An indigenously built Chinese Type-96B battle tank (a new model in the Type-96 family) broke down during the “Tank Biathlon” competition at the Alabino training field in Russia.
The Type-96B (also known as the ZTZ-96B) main battle tank, unfortunately for the Chinese military, suffered a malfunction during the mechanized military sports competition organized by the Russian military.
After navigating through the obstacle course, the Chinese tank lost its track support rollers (components of the track system that provide mobile support for the tank). The Chinese team quickly replaced the combat vehicle with a spare, but this resulted in a penalty.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sent several Type-96B tanks to participate in the tank competition, the most-watched segment of the Russia-hosted International Army Games.
“The Type-96B is the strongest variant of the Type-96 family and is truly an advanced, third-generation main battle tank,” Gao Zhuo, a Shanghai-based military analyst, told the state-controlled China Daily newspaper.
