Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd

Development history

When the Type 59 main battle tank was being developed it became apparent that because of high weight of the tank it would have difficulties operating in areas of southern China. These areas mostly consist of mountain ranges, hills, rice paddy fields, lakes and multiple rivers which many times are without a bridge or with bridges which couldn't withstand the weight of the Type 59 tank. Therefore, in the late 1950s the PLA Ground Force submitted requirements for a light tank which could be successfully deployed in the areas of southern China. The development of the Type 62 light tank began at Factory 674 (Harbin First Machinery Building Group Ltd) in 1958. Construction of the first Type 62 light tank prototype, Type 59-16, began in 1960 and ended in 1962. The tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963.

Based on experience gathered during the Sino-Vietnamese War, an update for the Type 62 was designed, consisting of 33 different improvements and was designated Type 62-I.

After an unsuccessful attempt at fitting the Type 62 light tank with the turret from the Type 63A amphibious light tank, a new turret with a 105 mm gun was designed and fitted on the Type 62. This new variant was designated Type 62G.

Service history

Type 62 light tank officially entered production and service with the PLA in 1963. More than 1,393 vehicles were produced between 1963 and 1989 when it ended. The Type 62 was primarily deployed in Southern China. The most famous unit to operate the Type 62 light tanks is the recon battalion directly attached to the 43rd Army HQ, Guangzhou Military Region.

In 1979 it saw combat against the PAVN during the Cambodia-Vietnamese War, when the Khmer Rouge used a large number of Type 62 tanks supplied by China, and the Sino–Vietnamese War, when the PLA used about two hundred tanks, mostly Type 62s. They suffered severe losses in combat due to tank's poor protection as the tank's thin armour could be easily penetrated by hand-held rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers. An upgrade package was developed for the Type 62 soon after the war and was designated Type 62-I. Based on the improvement programs after the Sino–Vietnamese War, the Type 62 was found to be too lightly armoured and too poorly armed to be used as a normal tank. Of the two hundred tanks which invaded Vietnam about half were knocked out, underscoring the Type 62's lack of armour and armament. Since then the Type 62 has been shifted to secondary duties in Southern China, such as reconnaissance, fire support and combat with enemy lightly armoured vehicles.

400 Type 62 light tanks had been upgraded to Type 62-I and Type 62G standard. The upgrading to Type 62-I standard started in 1979 and upgrading to Type 62G standard started in 2000. It is unknown exactly how many Type 62 light tanks were upgraded or what units operate the upgraded variants but in January 2005 CCTV showed two Type 62G light tanks belonging to an artillery regiment, Guangzhou MR and the tanks are serving as the recon company of this regiment. The Type 62 tank was retired from Chinese service in early 2013. The Type 15 light tank is considered as the effective successor to the Type 62 light tank.

The Type 62 has also been exported widely. Foreign nations which field, or have fielded, the Type 62 include North Korea, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Mali, Albania and Sudan. There is a lot of confusion concerning the North Korean Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank, which is sometimes considered to be an upgrade of Type 62 light tank. This is incorrect as the Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank is based on the Soviet T-62 main battle tank. This originated from the fact that many times tanks like the Type 59 and Type 62 are listed as T-59 and T-62. This leads to much confusion which in turn leads to, for example, listing Albania as a T-62 main battle tank operator and calling the Ch'ŏnma-ho main battle tank an upgrade of Type 62 light tank. It's not clear which nations still have them in service, although based on available knowledge it seems that all original users still have it either on active or reserve status except for North Korea which didn't have them in service as of 1995.

In Africa, the Type 62 was the standard tank of the Tanzanian Armed Forces during the Uganda–Tanzania War in 1978–1979, alongside the larger Type 59. Some Zairian Type 62 were deployed during the last days of the First Congo War but they were abandoned by their crew without firing a shot. Still in service with the new forces armées congolaises in 1998, many were captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Army and the Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma during the Second Congo War. Particularly, Type 62 tanks driven by ex-Zairian soldiers spearheaded the Rwandan attack on Kinshasa.