In the 1960s, amid tense relations with the Soviet Union, China came up with the concept of creating "frontier-covering forces." The main firepower of this formation was to be units with "frontier-covering tanks" in service. The design allowed the gun to depress through the turret top to reduce the overall vehicle height. In addition, the tank was set to feature twin tracks and jet boosters. Theoretically, due to the high specific power, they would provide good mobility and crossing capacity. The project was closed in 1978, and no prototypes were produced.