China’s disappointing export main tank model

Colonel Richa Suksuwanont, deputy spokeswoman for the Thai army, said on December 13 that a VT-4 main tank had a problem causing the gun barrel to break when fired.

The statement was made a day after images of the VT-4 main tank appeared seriously damaged, in which the entire main gun cluster was gone, and the laser irradiation warning and viewfinder system was also damaged. Thai media said that three crew members were injured, but did not reveal the specific extent.

This is not the first time the VT-4 has encountered problems in daily operations and combat, causing military analysts to raise many questions about the capabilities and reliability of this vehicle.

VT-4 is the export version of the third generation main tank MBT-3000. This is one of the most modern tank models built by China, applying many technologies from the Type-99A and Type-96B models. This car line has been exported to Pakistan, Thailand and Nigeria, with a selling price of about 5 million USD each.

The VT-4 tank is equipped with a 125 mm smoothbore gun, capable of launching guided missiles with a range of 4.5 km. In addition, VT-4 is also equipped with a remote-controlled 12.7 mm machine gun and a 7.62 mm parallel machine gun.

Each VT-4 is equipped with at least two layers of defense, including complex armor and explosive reactive armor (ERA) FY-4. Feng Yibai, head of the VT-4 tank’s design team, confirmed that the complex armor on the front of the vehicle has the same defense ability as 500 mm thick rolled homogeneous steel armor (RHA), while the ERA layers will add a level of resistance equal to 700 mm RHA.

The VT-4A1 version is also equipped with the GL-5 active defense system, smoke grenade launcher cluster and laser irradiation warning device to deal with anti-tank guided missiles.

The Thai army owns 62 vehicles, saying they chose the VT-4 because of its cheap price and acceptable quality compared to Western tanks. However, Thai public opinion has expressed concern about the deal, because the country experienced bitter consequences when buying 25 Type-69-II tanks from China in 1987 and had to be scrapped after a short time because of frequent problems and lack of replacement parts.

Thai officials are considering many theories in the tank’s gun barrel incident, including the intensity of the operation, because the VT-4 had participated in skirmishes with Cambodia and opened fire continuously before. Meanwhile, military experts question the quality of barrels or artillery shells.

“Wearing of artillery barrels due to continuous firing, especially when using poor quality ammunition or not being adequately maintained, may be the cause. This is a long-known drawback of high-pressure smoothbore artillery”, military site Indian Defense News of India commented.

Some have suggested that the problem could be caused by artillery shells, such as being filled with too much propellant or having a faulty shell. Ammunition exports from China have been suspect in the past due to inconsistent quality control, even though Norinco sets very strict standards.

Nigeria and Pakistan also encountered a series of technical problems during the operation of the VT-4 line.

Boko Haram rebels earlier this year destroyed at least one VT-4 tank during a raid and occupation of a Nigerian army base. Images released later showed the VT-4 burning and smoking, but the specific extent of damage was unclear.

National defense news site Global Defense Corp Citing sources in the Nigerian military, the VT-4 was brought down after just a few RPG anti-tank rounds, even though this is a weapon that is often countered by complex armor and ERA.

VT-4 tanks in the Nigerian army seem to be in the repair shop more than on field duty, due to frequent breakdowns. Officials in this country also expressed disappointment when Norinco often delayed providing spare parts and components.

Nigerian media revealed that a VT-4 could not even fire its main cannon during a demonstration before senior military leaders.

The above reasons, along with poor combat performance, are causing Nigeria to consider canceling plans to buy more VT-4 tanks. The country received the first batch of 6 vehicles in 2020 and intends to import an additional 35-40 vehicles.

Pakistan, the largest customer of the VT-4 line, also faces similar difficulties. The country plans to buy up to 680 units, in an effort to modernize its armored force. “However, the Pakistani military has significantly reduced the order to 258 units by 2025, showing that they are not satisfied with the capabilities of VT-4,” Global Defense Corp said.

According to this news site, the problems Pakistan and Nigeria encounter with the VT-4 series reflect a common situation with Chinese weapons exports, which is impressive technical specifications but not always accompanied by real-world reliability and long-term support from the manufacturer.

The VT-4 tank also caused disappointment in China. During a performance at the Zhuhai air show in November 2024, a VT-4 had problems and had to stop midway while climbing a slope. This is considered an “embarrassing” incident for the Chinese defense industry, especially when it happened in front of foreign guests.

Norinco has not commented on the events, but industry experts say the company will send a technical team to Thailand to learn about the barrel leak.

“A series of problems with customer countries shows that the VT-4 may not be the modern main tank model as advertised,” Global Defense Corp said.