Tank origin

China’s People’s Liberation Army sought to add to its armament a vehicle with a gun capable of piercing the armor of most modern battle tanks. It debuted the Type 89 tank destroyer in the late 1980s to fulfill this request. The Type 89 had a 120mm smoothbore gun that could fire APFSDS rounds; however, the lack of gun stabilization meant that the gun could not fire accurately while the tank was moving. Only 100 units are believed to have been produced.