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Amphibious Encyclopedia · Military amphibians

Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicle

The Type 05 is a family of Chinese tracked amphibious armored vehicles built by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army's amphibious brigades and its Marine Corps, led by the ZBD-05 infantry fighting vehicle and the ZTD-05 assault gun [1][7]. Its light hull, retracting road wheels, adjustable bow flap, stern flap and two water jets are meant to let it skim across the surface instead of pushing through the water, and published water speeds run from about 25 to 45 km/h (16 to 28 mph) depending on who gives them [1][2][4][6]. Western writers have compared its concept with the US Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which the Marines cancelled in 2011 [2][5].

  • Military amphibians
  • 2005 to present
  • China
Blue-camouflaged ZBD-05 tracked amphibious fighting vehicle on a city street at dusk
A Chinese Marine Corps ZBD-05 in Beijing during a rehearsal for the October 2009 military parade.Photo: Dan, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Development

The People's Liberation Army made high water speed a core requirement of Project 212, a program involving the state-owned Norinco and China State Shipbuilding Corporation to build a family of vehicles for landings across open sea [1][4]. Recorded Future says the engineers could not simply fit a bigger engine, since more power meant more weight, which then needed still more power [4]. Wikipedia calls the result a planing hull [1]; Recorded Future adds an aluminum alloy body and foam plastic for buoyancy [4]. Development reportedly ran from 2000 to 2004 (2001 in Wikipedia's text), and the first production vehicles were finished in January 2005 [1][4]. China unveiled the Type 05 at the October 2009 National Day parade, and ZBD-05s appeared again in the 2015 parade [1][4]. The ZTD-05 replaced the older Type 63A amphibious tank [1][10].

Army Technology called the ZBD-05's concept similar to the US Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) [2], and Recorded Future reports that the designers drew on the EFV program, which used a folding bow flap [4]. A 2011 Military.com blog post noted that China had fielded and tested the vehicle in the year the Marines had to cancel the EFV [8]. Writing for the Modern War Institute at West Point in 2026, Joshua Arostegui of the US Army War College noted that Western forces had dropped or avoided fast tracked amphibians, most visibly with that 2011 cancellation [5].

Does it plane? Hull and water speed

The Type 05 has a flat hull with an extending plate at the bow and a flap at the stern [1]. The bow plate swings out hydraulically in the water and folds back to add frontal armor on land, and Army Technology says the bow and transom flaps help the hull skim the surface [2]. The six road wheels on each side retract, and CGTN reported that the tracks and wheels lift into the body to cut drag [1][3]. Two large water jets at the rear drive it [1]. Recorded Future says the bow flap adjusts under way to create lift; its sources disagree on whether the stern flap also adjusts [4].

Does it plane? Most sources consulted say it is designed to. Wikipedia calls it a planing hull [1] and Army Technology says the flaps make it skim [2]. Sebastien Roblin of 19FortyFive wrote that the hull shape is meant to lift the vehicle up on the water at speed, like a motorboat [6], and Arostegui wrote that it must hydroplane on its hydraulic bow planes and transom flaps to reach top speed [5]. Recorded Future is more cautious: it reports that China could not match the engine power the EFV used to push past the speed at which drag peaks and into a semi-planing state, and that the adjustable flaps were developed to make up for this by creating lift [4]. Arostegui stressed that speed depends on keeping the 26.5 t (58,400 lb) vehicle light. He argued that heavier armor would push the hull deeper and destroy its planing lift, and estimated that an up-armored hull might manage only 10 to 13 km/h (6 to 8 mph) [5]. No source consulted publishes an independent, measured speed trial.

Published water speeds vary widely. A 2017 Chinese state television (CCTV) report, summarized by CGTN, gave up to 30 km/h (19 mph) for the VN18 export version of the ZBD-05 and 65 km/h (40 mph) on land, and Norinco called the VN18 the world's fastest amphibious assault vehicle [3]. Wikipedia, citing Janes and CCTV, gives 28 to 30 km/h (17 to 19 mph) [1]. Asian Military Review gave up to 16 knots (about 30 km/h or 18 mph) for the ZBD-05 [7], 19FortyFive 18 mph (29 km/h) for the ZBD-05 and 15.5 mph (25 km/h) for the ZTD-05 [6], and Army Technology about 45 km/h (28 mph) [2]. Recorded Future, a US threat intelligence company, summarized reported figures as 27 to 45 km/h (17 to 28 mph), said the higher claims were unverified, cited a US Defense Intelligence Agency estimate of under 37 km/h (23 mph), and said later Chinese prototypes had reportedly reached 50 km/h (31 mph) or more [4]. 19FortyFive put the ZBD-05 at over twice the AAV7's swimming speed [6].

Versions, weapons and service

The ZBD-05 has a three-man crew and carries a squad of seven or eight infantry [1][6]. It is armed with a 30 mm ZPT-99 autocannon, a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and HJ-73C anti-tank missiles [1][10]. The ZTD-05 assault gun shares the hull but mounts a 105 mm rifled gun and needs a fourth crew member as loader [1][6]. Asian Military Review reports that official specifications claim it can fire at stationary targets while swimming in conditions up to Sea State 4 [7]. Other members of the family include command, reconnaissance, recovery, ambulance, breaching and air defense vehicles, and the PLZ-07B 122 mm howitzer uses a derivative of the same hull [1][6][7].

Wikipedia, citing the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance, lists more than 1,500 Type 05s with the PLA Ground Force in 2022 (750 ZBD-05 and 750 ZTD-05) and more than 500 with the PLA Navy Marine Corps in 2021 [1]. 19FortyFive, citing the 2021 edition, gave 600 ZBD-05 and 250 ZTD-05, plus more than 150 and more than 70 with the Marine Corps [6]. Norinco exports the family as the VN18 (ZBD-05), VN16 (ZTD-05) and VS25 recovery vehicle [1]. Venezuela's marines reportedly operate 40 VN16 and 40 VN18 [6]. Thailand bought three VN16s for evaluation for about $13 million in 2020 [6], and they reached Thailand on May 28, 2021, for the Royal Thai Marine Corps [9].

In March 2025 Army Recognition, working from photos posted online, reported that China was testing a new generation of amphibious fighting vehicles to replace the Type 05, one of which might have an unmanned turret and an active protection system [10]. Arostegui argued in 2026 that the PLA prefers such active defenses and networked support to added armor, because weight would cost the vehicle its water speed [5].

Photos

ZBD-05 with its bow plate lowered and crew in the open hatches on grass
A ZBD-05 during a landing operation in the Russian and Chinese naval exercise Naval Interaction 2015.Photo: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (mil.ru), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Camouflaged ZTD-05 amphibious assault vehicle with a long gun on a museum display
A ZTD-05 (also written ZLT-05) amphibious assault vehicle at the Chinese Navy Museum in Qingdao.Photo: Sprt98, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

  1. Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicle, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_05_amphibious_fighting_vehicle
  2. ZBD-05 Amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicle (Praveen), Army Technology (2014-05-08). www.army-technology.com/projects/zbd-05-amphibious-infantry-fighting-vehicle
  3. Chinese arms maker claims to have built the world's fastest amphibious assault vehicle, VN18, CGTN (2017-11-20). news.cgtn.com/news/344d444d78637a6333566d54/index.html
  4. Speeding Toward Taiwan: China's Amphibious Armored Vehicles Development (Zoe Haver, Insikt Group), Recorded Future (2024-08-15). assets.recordedfuture.com/insikt-report-pdfs/2024/ta-2024-0815.pdf
  5. Systems Over Steel: How China is Redefining Amphibious Armor Survivability (Joshua Arostegui), Modern War Institute at West Point (2026-06-19). mwi.westpoint.edu/systems-over-steel-how-china-is-redefining-amphibious-armor-survivability
  6. China Has the World's Fastest Swimming Tanks (Sebastien Roblin), 19FortyFive (2022-08-11). www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/china-has-the-worlds-fastest-swimming-tanks
  7. China's Amphibious Assault (Jr Ng), Asian Military Review (2021-06-23). asianmilitaryreview.com/2021/06/chinas-amphibious-assault
  8. China Boosts Its Amphibious Options, Military.com (Defense Tech) (2011-04-01). www.military.com/defensetech/2011/04/01/china-boosts-it-amphibious-options
  9. Thailand receives VN16s and final VN1s (Sompong Nondhasa), Shephard Media (2021-06-10). www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/thailand-receives-vn16s-and-final-vn1s
  10. China tests new family of amphibious infantry fighting vehicles to replace the Type 05, Army Recognition (2025-03-14). www.armyrecognition.com/archives/archives-land-defense/defense-news-army-2025/china-tests-new-family-of-amphibious-infantry-fighting-vehicles-to-replace-the-type-05

Last reviewed November 2026. Spotted something to correct or add? Tell us and include a source.

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