China/US Jaguar Main Battle Tank

Triton

Triton

Donald McKelvy
Senior Member
Joined
14 August 2009
Messages
9,707
Reaction score
2,049
Website
deeptowild.blogspot.com
The Jaguar was a joint Chinese/US project between Cadillac Gage and the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation with the intent of modernizing the Type 59 tank and its variants in the mid-1980s. The political fallout of the Tiananmen Square Massacre forced the US and Chinese teams to part company in 1989. Cadillac Gage continued development of the Jaguar on its own, but there was no market for the tank since it was glutted with used tanks after the Cold War.

Source:
http://www.military-today.com/tanks/jaguar.htm
 

Attachments

  • jaguar.jpg
    jaguar.jpg
    75.4 KB · Views: 493
  • jaguar_l1.jpg
    jaguar_l1.jpg
    115.1 KB · Views: 438
  • jaguar_l2.jpg
    jaguar_l2.jpg
    82 KB · Views: 425
Always liked the external appearance of the Jaguar.

Biggest question(s) that come to my mind being:
if it's an evolution of the T-55/Type 59,
was it their basic hull and turret with the added applique armor,
or a completely new turret design altogether,
and/or a modified hull interior?
(it obviously had the better western engine...)

If it did use the original hull and turret configuration, with just the "western armor" added on giving it the appearance of a more modern tank,
my guess then is it would still be as cramped inside as the T-55/Type 59, and wouldn't really fight much better, despite looking more advanced.
(poor ergonomics can't wholly be overcome with better guns, sights/fire control, suspension, etc...)


Anybody?
 
As I understand it, the turret was all-new. In fact, so was the top deck of the hull, the engine, the transmission, and a sizable portion of the running gear. There wasn't a whole lot left of the donor Type 59 except the lower hull, the suspension, and maybe the driver's station.
 
seems like they took what they had learned with the frontal armour of M1A1's and deflection points. they did well!
an Avco-Lycoming diesel turbine would be more than enough if they were able to do enough weight reduction from previous models.
 
This seems like the best thread to ask, did the WZ1224 prototype benefit from any of this cooperation with the US and other western nations? I know it was their first attempt at a western style tank and was wondering if anyone here knows about its history or development, I haven't been able to find much information on the subject.
 
Keyboard Commando said:
This seems like the best thread to ask, did the WZ1224 prototype benefit from any of this cooperation with the US and other western nations? I know it was their first attempt at a western style tank and was wondering if anyone here knows about its history or development, I haven't been able to find much information on the subject.
Click to expand...
1224 is much earlier than Jaguar，I will post something about 1224 later
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom