In the late 1970s, China's 617 Factory (main contractor), 616 Factory, 477 Factory, and 201 Institute (now China North Vehicle Research Institute) were ordered to develop China's new second-generation tank. The project benefitted from imported Western Technologies in the 1980s. The first Type 80 MBT was based on the older Type 79 MBT hull, but equipped with new Chinese-made wheels/tracks, German-designed 730 hp diesel engine, British-designed dual-axis stabilized fire-control with laser range-finder, and NATO-standard 105 mm gun licensed from Austria. The improved version of this tank later entered service in 1988 under the PLA designation of Type 88. The Type 88 tank is unique in that unlike the rest series of Chinese tanks, this series actually includes versions from different families of earlier tanks. Production of Type 88-series MBTs was stopped in 1995. About 400 to 500 Type 88-series tanks are in service with the PLA today.
- Type 88 - First Chinese tank to have explosive reactive armor and was accepted into PLA service in 1988, based on Type 80-II design. Front storage racks on turret removed to fit explosive reactive armor (ERA) plates.
- Type 88B - Improved Type 88 with new auto-loading system for domestic 105 mm ammunition. FCS system was later replaced by new ISFCS-212 ISFCS.
- Type 88A - Introduced after Type 88B, the main gun was replaced by improved 105 mm Type 83-I with longer tube and better performance. Fitted with FY-series double ERA plates for better protection against APFSDS and HEAT-FRAG rounds.
- Type 88C - Developed from Type 85-IIM which had a more powerful 125 mm smoothbore gun, and the ISFCS-212 fire control system of this tank was later retrofited on Type 88A and Type 88B. The engine was originally the same as Type 80 and earlier Type 85, but once the problem of 1000 hp engine solved, it replaced the original engine.
| Type 88 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin |  People's Republic of China |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Fang Weixian (方慰先) |
| Manufacturer | First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 38–39.5 tonnes |
| Length | 6.325 m |
| Width | 3.372 m |
| Height | 2.29 m |
| Crew | 4 |
| | |
| Main armament | 105 mm Type 83 rifled gun with automatic loader |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun 12.7 mm air-defence machine gun |
| Engine | 12150L-7BV diesel 730 hp (544 kW) |
| Power/weight | 18.5–19 hp/tonne |
| Transmission | Mechanical, planetary |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Operational range | 430 km, 600 km with external fuel |
| Speed | 60 km/h |
