Chad operating Chinese-made Type 59G main battle tank

Following the recent uprising in the Chadian republic, the Armée nationale tchadienne (Chad National Army) deployed the Chinese-made Type 59G main battle tank to quell the crises.

At least four heavily upgraded version of the Type 59G main battle tank were photographed in the Chadian Capital, N’djamena providing tank support to troops defending the city from rebel assault.

China supplied 30 tanks to Chad between 2011 up till 2013, apparently the Type 59G tanks were part of the deal. However, the tank appears to have been vastly upgraded with explosive Reaction Blocks in the frontal section of the turret, hull and sideskirt.

Also, Modular applique armor can be seen at the rear of the turret. A heavy machine gun on a coaxial mount likely a W85 12.7 mm or Type 86 7.62 mm is fitted.

The Type 59 (WZ-120) main battle tank was developed in 1958 from the Soviet Type 54A,but with some modifications. Since then, over 10,000 of the tanks have been produced.

The Type 59G is a 3rd generation MBT offered by China North Industries Corporation (Norinco). The Type 59G features improved armored protection, increased lethality and accuracy as well as increased mobility.

It is designed with a welded turret, redesigned armor on the rear and sides, improved side skirts, and second generation night vision equipment and Fire control system (FCS).

The type is powered by a 800 or 730 hp engine. The main armament is now a smoothbore 125 mm capable of firing a Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot (APFSDS), HEAT, HE-FRAG, and ATGMs. The APFSDS round can penetrate 500 mm of rolled homogeneous steel armor (RHA) at two kilometers.

It’s currently in service with Bangladesh and Tanzania which fields 30 Type 59G delivered between 2011 to 2013.

The Type 59G main battle tank joins 60 T-55 MBTs, 30 PTL-02 Assaulter, 132 AML-60/AML-90 armoured cars and 14 ERC-90F Sagaie gun support vehicles in the Chadian Army armor inventory.