China has taken up a long-range tank with a nuclear reactor: " Don't drive us!"

China presented a plan to create a battle tank with a nuclear reactor. He will be able to hit at a distance of up to 450 kilometers. This is reported by the South China Morning Post. In Russia, it is noted that the use of a nuclear reactor is only an alternative option.

" Chinese military researchers have presented an ambitious plan to create a main battle tank with a nuclear power plant and an electromagnetic railgun capable of hitting targets up to 450 km (280 miles) away. The appearance of such a machine is possible after 2045 ", writes the South China Morning Post.

The concept was presented in an article in the Chinese magazine Acta Armamentarii by specialists from Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group and Beijing Institute of Technology.

As the newspaper notes, it is planned to create a 60-ton armored vehicle equipped with a low-power modular reactor (MMR) with a capacity of 10 MW and a railgun with a shot energy of 50 MJ.

"The research was funded as part of a special project of the National Key Laboratory of Integration Technologies for the Design and Production of Special Equipment, " writes the South China Morning Post.

As the specialized telegram channel RealAtomInfo notes, Chinese defense experts consider a 10 MW (t) and 7 MW (e) reactor as an energy source for the tank, but only as an alternative.

" The main option is a regular diesel. The authors believe that the lead-bismuth reactor plant can fit into the specified weight limits of 8 tons. A reference is made to the review work of a group from CNNC (specifically, from CIAE), which refers to the reactor mass of 5 tons and the mass of protection of 3 tons (fuel element shells — SiC, protection — PbBi and steel with boron). The authors acknowledge that the work in CIAE is at the stage of feasibility analysis. They also mentioned NuScale and its assessment by 2035 to enter the stage of demonstrating similar projects", the telegram channel reported.

RealAtomInfo believes that the article is a wishlist, not a description of the project.

" Do not be surprised — if the Chinese had a project, we would have seen not an article in a magazine, but a tank in iron", the telegram channel continues, noting that the South China Morning Post likes to talk about incredible successes in the nuclear industry: " Therefore, when reading its articles on our subject, it is necessary to remember the movie "Blind Man's Buff": "Don't drive us!".