"The most sold tanks in China, 3,000 vehicles were exported at a time, and the transaction volume has not been surpassed"
I. The Background of China's Arms Trade - "We Are Not Arms Dealers"
On May 2 and May 3, 1979, which had far-reaching historical significance for China's arms and equipment exports, China ushered in the first arms trade order in the history of weapons and equipment exports, and ordered 160 million US dollars worth of weapons and equipment with Egypt.
J-6 fighter
It includes 44 J-6 fighters, 6 J-6 fighters, 220 turbojet 6 engines and 28 turbojet 8 engines used in supporting use, as well as the construction of logistics maintenance facilities.
This is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China that China has exported weapons and equipment to the outside world in the name of sale, and it has also opened the door to the export of Chinese weapons and equipment.
The J-6 fighter jet exported from China to Egypt flew over the pyramid
So far, China has been founded for 30 years, during which time a lot of weapons and equipment have been exported to the outside world, so why is it said that the arms trade order signed with Egypt in 1979 is "the first military trade order in the history of China's weapons and equipment exports"?
This has to start in the 1950s, when the mainland began to build a national defense industry, Chairman Mao Zedong once said: "We are not arms dealers." ”
To this end, in the nearly 20 years since then, China's export of weapons and equipment to foreign countries has been carried out in the form of free aid, and the funds have been borne by the state.
China aided Albania's J-7 fighter jets
Since 1958, China has provided free aid to 1,153 aircraft of 10 types to 16 countries, including North Korea, Pakistan, Vietnam, Albania and Romania, with aviation equipment alone.
In addition, there are a large number of supporting facilities, such as engines, missiles, maintenance and repair parts and facility construction, etc., and some countries have also obtained surface-to-air missiles from China.
Pakistan Air Force J-6 fighter
Second: the background of China's arms trade - "It seems that the improper arms dealer is not enough"
However, after the 1970s, the free export of weapons and equipment to the outside world brought a greater burden to the mainland's economy, and China's economic development, which experienced the impact of the "Cultural Revolution", was hit hard.
In addition, after entering the 1970s, Western countries have further opened up the gap in science and technology, military, industry and economy.
Especially in the military field, the mainland's military technology was almost at a standstill in the 1950s and 1960s, and after the Soviet Union withdrew scientists and suspended aid for various projects, China, with its weak technical reserves, suffered repeated setbacks in the development of weapons and equipment, and many scientists suffered shocks during the Cultural Revolution, as well as the guidance of erroneous ideas.
The development of the mainland in the economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological and industrial fields is almost at a standstill, or even retrogressive.
Nixon visited China
At this time, Sino-Western relations were improved again, and US President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972 marked that the situation of Sino-US isolation from each other since the founding of New China had finally been broken, and western countries led by the United States gradually opened the door to blockade China.
Militarily, the mainland has taken this opportunity to send a large number of scientists to Western countries to study and exchange, and many scientists have gone to Western countries for exchanges and visits, lamenting that we have opened up a huge gap in military technology by Western countries.
Deng Xiaoping
In 1978, at the beginning of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping repeatedly listened to reports from leaders of the military industry department and the aviation industry, and pointed out:
"The way to develop aircraft mainly includes the introduction of advanced foreign technology, the introduction of scientific research means, and the need to send more people to study abroad."
At that time, the situation on the mainland, only by taking the route of technology introduction, sending more outstanding talents to study abroad can we fundamentally shorten the gap with Western countries.
Chinese test pilots test flights the Mirage 2000 fighter jet in France
However, in the early days of reform and opening up, China needed to invest a lot of more money into economic construction, many arsenals were also facing reforms, there was not enough funds to put into national defense construction, and even the survival of the arsenals facing reform had become a problem.
Just when the military industry is considering the introduction of advanced foreign technology, it is facing an extreme shortage of foreign exchange.
In this context, Deng Xiaoping said at the time: "It seems that it is not possible to be an arms dealer." ”
Three: The Background of China's Military Trade - "The First Decade Created Brilliant"
On January 2, 1979, the central government approved the change of foreign military aid from all non-reimbursable aid to three methods: fee-based, barter and non-reimbursable assistance.
China sells J-7 fighter jets to Iraq
This kicked off the prelude to China's export of weapons and equipment, after which China's export of weapons and equipment to the outside world is no longer free aid.
And in the first 10 years from 1979 to the end of the 1980s, it earned the first pot of gold, and it was also the most brilliant 10 years in the history of China's equipment exports, and a large number of equipment was exported to the outside world, which was favored by customers in the international market.
China has also earned rich foreign exchange in these 10 years, laying an economic foundation for economic construction, the introduction of advanced technologies and the research and development of weapons and equipment.
The reason why China's weapons and equipment were able to achieve large-scale exports in the first decade after the reform.
Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States has improved Sino-US relations
There are two reasons for this: First, China and the United States have entered a "honeymoon period", Sino-Western relations have improved, and China's arms exports in the international market have been less hindered.
Buyers do not have to worry about being sanctioned by Western countries led by the United States for the purchase of Chinese weapons and equipment, and the weapons and equipment exported by China are more cost-effective;
Second, it coincided with the outbreak of the "Iran-Iraq War", when two originally wealthy Middle Eastern powers engaged in an eight-year tug-of-war due to border disputes, religious contradictions, ethnic hatred and other factors.
Iran-Iraq war
At that time, Iran and Iraq were known as military powers in the Middle East, and advanced weapons such as F-14 Tomcat fighters, Mirage fighters, and Scud missiles were also used in the war.
Even chemical weapons have been used, but in the end they have been commented by the world military circles as the most typical example of "advanced weapons fighting low-level wars".
In this war, the two sides did not gain any benefits except for "laboring the people and hurting the wealth" and being heavily indebted.
However, the 8-year-long tug-of-war has ushered in an excellent export opportunity for Chinese weapons and equipment, and the eight-year consumption has forced Iran and Iraq, which have an imperfect military system, to find a channel around the world to buy weapons and equipment.
Coupled with the protracted war, the economy has regressed, and both sides have incurred a lot of foreign debt.
To this end, when purchasing weapons and equipment, we have to choose cost-effective, simple and easy-to-operate products.
Iran's F14 Tomcat fighter
Compared with the weapons and equipment of Western powers, the mainland has an absolute advantage in price, no additional conditions and political conditions, and simple operation and logistical maintenance.
It became the perfect choice for countries such as Iraq and Iran in the middle and late stages of the war.
Four: The largest tank order in the history of China's military trade
The first country to buy Chinese tanks was Iraq, which had huge petrodollar financial support from the Gulf states at the beginning of the war.
In fact, at that time, Iraq had enough money to buy more advanced main battle tanks from France, the Soviet Union and other countries.
However, although the performance of tanks in European and American countries is excellent, the higher the requirements for operation, maintenance and maintenance personnel, and it is necessary to cultivate a large number of high-quality talents.
For Iraq, which urgently needs to put weapons and personnel into the battlefield, it is impossible to train a large number of high-quality talents and establish a more complex logistics support system in the short term of wartime.
Therefore, Iraq has taken a fancy to the main battle tank developed by China, which is not only cost-effective, simple to operate and easy to maintain.
There was also a large number of Soviet-made T55/62 tanks in Iraq, and Chinese tanks were developed on the basis of Soviet-made tanks.
Soviet-made T55 tank
In the training of operators, maintenance personnel, and the establishment of logistics support systems, they can be integrated with the integrated support system of Soviet-made tanks, which can save a lot of costs and quickly put them into war.
In May 1981, Northern signed a huge arms purchase contract for multiple countries and payers, with Iraq behind it.
These contracts included a total of 2,800 Type 69-II tanks, Type 69-IIA command tanks, 69-IIB tanks, 69-IIC tanks and 69-IIC1 tanks in the Type 69 main battle tank family, as well as armored rescue vehicles and engineering vehicles developed on the chassis of the Type 69II tank, with a total value of more than $1 billion.
The transaction is the first order in the history of China's tank exports, and it is also the largest tank export volume to date.
According to the requirements of the contract, 100 vehicles were delivered in the first year, the remaining part was delivered in 1984, and the buyer also requested more than 20 major technical improvements to the Type 69II main battle tank in a very short period of time.
Type 69IIB tank
The main gun should replace the smoothbore gun with a rifled gun, and the fire control system, the power system, the steering system, the cooling system, the hull shielding, the planetary transmission, the clutch, the infrared night vision system, etc. all need to be improved or upgraded, and the comprehensive combat performance of the improved tank has been greatly improved.
In the face of such a large order, as well as various major upgrades, coupled with the short delivery time required, the 617 factory at that time faced a lot of pressure.
But the bones are hard to gnaw down, after a large number of scientific researchers and front-line personnel unremitting efforts, only 1 and a half years to complete all the tank upgrade tasks, production line capacity expansion and process improvement are all ready, and finally all the tanks are delivered to the hands of customers on schedule.
Type 69IIM tank
After the successful export of the 69 series tanks to Iraq in large quantities, it also prompted other countries to come to buy, among which Iran also purchased about 200 from China after capturing a certain number of Type 69 tanks used by the Iraqi army in the war.
In addition, Bangladesh has purchased about 80 vehicles, Myanmar has about 80 vehicles, Pakistan has about 250 vehicles, and countries such as North Korea, Bhutan and Thailand have also purchased some of them, with a total production of more than 3500 vehicles, of which exports account for most of them, generating more than one billion US dollars in foreign exchange.
Equipped with Bangladeshi Type 69 tanks
Although the Type 69 tanks have achieved large-scale exports, the number of Equipment of the Chinese Army is not much, only 154 Type 69 initial models are used for training and scientific research, and about 282 Type 79 tanks (Type 69III) are equipped with the 8th Tank Division, and the number of equipment is only more than 400.
Although the Export Quantity of Type 69 tanks is large and cost-effective, it is not excellent in terms of performance, after all, it is developed on the basis of Type 59 tanks.
Coupled with the relative weakness of China's overall tank research and development capabilities at that time, the development and technology used in the Type 69 tank was already lagging behind the world's advanced level at that time. As a result, in the Gulf War, it was severely damaged by advanced Western tanks, with losses of more than 70%.
After the 69 main battle tank was severely damaged in the Gulf War, it also made China's tank exports face unprecedented challenges, leaving buyers with a backward and shoddy image, and the reputation was seriously affected.
The third generation of continental foreign trade tank VT4 main battle tank
Until recent years, with the continuous development and progress of China's defense industry, after the introduction of main battle tanks that can compete with Western countries to the international market, the international high-end tank market has gradually been opened, but if you want to create the achievements of that year, I am afraid there is still a long way to go.
Periscoper February 10, 2021, please do not reprint without authorization, plagiarism will be investigated! ）