Development and requirement
Chinese designers expanded the Type 63 concept during the 1980s to create a longer, more capable carrier with improved mobility and internal volume. 1
Design and battlefield role
The Type 85 and Type 89 families use a five-road-wheel chassis and more powerful automotive system than the Type 63, while preserving the basic tracked APC mission. 1
Service and evolution
A broad set of command, antitank, artillery-support, and other derivatives grew from the family, showing the same platform logic later seen in more modern modular Chinese vehicles. 1
Archive boundaries
The archive groups Type 85 and Type 89 because they are closely related export/domestic branches of the same generation. Their specialist derivatives remain classified by mission. 1
Sources and further reading
Representative source set used for this profile. Primary image source and reuse terms are listed with the image.