The ZhuangJia Tanke ZhuZhan 96A (ZTZ96A?????; industry code WZ122R) is a major upgrade to the ZTZ96 with new FCS, upgraded protection and powerplant, presenting a more economical MBT to support the superior but more expensive fleet of ZTZ99s and ZTZ99As in PLAGF service. By the time the ZTZ96 joined the PLAGF in 1999, the overall performance of the tank lagged behind the mainstream of overseas countries. Thanks to the finalization of the ZTZ99 around the same time, plans for upgrading the ZTZ96 with new powerplant, FCS, and protection were proposed by 2001 for later production runs of the ZTZ96. An earlier prototype included a domestic (or imported) JD-3 IR jammer on the side of turret and an arrow-shaped applique armour on the front, while another prototype was mostly identical to the former except the turret applique armour design was changed to a pike. The former design eventually won the competition and entered service in 2005 as the ZTZ96A; this design was also retained to the future ZTZ96B with overhaul upgrades to the design. Although being named as “ZTZ96”, the earlier ZTZ96 (WZ122H) cannot be upgraded to ZTZ96A or ZTZ96B standards.