Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicle


The Type 05 amphibious armored vehicle is a family of amphibious tracked armored fighting vehicles developed by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps, consisting of two main combat variants — the ZBD-05 infantry fighting vehicle and the ZTD-05 assault vehicle, as well as two support variants based on the ZBD-05. The Type 05s could be launched at sea from an amphibious assault ship over the horizon, and features a hydroplane, a design concept that has been compared to the cancelled United States Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program.
As a dedicated amphibious combat vehicle, the Type 05 is aiming to provide unique amphibious capability that emphasizes on speedy landing operations. The ZTD-05 assault vehicle variant replaces the obsolete Type 63A amphibious tank introduced in the late 1990s.

Development

The Type 05 amphibious infantry fighting vehicle uses a planing hull propelled by two water jets achieving water travelling speed much greater than any current amphibious armored vehicle in the PLA Marine Corps which is a considerable improvement over similar type of vehicle like AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicle.
The vehicle is designed with a hydraulic-actuated bow with transom flaps, designed to aid hull skimming across the surface of the water. When activated the bow and transom flaps form a planing surface with the bottom of the hull, allowing the vehicle to go faster because hydrodynamic drag is reduced on the vehicle's hull. The ZBD2000 features a flat, boat-like hull, with 6 retractable road wheels each side and front/rear rollers. A welded turret is mounted in the center of the hull, with the powerpack positioned in the front and the passenger compartment in the rear.
ZBD05 vehicles appeared in military parade in 2009 and 2015. Chief designer is Chen Peng Fei from Norinco group.

Design

Armament

The Infantry Fighting Vehicle variant of the ZBD2000 was built to accompany the light tank variant in the battlefield in amphibious operations. The vehicle shares the same hull, but replaces the 3-man 105mm rifled gun with a 2-man 30mm cannon turret with a HJ-73C ATGM rail launcher positioned on the roof of the turret, and a 7.62mm coaxial mounted machine gun. The vehicle has a crew of 3 and can carry 7-8 armed soldiers in its passenger compartment in the rear. The 30mm cannon isn't present in any armoured vehicles within the PLA Marine Corps, indicating a possible brand new 30mm cannon design.
The Assault Vehicle variant is armed with a fully stabilised 105mm rifled gun. The 105mm rounds carried consist of armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot, high explosive, and high-explosive anti-tank rounds, and Chinese 105mm laser beam riding guidance anti-tank guided missiles. The 105mm missile offers the capability to engage shore targets whilst still swimming at sea, where conventional ammunition would perform poorly due to the motion of sea waves. Secondary weapons for both variants include a 7.62mm coaxial mounted machine gun, a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the roof of the turret near the loader, and 2 sets of 4-barrel smoke grenade launchers mounted on either side of the turret. The rear part of the turret has a storage rack for additional equipment which also provides additional protection against HEAT rounds.
Fire accuracy is attained by a computerised fire-control system, including a fire-control computer, light spot commander sight with laser rangefinder input, and light spot gunner sight with passive night vision. For all-weather amphibious assault operations, the vehicle is equipped with GPS navigation and thermal imaging system. The assault vehicle variant is operated by a crew of 4, with the driver positioned front-left of the turret, and loader, gunner, and commander occupying the turret.

Protection

The vehicle has GPS, NBC protection system, day/night thermal vision for crew. The hull and the turret of the ZTD-05 are of all-welded steel armour construction, which give protection against fire of small arms and shell splinters. The upper part of the suspension is protected by armor plates.

Mobility

The ZBD-05 is fully amphibious, and the vehicle is propelled by two large water jets mounted to the rear side of the hull. In the water, the engine is able to generate 1475 horsepower as well as switching to land mode with only 550 horsepower. The vehicle can run at a maximum road speed of 65 km/h and 45km/h in the water. It has a maximum cruising range of 500 km and can negotiate a gradient of 60 % and side slope of 30%. It can cross a vertical obstacle of 0.7 m and trench of 2 m.

Variants