Object 211

Object 211

␗M24

Object 211

␗M24

China

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:33 000

Purchase:105 000

Description

The Object 211 is a prototype designed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the late 1950s to produce an effective amphibious tank. By 1957, the structure of the Chinese People's Liberation Army had been revised, and the Chinese Marines were integrated into the Chinese Army. The southeast coastal areas remained unstable as the Chinese Nationalist Army in Taiwan, led by the Kuomintang, has not abandoned the goal of "counterattacking the mainland." Since Southern China is mountainous and has a lot of rice fields with water networks and rivers, it was considered that medium and heavy tanks would be unsuitable and amphibious vehicles would play an indispensable role during defence. In July 1958, a development code called "Project 211" was assigned, and China purchased the Soviet Union's PT-76 amphibious tank to acquire the technologies. The program initially encountered various challenges due to the Chinese tank industry's inadequate technologies at the time, primarily as a result of World War II and the Civil War. Nonetheless, by the early 1960s, the program had proven to be a success, and it was ready for production as the Type 63 amphibious light tank. The model in-game represented the 4th prototype with new Type 62 85 mm cannon now displayed at Block 4 of family housings at Institute 201 (aka China North Vehicle Research Institute, 中国北车研究所).

Introduced in Update "La Royale", Object 211 is a unique tank that can provide players with significant insights into the Chinese tank development philosophies that were influenced by the Soviet Union during the late 1950s. Due to the diversity of landscapes in China at the time, several tank designs were needed to effectively defend the mainland against potential adversaries. Since the prototype was intended to be amphibious, it was lightly armoured and offered low protection only against light machine guns and artillery shrapnel. However, due to its low profile and high speed, Object 211 will give players the advantage of taking strategic areas early in the battle. The 85 mm Type-62-85-TC tank gun has excellent firepower and can readily engage and dispatch adversaries with a single well-placed shot.

General info

Survivability and armour

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull15 / 10 / 8

Turret20 / 20 / 20

Crew4 people

Visibility101 %

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull)
• Cast homogeneous armour (turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	10 mm (82°) UFP 15 mm (45°) LFP	10 mm	8 mm	80 mm
Turret	20 mm Turret front 50 mm Gun mantlet	20 mm	20 mm	8 mm
Cupola	8 mm	8 mm	8 mm	8 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick, tracks are 30 mm thick, and torsion bars are 60 mm thick.

Mobility

Amphibious

The design allows you to swim and control movement in the water

Speedforward / back

AB72 / 9 km/h

RB and SB65 / 9 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight18.4 t

Engine power

AB763 hp

RB and SB400 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB41.5 hp/t

RB and SB21.7 hp/t

Like its in-service cousin Type 63, the tank is also equipped with the same 12150L-2 V12 diesel engine which has max output at 400 hp and could travels up to 64 km/h on road or at 11 km/h while on water; a major improvement from its Soviet counterpart PT-76. Making it a fast and nimble tank to hit vantage points.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	72	9	18.4	620	763	33.7	41.47
Realistic	65	9		354	400	19.24	21.74

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB960 → 1 379

RB1 183 → 1 699

SB1 443 → 2 073

Total cost of modifications29 600

58 100

Talisman cost1 200

Crew training30 000

Experts105 000

Aces470

Research Aces360 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

70 / 110 / 140 %

148 / 148 / 148 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 165 Suspension Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 Brake System Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 Filters Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 210 Transmission Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 700 155 Engine Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 700 155	Improved Parts Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 165 Improved FPE Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 Crew Replenishment Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 210 ESS Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 700 155	Horizontal Drive Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 165 Adjustment of Fire Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 Airstrike Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 85mm_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 1 100 Cost: 2 200 90 Elevation Mechanism Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 210 Artillery Support Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 700 155 Improved optics Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 700 155

Armaments

Main armament

85 mm Type 63 cannon

Ammunition47 rounds

First-order6 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

9.6 → 7.4 s

Vertical guidance-4° / 22°

After previous domestic 76 mm was proved unviable in the 1960s and was rather unreliable, while the other prototype with ZIS-S-53 has high recoil to the chassis on water, Chinese engineers eventually opted for the new 85 mm cannon for Object 211. Previous players of Type 62 and 63 will be very familiar to its performance minus the HEAT or even APFSDS rounds; while new players will certainly enjoy the 85 mm gun that packs a punch and a magnification at up to 7x, they will have to be extra careful with the slow turret traverse speed.

85 mm Type-62-85-TC					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	47	-4°/+22°	±180°	-	9.5	13.2	16.0	17.7	18.8	9.62	8.51	7.84	7.40
Realistic					5.9	7.0	8.5	9.4	10.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Type 56 APBC	APHEBC	135	133	124	113	104	95
Type 56 HE	HE	19	18	17	16	15	14
Type 56 APCBC	APCBC	164	162	154	143	134	125

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Type 56 APBC	APHEBC	792	9.2	1.2	14	164	48°	63°	71°
Type 56 HE	HE	785	9.54	0.2	0.1	741	79°	80°	81°
Type 56 APCBC	APCBC	792	9.2	1.2	14	77	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Object 211

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
47	39 (+8)	33 (+14)	25 (+22)	16 (+31)	7 (+40)	1 (+46)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 6 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 6 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 5.
• Not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-5 into rack 6. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

Machine guns

7.62 mm Type 59 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

7.62 mm SGMT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,250 (250)	600	-	-

Usage in battles

As the project number and its design suggests, Object 211 is what set the foundations for the ZTS63 family which was PLA's weapon of choice when crossing battlefields with extensive water networks. As there was no need for an amphibious tank with crew compartments, the overall size could be further shrunken to an even small size. The turret design be reminiscent of the Type 62's oval shape turret, but the Object 211's is even smaller: enemy tanks very unlikely to find the 211 while hiding in vegetation. The size and function also means that the protection will not be anywhere near normal non-amphibious light tanks: the overall protection is only rated for .50 calibre at most, skirt heated frontlines and avoid any vehicles with autocannons at all costs as the 211 will meet its end rather quickly. Be sure to keep the crew alive as much as possible, since it has a 3 men crew rather than 4 in Type 62 or 63; although it is more likely that the Object will be knocked out by enemy shells right away, any reduction on crew also further lowers its combat capability. The major problem goes to the turret traverse, this turret with a 85 mm cannon turns extremely slowly, so be prepared to turn the turret beforehand for maximum reaction time.

Once players have clear information on these flaws, they can now utilize the tank like most other light tanks around its tier: be sneaky and hit enemies from the sides. While the tank doesn't have the highest depression angle among light tanks, it has an ace up its sleeve - its 85 mm gun. While it doesn't have access to BR-365P, BR-367 has even higher penetration at 164 mm point-blank; sharing the same ballistic performance to the T-34 S-53, players using PLAGF tanks will soon get on hand with the cannon. In most cases, the explosive content is more than enough to disable even the most heavy tanks at its tier, if not knocking them out right away. Since the gun itself doesn't have the highest penetration and lacks the capability to face enemies up front, taking the sides is always a good idea to at least harass the enemies if not bringing devastation from the flanks. Use the terrain to compensate for the lack of depression angle if needed as it has only -4°. If sometimes the map doesn't have the required room for manoeuvre or enemies have already taken vantage points while there are some water bodies, the Object 211 has another card on hand: being amphibious. Be sure to learn the map beforehand and find any possible points to go back onto land. Due to the lack of a stabilizer, it is not a good idea taking it as a gunboat on water as the gun will vibrate. If it happens that another PT-76B is taking the same route, the 211 will have a hard time fight back, using the high on-water speed is the key to navigate in water bodies as fast as possible.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Devastating 85 mm cannon with high-end 85 mm APCBC
• Low profile
• Faster than most tracked light tanks at its tier
• Good optic magnification at 3.5x-7x
• Amphibious with high on-water speed at 11 km/h

Cons:

• Thin overall protection is not ideal, only rated to .50 machine guns
• Slow turret traverse speed
• Lacks APCR/HEAT for well-protected targets
• Relatively low reload time
• Rather low depression angle

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Object 211 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

• PT-76 - The inspiration to Object 211 and future ZTS63 series
• ZTS63 family
  • Type 63-I - The first variant of the family with revised turret design from prototype
  • ZTS63 - Post-1980 upgrade with LRF and access to APFSDS

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.