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The photos were taken during the August 16th dress rehearsal for the military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The images reveal multiple tracked armored vehicles equipped with unmanned turrets, all making their first public appearance. Observations indicate these vehicles follow a family development approach—sharing similar chassis while featuring distinct variants. Significantly, all are outfitted with hard-kill active protection systems (APS).
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Looks like they are attempting the same thing as the US with thr Future Combst System which failed and the Russian T14 series vehicles
They are all quite innovative designs. Whether they can develop true combat effectiveness will be left to time.
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The digital camo schemes will give me nightmares
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From what i get from a buddy of mine china onlu used the digital cam for parades only
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The Chinese military has adopted digital camouflage as the standard camouflage pattern for vehicles since around 2015, and its use is not limited to military parade only.
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Haha, no worries, man. You can use pre-cut digital camouflage masking stickers for painting – they’ll make things much easier.
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I really have serious questions (as I do with the T-14) whether these “next - gen” AFV’s aren’t sheet metal and fibreglass mock - ups to scare the west. Judging from the rest of the Chinese military, I think the Chinese are 10 - 20 years behind us in AFV technology. I may be dead wrong, but I think these new AFV’s are an elaboate ruse.
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The digital camouflage is remarkable! WOW, that really helps mask the features of the PLA AFVs. I’ve seen Chinese AFV digital camouflage before, but nothing like clear crisp photos in high-resolution.
The truth is, I bet we’re going to see scale model kits of these PLA AFVs very soon unless of course the new AFVs are so secret that they won’t be made into model kits anytime soon. With the way the 3D CAD and printing model kit market is these days in Asia, one doesn’t have to wait years for a new model kit release of a “Real World AFV.”
@SSGToms, it’s not so much a ruse in that these new PLA AFVs do exhibit some of the lessons learned by Western and current conflicts. I’m not a military analyst, but I can see some of the new systems are copies of Western influence along with their own innovative designs.
The main question is…can the PLA afford these AFVs? The Russians and Chinese Defense companies develop new weapon systems in the hopes that their governments will buy them, a sale…“capitalism.” NATO is quite the opposite in that it issues Requirements asking Defense companies to make something for them that they want and need because NATO is more transparent with its taxpayers’ spending. Yes, NATO does have Defense Expos showcasing new innovative weapons technologies and prototypes, but that’s a mixture of Requirements and corporations making weapons to fulfill a NATO need. Often times, NATO doesn’t buy what is being shown at the Expos, hence that is why the Chinese and Russians have so many more weapon systems to show because they’re trying to make sales to their own and foreign governments.
As the US military saying goes, “It’s yours anyway, Americans! You paid for it!” But that doesn’t mean that the American public has access to everything US military as the US military owns it. In some other nations, the government totally owns it because they bought it from the Defense manufacturers. That’s also why the US Navy sells a multibillion dollar retired aircraft carrier for just $1 scrap to the scrapper because the US government has no idea (and never will) which American taxpayer paid what amount of tax money to build the aircraft carrier. The US Navy can’t “make a profit” off of the American taxpayers by selling the steel-for-scrap because the US Navy’s decommissioned aircraft carrier was paid for by American tax money (and borrowed foreign money, but still, the US Navy has no idea which humans on Earth paid how much amount of money and for which parts, so $1 sale. If the US Navy made any profit on the aircraft carrier’s steel-for-scrap, then the US Navy will have to pay back the taxpayers’ money (whoever they were 50+ years ago) because it’s their money that built the warship).
Is that a “Chinese police house” with the red and blue lightbar on top of the roof of the first top photo? If so, why not just add a sign that says “Police?” But then again, for foreigners who can’t read Chinese characters, there’s no mistaking a police lightbar so I suppose it works.
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Modern tanks all look like boring shoe boxes on tracks.
I want countries to start fielding crazy stuff that looks cool.
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The possibility of this scenario is quite remote, as some of these AFVs have already been showcased at China’s defense expos in previous years. Also, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you should be able to see their in-service standards within the PLA in military news reports in the near future, lol.
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Thank you for your reply. I bet we’ll see model kits of these new AFVs within this year. Even if plastic injection kits might not be produced this quickly, there will definitely be 3D-printed scale models available. Because as soon as real vehicle photos leak out, everyone will rush to start surveying and 3D modeling. AFV model subjects are always hugely popular.
The cost of these vehicles is indeed an issue. They appear to be significantly more expensive than previous armored vehicles, which is certainly a problem for a large force like the PLA. However, I’ve noticed these aren’t traditional 50-60 ton MBTs; most are light vehicles, so I feel they might be prioritized for deployment to smaller forces like airborne troops or marines.
Also, the building in the background of the first picture is indeed a Chinese police structure. But it looks like a temporary traffic police outpost – they’re often set up at major intersections. I recall these temporary prefab buildings have “Traffic Police” (交通č¦ĺŻź) written in Chinese on the sides, though it’s not visible in the photo above.
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if Western tanks are like some moving shoeboxes, then Soviet/Russian tanks are like some moving pancakes🥞, lol.
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