Chinese NORINCO VT4 is mainly built for overseas export

The first public appearance of the Chinese VT4 main battle tank during the annual military parade in Pakistan that was held in Karachi on March 25, 2021. In 2019, Pakistan has selected the VT4 in the framework of the acquisition program of at least 100 new MBTs.

The Chinese-made VT4 main battle tank was officially presented for the first time to the public during the annual military in Pakistan, March 25, 2021. (Picture source Pakistan armed forces)

In September 2020, it was announced that Pakistan Army has inducted Chinese-made VT-4 Main Battle Tank. Currently, different types of main battle tanks are already in service with the Pakistani armed forces including 300 local-made Al-Khalid, 315 Russian T-80U, 500 local-made Al-Zarrar, 400 Chinese Type-69, and 268 Type-85-IIAP.

The VT4 is one of the latest generations of main battle tanks manufactured by the Chinese defence industry. The tank was unveiled in 2012 during the International Defence Exhibition Eurosatory that was held in Paris, France. The VT4 is now in service with China, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Thailand. The export variant of the VT4 is called MBT-3000.

The VT4 is armed with one 125mm smoothbore gun fitted with a thermal sleeve and fume extractor. It is fed by an automatic loader that holds a total of 22 projectiles and charges which can be loaded at the rate of eight per minute. The second armament includes one 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and one remotely operated weapon station mounted on the commander cupola which is armed with one 12.7mm heavy machine gun. The cannon can also fire the anti-tank guided missile 9K119 Refleks with a range of up to 5 km.

The VT4 hull and turret are of all-welded steel armour construction. The tank can be fitted with explosive reactive armour (ERA), offering a high level of protection against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic energy penetrators.

The VT4 tank is powered by a water-cooled turbocharged electronic-controlled diesel engine developing 1,300 hp. It can run at the maximum speed of 70 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.