September 03, 2025

Meng's new Chinese ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank in 72nd scale

To match the ZTQ15 light tank & PLZ05 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, today Meng releases the third in the batch, the ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank in 72nd scale. We have art, CADs & the real thing in our preview...


Meng's new Chinese ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank in 72nd scale

Chinese ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank
Kit No #72-013
1/72nd scale
There are three marking choices in the box.
Release Date: December 2025
The Subject: PLA ZTZ-99A MBT Main Battle Tank
The Type 99A is also called Type 99A2 or ZTZ-99A MBT (Main Battle Tank). It is an improved version of the Type 99 MBT designed and manufactured in China by the local defence industry. The development of the Type 99 started in 1999, and the tank entered service with the Chinese army in 2001. The first prototype of the Type 99A was tested in 2007, and it was unveiled for the first time in September 2015 during a military parade in Beijing. It was used previously by the Chinese army during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) military exercises in 2014. It is a third-generation main battle tank and the most modern tank in service with the Chinese armed forces. The third generation indicates the capacity of hunter-killer capability using a commander-independent sight.
The main armament of the Type 99A consists of one 125mm smoothbore gun with a thermal sleeve and fume extractor. The turret is fitted with a carousel automatic loader located below the turret. A total of 41 rounds are carried, of which 22 are in the carousel of the automatic loader. The 50-calibre 125 mm cannon can fire HE (high-explosive) fragmentation and a new APFSDS (armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding-sabot) with a reported muzzle velocity of 1780 m/s. Once the weapon has fired, the stub cases are ejected through a door in the rear of the turret that opens to the left. The Type 99A can also fire a laser-guided missile from its 125 mm/50 calibre smoothbore gun, similar to the Russian-made 9M119M Refleks anti-tank guided missile, which has a maximum firing range of 5,000 m. According to some military sources, the Russian missile is manufactured in China under licence. The missile is fitted with a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead that is claimed to penetrate up to 700 mm of conventional steel armour. More recently an improved tandem HEAT warhead has been developed by Russia to defeat MBTs fitted with explosive reactive armour. A total of four missiles are normally carried. The second armament includes one 7.62 mm Type 86 coaxial machine gun mounted to the right of the 125 mm cannon and one 12.7 mm QJC Type 88 heavy machine gun mounted on the commander's cupola. Five smoke grenade dischargers are fitted on each side at the front of the turret.
The design of the Type 99A is very similar to Russian main battle tanks, with the driver's compartment at the front, the fighting compartment and turret in the centre and the power pack at the rear. The Type 99A has a crew of three, with the driver located at the front centre of the hull and two crew members seated in the turret, with the gunner on the left and the commander on the right. The hull and turret are of all-welded steel armour. The tank has also improved composite armour over the front of the hull and turret to provide a higher level of protection against anti-tank guided missiles and rockets. It has a new Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) able to defeat a new generation of the tandem warheads of anti-tank missiles, which is mounted at the front and along the sides of the turret. The same ERA armour is fitted at the front of the hull. There is a stowage basket at the rear of the turret.
The Type 99A is motorised with a 150HB turbocharged diesel engine developing 1,500 hp coupled to a manual transmission that comprises the transmission case, two side gearboxes and a coaxial side transmission. This has seven forward and one reverse gear. There is a large exhaust outlet in the rear hull. The torsion bar suspension of the Type 99A consists on each side of six rubber-tyred road wheels with the drive sprocket at the rear, the idler at the front and four track return rollers. The first, second and sixth road wheels are provided with special hydraulic shock absorbers. The upper part of the suspension is covered by armoured skirts. The Type 99A could run at a maximum road speed of 80 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 600 km. The Type 99A is able to negotiate 60% gradients and 30% side slopes. It can climb a vertical obstacle of 1.3 m and can ford to a depth of 1 m without preparation. The rear part of the hull can be fitted with two additional fuel drums, which extend the cruising range of the tank to 800 km.
Standard equipment of the Type 99A includes an NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) protection system, a fire detection and suppression system, a global positioning system and a snorkel for deep fording. With the deep fording kit, which includes a snorkel, the Type 99A can cross waters 4.5 metres deep. The Type 99A MBT is fitted with the 1A45T Fire Control System, which includes the latest generation of thermal sights, a new ballistic computer and meteo mast sensors. The commander has a stabilised 360º day/night panoramic sight that also includes a laser rangefinder mounted at the front of its position. The gunner has a roof-mounted stabilised day/night sight that also includes a laser rangefinder located at the left front of the turret. A JD-3 infrared jammer is mounted at the base of the top of the barrel to jam Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) such as the Western HOT, TOW and MILAN. A laser jamming device is mounted on the turret roof at the back of the gunner hatch, which can be operated by the commander or gunner and can neutralise hostile optics and has the ability to blind an enemy gunner. It also has the ability to be elevated to a high angle to jam anti-tank helicopters.

The Kit:  Chinese ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank in 72nd scale
MENG will release the "72-013 Chinese ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank" plastic kit in 1/72nd scale. The assembled size is approximately 153 mm in length, 49 mm in width, and 46 mm in height. The kit includes high-definition waterslide decals.
This kit faithfully reproduces the powerful appearance of the Chinese ZTZ99A main battle tank.
Modular design makes assembly easy and pays attention to detail.
Precisely reproduces the engine heat shield cover.
Realistically reproduces the texture of the anti-shield canvas cover.
The crew hatch can be selected to be open or closed.
The barrel can be selected to be in the elevated position or the horizontal position.
The link & length-style tracks are designed to be easy to assemble.
Combined with the same-scale Chinese ZTQ15 light tank and Chinese PLZ05 155 mm self-propelled howitzer (sold separately), you can form your own tank unit.

You can see more info on this kit and others from Meng on the Meng Models website...