Type 59 tank

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Type 59
A Type 59 tank in Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	China
Service history
In service	1959–present
Wars	Vietnam War Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Sino-Vietnamese War Iran–Iraq War Tiananmen Square Protests Gulf War Second Sudanese Civil War First Congo War Kosovo War Albania–Yugoslav border incident (April 1999) Sri Lankan Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer	First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory, Norinco
Produced	1958–1985
No. built	9,500
Specifications
Mass	36 tonnes (35 long tons; 40 short tons)[1]
Length	6.04 metres (19.8 ft) (hull)[1]
Width	3.27 metres (10.7 ft)[1]
Height	2.59 metres (8 ft 6 in)[1]
Crew	4[1]
Armor	20–203 mm[2]
Main armament	100 mm rifled gun
Secondary armament	2 x Type 59T 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun,[3] Type 54 12.7 mm air-defence machine gun
Engine	Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel 520 hp (390 kW)
Power/weight	14.44 hp/tonne[1]
Suspension	torsion bar
Operational range	450 km,[1] 600 km with external tanks
Maximum speed	50 kilometres per hour (31 mph)[1]

The Type 59 (Chinese: 59式; pinyin: Wǔ jiǔ shì; industrial designation: WZ-120) main battle tank is a Chinese-produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an early model of the ubiquitous T-54/55 series. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963. Over 9,500 of the tanks were produced by the time production ended in 1985 with approximately 5,500 serving with the Chinese armed forces. The tank formed the backbone of the Chinese People's Liberation Army armoured units until the early 2000s, with an estimated 5,000 of the later Type 59-I and Type 59-II variants in service in 2002.

The Type 59 was modified several times during its service. It was also the basis of several later Chinese tank designs including the Type 69 and Type 79 tanks.