China showcases Type 99B tank in live-fire drills after 2025 parade debut

China has released footage of live-fire drills of its Type 99B main battle tank roughly a year after its public unveiling. The footage showed four Type 99B tanks maneuvering and firing during a live-fire assessment involving a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army’s 80th Group Army at a training ground in Shandong, the Global Times reported. Military affairs expert Song Zhongping told Global Times that the event’s significance lies in its demonstration that the Type 99B has formally entered service with PLA Army armored units and has developed combat capabilities. “The introduction of a new tank model does not mark the end of training, but its starting point.” Song described the Type 99B as a substantial improvement over the Type 99A, particularly in its information systems. He said the tank can operate as a node within a wider information network, allowing it to receive and execute orders from higher command more effectively. China Arms reported that the Type 99B retains the Type 99 family’s 125 mm smoothbore gun, autoloader and three-person crew configuration. The outlet described the 99B as an upgrade of the existing heavy tank design rather than an entirely new tank family. In one portion of the exercise, a Type 99B crew received orders to engage an armor-piercing target at 1,200 meters while stationary. Another tank fired while moving against a simulated enemy tank approximately 1,000 meters ahead. China Arms, which also covered the event, described crews handling ammunition inside the turret and tanks firing while stationary and moving, including shots to the side and rear. The three-person crews were assessed on their ability to strike designated targets within a set period while stationary and moving. During stationary firing, crews searched for, identified, and selected targets, while a command post monitored impacts and provided corrections. Commanders directed operations and communicated with higher command, drivers negotiated bridges, water pits, and craters, and gunners identified targets considered the greatest threat. “We must closely integrate target search and identification, selection of the correct direction of advance, swift decision-making and efficient command to strike targets accurately,” a service member said in the Global Times. All designated targets were destroyed during the assessment. What comes next for the Type 99B Type 99B also made a prominent public appearance during China’s September 2025 military parade in Beijing. A Financial Express video covering the parade showed the Type 99B leading the PLA’s land assault formation and highlighted its “advanced information technology and heavy firepower.” According to the U.S. Army War College’s China Landpower Studies Center, Chinese state media called the Type 99B an upgrade from the Type-99A with improved all-weather communications, firepower, and maneuver capabilities. The latest exercises demonstrated the basic training needed to operate the new tank so crews could progress to more complicated battlefield conditions, including environments with extensive drone disruption. The recent live-fire drills of its Type 99B notably indicated that the Type 99B had formally entered service with PLA Army armored units and developed combat capabilities, Global Times concluded. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Originally from LA, Maria Mocerino has been published in Business Insider, The Irish Examiner, The Rogue Mag, Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and now Interesting Engineering.