Type 80

The Type 80 is a People's Liberation Army main battle tank featured in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Overview
The Type 80 is a very well balanced tank that has good armor, fire power and speed.

In the first Mercenaries game, the Type 80 is the most common tank in use by the Chinese, and can be found anywhere where they have set up bases of operations. Featuring a white winter/urban camouflage pattern, it is a fairly good tank to use early on in the game.

The first time players will most likely encounter this tank is during the Mafia contract 'Omertà' where they must assassinate officers from each of the four other factions, with a Chinese Officer commanding a Type 80 from the machine gun nest. Around the same time the Chinese also offer the 'Persuasion' contract, in which a Type 80 is available to use for free.

The Russian Mafia pays $25,000 for an intact tank. This makes it one of the more valuable "Mafia Runs" the player can do, where they travel back and forth between the airport and the garage. The airport is easy to gain access to, and the tanks are easy enough to steal. The hard part is getting past the helicopters, as two rockets will easily destroy the tank.

Aside from its weakness against aircraft, it is a good tank to use, comparable to its North Korean equivalent, the T-54.

Southern province

 * The Chinese tank commander encountered in 'Omertà' is in the gunner position of a Type 80.
 * One is located in the Pyongyang Airport parking lot during 'Knock Knock'.
 * One is located next to the officers in 'Persuasion'.
 * At least three Type 80s will be sent as reinforcements during 'A Hot Time in Nampo' if the timer runs out.
 * Two Type 80s are offloaded from a ship at Nampo during 'Embedded'. These tanks can still be found there after contract completion.

Real life
The Type 80 is based on the Type 80 variant of the Type 88 tank. The Type 80/88 is in turn an updated and modernized variant of the Type 69/79, the People's Republic of China's copy of the T-54, the Soviet Union's first main battle tank.