The key issue is that, with the assistance of the twin-supercharger system, the performance of the diesel engine has significantly improved.
Take the startup speed, for example, the twin-supercharged diesel engine is not much inferior to a gas turbine. At an ambient temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, at sea level, it reaches maximum output power from a cold start in just 20 seconds. Ideally, it can accelerate from standstill to 30 kilometers per hour in about 7 seconds.
To be fair, the ZT-99's start-up speed is not slow at all.
Equipped with a gas turbine known for its mobility, the over 40-ton combat weight T-80 can accelerate from standstill to 30 kilometers per hour in approximately 6 seconds. Similarly, the 64-ton combat weight M1A1, also equipped with a gas turbine, accelerates in roughly 7 seconds.
If the ZT-99 adopted a 1500 horsepower gas turbine, the acceleration time would be 6.4 seconds.
It can be seen that the improvement in using a gas turbine is not significant.
