Type 63 Light Amphibious Tank
The Type 63 Light Amphibious Tank design is based on mounting the Type 62 turret on a Chinese copy of the hull of the Soviet PT-76 Light Amphibious Tank. The Type 63 mounts an 85mm gun that can fire AP, APHE, HE, and HEAT rounds, though the turret has a ventilator dome with a snorkel fitting. The hull is similar the PT-76 apart from a nearly horizontal glacis plate and different engine grills. An additional difference is in the. There are three separate vertical slot side inlets on the Type 63, in contrast to the single large inlet with inset vertical baffle plates on the PT-76. Type 63 tanks are deployed in large numbers with PLA Navy Marine units.
Sources and Methods
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/type-63-t.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Saturday, June 19, 1999 6:37:33 AM
