move
practical. An infrared searchlight based night vision system was retrofitted to the tank
with infrared periscope for the commander gunner and driver.
The tank is powered by a Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel engine, which
develops 390 kilowatts (520 hp) at 2,000 rpm. The engine feeds a manual gearbox with
five forward and one reverse gear. A total of 815 litres of diesel can be carried internally
in the tank, with a further 400 litres carried externally giving a maximum road range of
600 kilometers, or approximately 430 km using only internal fuel. The tank has five road
wheels on each side with a prominent gap between the first and second road wheel. The
track is driven by a drive sprocket at the rear, with an idler at the front. It is notable that
there are no return rollers. The suspension is a torsion bar system. Engine exhaust is on
the left fender.

Ammunition is stored inside the turret, which increases the odds of a catastrophic
secondary explosion should the tank's interior be penetrated by enemy fire. Crew
survivability is hence low.[1]

History[edit]
After the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance,
the Soviets agreed to assist China in building a tank manufacturing facility to
manufacture the T-54A MBT in 1956. Initially, the tanks were assembled with Soviet-
supplied parts, which were gradually replaced by Chinese-made components. The tank
was accepted into service by the PLA in 1959, [1] and given the designation Type 59.

Type 59-IIA tanks.

Over the years, the Type 59 design was enhanced with various domestically developed
and western technologies; when the PLA captured a Soviet T-62 during the Sino-Soviet
border conflict in 1969, improvements based on the T-62 were incorporated into the Type
59 design to become the Type 69 MBT. The Type 69 was further upgraded with Western
technology and became the Type 79 MBT. The Type 59 was therefore, the first in
China's first generation of main battle tanks, the Type 79 being the last. The Type 79 was
superseded by the Type 80 second-generation MBT.

The Type 59 MBT is also known as WZ-120 by its manufacturer. Over 10,000 were
produced between 1959 and the mid 1980s.[1] The Type 59 and its successor, the Type
69, were widely exported, with thousands sold overseas. Today an estimated 5,000 Type
59 MBTs remain in PLA inventory, but it's being supplanted by the more capable Type
96 and Type 99 MBTs.
Combat service[edit]

A former North Vietnamese Type 59 tank, captured by South Vietnamese ARVN troops on 4 July

in 1972 during the Vietnam War, now on display at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank
Museum.

The first war involving the Type 59 was in Vietnam, where North Vietnam fielded at least
several hundreds supplied directly from their Chinese ally against American tanks used
by their South Vietnamese enemy, such as the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank and
the M48 Patton main battle tank. Against the US tanks in faced in Vietnam, the Type 59,
along with the similar T-54 tank of Soviet origin (also widely operated in the war by North
Vietnam), achieved at least medium success, if not considerable, against enemy armour.
Most of the losses of armour suffered by the US and South Vietnamese forces were to
North Vietnamese infantry-based anti-tank weapons, such as the RPG-7, rather than to
North Vietnam's own tanks and other armour.

Pakistani Type 59 tanks during Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

The Type 59 was also fielded during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, in the Battle of
Longewala and Battle of Chamb, where Pakistani Type 59 tanks faced Indian T-54 and
T-55 tanks.[4]

Following the Vietnam War, the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979 was the next largest use
of Type 59 tanks to date in modern Chinese military history. China committed nearly 300
Type 59, Type 62, and Type 63 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) into the
conflict against their former ally, with 48 of the total listed above lost to Vietnamese anti-
tank action. The tanks of 42nd Corps, as the vanguard force responsible for cutting off
the northern Vietnamese city of Cao Bằng, bore the brunt of the losses in armour and
managed to advance only 30 km within 3 days. The poor performance of tanks and AFVs
in this battle was attributed to the mountainous and hilly terrain in much of northern
Vietnam that was inherently unsuitable for mechanized warfare, just like in Korea. The
light armour on the Type 62 tank (a lighter version of the Type 59 which predominantly
served as a combat-reconnaissance vehicle) also proved inadequate in protection
against small and light anti-tank weapons, such as anti-tank grenades.

Iran received 300 Type 59 tanks from North Korea and China during the Iran–Iraq War.
[5]
 They were fielded by both the regular Artesh and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps.[6] The T-72 proved highly superior to the Chinese tank.[7] On the other hand, Iraq
received 1,000 Type 59s from China.[8] The Iraqi Type 59 tanks were later used during
the 1991 Gulf War.[9]

The Sudan also used Type 59 tanks during the Sudanese Civil War. Five were lost to
the Sudan People's Liberation Army near Yei in March 1997.[10]

Type 59 tanks were involved in the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the 1989
Tiananmen Square protests, a column of which were obstructed in the Tank
Man incident.[11][12][13]

The Type 59s of the Zairian Special Presidential Division saw limited action in 1998

against the rebels of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.[14]