Overview

Since the newest phase of the PLA reorganisation, the primary armoured fighting vehicle of the PLA has been the ZBD-04A. A modern AFV, which is available in many configurations, serves the PLA well as a baseline platform for the Armoured Infantry in the relevant brigades. At present, 42 such vehicles are present in every Armoured and Mechanised Brigade, or at least, there will be, after the ZBD-04A has replaced all the legacy Cold-War-Tech platforms which still abound in our extensive ranks.
The current procurement plans call for 4,200 of these vehicles, which are being procured at 250 per year. The many variants lend themselves to the diverse distribution throughout the PLA, yet their technology, even upgraded, is lagging behind the appropriate levels for a first rate military. Thus, current production of the ZBD-04A will be truncated after two more annual production batches, whereupon production will be followed by the ZBD-23 AFV, from Norinco:

ZBD-23

The chassis will be reinforced, and although the amphibious quality of earlier iterations of its predecessor was dropped for extra protection, here it will not feature. The ZBD's chassis will be composed of new alloys and compunds which will keep its weight under 30 tons, a core requirement for integration with our airlift program. Nanocrystal steel armour will be layered in both horizontal and vertical sandwich structures with polymer and a layer of ceramic armour. Explosive-Reactive armour will be passed over, in favour of the DPA armour which is powered by the same Electric-Reactive armour unit from the upcoming Type-102 MBT.
The powerplant will be a 950hp Diesel engine, which will normally serve as the main drive train. Its very high output also serves as an electrical generator, and the ZBD-23 will be the first Chinese Armoured Fighting Vehcile which features a Hybrid drive technology which is now mature in heavy civilian vehicles in China. The Hybrid drive means that the Tank will switch between electrical motors and the main drive train, depending on the power needs, greatly improving fuel efficiency, range, and giving the vehicle a quietness if desired that no conventionally powered vehicle could match. The engine is positioned forward, taking the place of the third crewman who will not feature at all - instead the ZBD-23 will be operated by a crew of two, with a "virtual gunner" integrated into the helmet displays of the Commander and Driver.
Main armament will be a 40mm cased-telescopic autocannon, housed in a new turret, which is controlled via remote via a helmet interface powered by cameras arranged throughout the exterior of the tank giving the commander 360 degree vision via a swipe motion on his control pad and on his helmet display. The Cannon is supplemented by twin ATGM launchers firing an upgraded version of the HJ-12 tandem shaped charge solid fuel fire-and-forget rocket, guided by infrared homing, and CCD. A coaxial 14.5mm machine gun, and a RCWS with a GPMG, complete the substantial armament.
The Crew Compartment is built for the new model Armoured Infantry Squad, which is arranged as follows:

• SGT
• Fire Team 1
  • Corporal
  • Automatic Rifleman
  • Grenadier
• Fire Team 2
  • Corporal
  • Automatic Rifleman
  • Rifleman
• Vehicle Team
  • Commander
  • Driver

Despite an Infantry Dismount squad of seven, there are nine seats in each vehicle, to account for the Platoon Commander, Platoon Sergeant, UAV operator, Medic, and an artillery FO, in a Platoon of three vehicles. Three Platoons make a Company, with an additional Vehicle for the Company HQ. A Battalion is made up of three such companies, plus an additional weapons company which carries no infantry dismounts, with a single vehicle HQ commanding a Mortar platoon (3 vehicles with twin 120mm mortars), an ATGM platoon (3 vehicles with 100mm cannon/ATGMS launcher and 2 x quad ATGM launchers) and Light Tank Platoon (3 x vehicles with the 130mm Electrothermal cannon from the Type 102). As before, such a battalion will be present in all Armoured Brigades, where they will supplement three tank battalions as well as support battalions; and in Mechanised brigades, where they will supplement a tank battalion and two battalions of motorised infantry in 8x8 wheeled ZBL-08 AFVs.
The Commander will have epansive access to electromagnetic Spectrum A2AD EW via a telescopic radar array that can be extended or retracted by the commander. The additional awareness this gives the vehicle at longer ranges is invaluable, as is the ability to detect targeting radars locked on to the vehicle. The radar is too fragile to be constantly extended, so this will be retracted for most combat operations. Communications and data have been built around the concept of full multi-sensor fusion for a networked battlefield, including inter-vehicle network fusion, sensor fusion and combat array control, and maintainence information fusion. LPI communication systems allowing for ad-hoc encrypted networking and thin-beam Joint Information Data Link Systems (JIDLS) use
The vehicle will enter delivery from 2025, costing around $7m, depending on the variant, with the Mortar Carrier and ATGM carrier slightly cheaper, and the Light Tank slightly more expensive.