A rather important data for a tank is its own weight.

During World War II, tank technology developed greatly, when World War II just began, most of the tanks were small tanks with a weight of no more than ten tons, and by the end of the war, there were already super huge rat tanks with a weight of 188 tons, as well as a planned 1,000-ton Land Cruiser, which made people have to admire that war is the catalyst for weapons.

In the era at that time, the technology was not advanced enough, it could only enhance the performance of a certain aspect, and most of the ways to increase the self-weight were to put protection in the first place, as long as their tanks could not be penetrated by the opponent's tank guns, then there was hope for success.

However, this places higher demands on the dynamics.

It's like a mature Tiger, Tiger King These tanks, using more than 700 horsepower gasoline engines, are already stretched to drive themselves, if one tank does not move, at least two must be used to tow it!

The increase in dead weight requires motivation to adapt.

After the end of World War II, the Cold War began, the technical routes of the East and the West were different, the Soviet tanks were small, mass-produced, and convenient to fight a war of attrition, so most of the tanks of the Soviets were thirty tons, even if it was a T-72 tank, its own weight was only 41 tons, such a weight, compared to the West, it was absolutely a small thing.

The Leopard-2 tank, the benchmark of the West, has a dead weight of 55 tons, the M1 tank, which weighs 57 tons, and the Challenger tank, which has already gone for sixty tons!

Western tanks are self-important, first of all, because of the height of the hull, the hull is large, the steel plate used must be more, in order to meet the five big and three thick figures, they have to be built so big, and on the other hand, it is because the weight of the armor is too amazing.

Especially the Chobham armor, which was invented by the British, it was ceramic! It was quite bulky, and with this armor, the Challenger's own weight whizzed up, and the early M1 tank, which also used Chobham armor, brought about a surge in weight.

When the weight comes up, the engine performance has to come up, and the Soviet tank engines almost did not exceed a thousand horsepower, and what about the Western ones? 1,200 horsepower is not rich, but 1,500 horsepower is more or less enough.

In order to simplify, the Americans even directly used the turbine engines on the aircraft.

How big should the domestic tank be?

The previous tanks, all of which were more than thirty tons, and the 122 tank chassis had a potential of forty tons, but it would not be enough to rise again, if they really planned to develop a third-generation tank, then they should aim for a combat weight of fifty tons!

"With the advancement of technology, the increase in the weight of the tank is an inevitable trend." Qin Zhenhua introduced to He Lao: "Our armor-piercing technology is developing rapidly, so in order to make our tanks able to resist the enemy's armor-piercing shells, we need to have thicker armor protection and greater dead weight, so we can have higher development potential in the future with the standard of fifty tons." ”

In the future, there will be more and more advanced protective armor coming out, the weight of the tank will continue to increase, and the explosive reactive armor will be successful, do you want to hang it outside the tank? If you hang it up, you'll gain weight! The engine has been improved, the performance has been improved, do you want to change it? If you change it, your weight will increase!

This requires a new chassis, the current forty-ton tank chassis, which is already a limit, and there must be a tank chassis with higher performance.

If you simply map and copy the T-72, it is a forty-ton base, and how much difference is it from your own 122 tank? There's no need for it!

If you want to do it, you have to do it once!

"In terms of engine, our 1,000-horsepower diesel engine has been tested, and the goal of the next stage is to expand to 1,200 horsepower, and eventually it can be expanded to 1,500 horsepower, such a diesel engine can not be installed on the 122 tank, so if a new chassis is developed, we must take into account the development of our technology." Qin Zhenhua said: "This is good for us, and it can be matched with high and low." ”

The chassis of the 122 tank, if you want to be hard-plugged, can also be stuffed into it, however, the butt of the tank is too big and uncoordinated.

"However, if it is 50 tons, I am afraid that we will not be able to adapt to the conditions of the water network in the south, and many bridges will not be able to withstand it." A staff officer beside He Lao couldn't help but say.

There are many reasons why China has been engaged in tanks of more than 30 tons, one of which is the limitation of bridges, the weight of which is too large, many bridges cannot be crossed, and the conditions in the south are not something that heavy tanks can easily deal with.

"Why go south?" Qin Zhenhua asked rhetorically: "Our fifty-ton tank, if it is to be developed, it is to deal with the threat from the north, it is to be deployed to the grassland, to our northeast region, where what other water network zone is considered?" If we go to the south, we can use our tanks now. ”

Don't want a tank that does everything, when you get certain benefits, you must also give up certain requirements, there is no omnipotence.

Now, the USSR in the north is in turmoil, and there is no possibility of a large-scale conflict on the border, but this must not be relaxed, after all, the shadow of previous years still exists.

The great power in the east is a traditional land power, and the biggest threat is in the north.

He Lao nodded: "That's right, what you said makes sense!" It seems that we must be cautious about the plans for the 123 tank! ”

Originally, there was no intention to completely map and copy the T-72, but now, Qin Zhenhua has provided everyone with a new idea, if you want to build, then you have to build a fifty-ton one, which is a hard indicator!

In later generations, although in appearance, the 96 tank and the 99 tank seem to be the same, there is no difference, the same six pairs of load-bearing wheels, the same 125 mm gun, the same appearance of the turret, even the milk cover, are added together, however, there is an essential difference between the two.

One is upgraded from the second-generation tank, and the other is directly developed!

From the beginning of research and development, aiming at the order of fifty tons, when designing the tank chassis, more can be considered from the beginning, such as the position of the load wheel, the matching of the torsion bar, etc., a new design is better than tinkering.

Since its own weight, the margin is large, the tank can be hung with more armor, increase the protection capacity, and the internal space is larger, leaving conditions for future upgrades. In short, now that we want to do it, we have to have high standards!

Of course, considering the national conditions, this is not a complete big step, Qin Zhenhua did not mention fifty-five tons, or even sixty tons, that is, taking into account his own situation, if he said sixty tons, it would be an absolute castle in the air.