Late in 1988 Cadillac Gage (now part of Textron Marine Land Systems) of the United States and the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation announced that they were jointly developing a new MBT for the export market called the Jaguar, with a target price of $1 million for production vehicles at 1988 prices.

Cadillac Gage was provided with two Type 59 MBTs by China to reduce both development time and cost.

By mid-1989 the Jaguar chassis was complete and undergoing automotive trials in Detroit, while the turret was undergoing initial firing trials. The turret and hull were mated in October 1989 and the complete vehicle then underwent extensive trials in Nevada.

It was expected that the second prototype would be built in China by the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation with Cadillac Gage providing key subsystems.

Following the events in China in mid-1989, the Chinese technicians working with Cadillac Gage in the United States returned to China and the company carried on with the project alone.

The second Type 59 originally supplied by China is being used for spare parts.

The original intention was to supply brand new vehicles for the export market from China, but in the short term Cadillac Gage is aiming at the retrofit market, especially those with access to FMS funding. Although the prototype is based on the Type 59 MBT it is also applicable to other vehicles including the T-54/T-55. These conversions would require no assistance from China as virtually all of the key components come from the UK or the USA.

The layout of the Jaguar is conventional with the driver's compartment at the front, fighting compartment and turret in the centre and engine and transmission at the rear.

An additional layer of armour protection has been applied to the chassis and turret. The driver is seated at the front left and is provided with a single-piece hatch cover and day periscopes, one of which can be replaced by a passive night vision periscope. To his right is stowed some 105 mm ammunition.

The prototype Jaguar is based on a modified Type 59 chassis with five rubber-tyred road wheels, idler at the front and drive sprocket at the rear and two track-return rollers. The upper part of the running gear is covered with a rubber skirt. The prototype Jaguar has upgraded torsion bars which give increased vertical wheel travel.

Standard Chinese steel tracks have been retained on the prototype although these tend to have a shorter life than their Western equivalent. If required, HR Textron Incorporated hydropneumatic suspension units could be incorporated to give a significant improvement in cross-country mobility.

Main armament comprises a modified 105 mm gun fitted with a fume extractor and thermal sleeve that fires standard NATO ammunition including APFSDS. In the Type 59 the commander and gunner are on the left with the loader on the right, but in the Jaguar these positions are reversed with the commander on the right, gunner forward of the commander and the loader on the left. Both commander and loader are provided with a single-piece hatch that opens to the rear.

A 7.62 mm machine gun is mounted coaxially with the 105 mm gun and a 12.7 mm M2 machine gun is mounted on the roof for anti-aircraft defence. Mounted either side of the forward part of the hull is a bank of four electrically operated smoke grenade dischargers firing forwards.

The Jaguar is fitted with an HR Textron Incorporated electrohydraulic gun control and stabilisation system. The main armament is fully stabilised and enables the Jaguar to engage stationary or moving targets when it is stationary or moving with a high first round hit probability. Stabilisation error is less than 0.75 mil depending on the terrain being traversed at the time.

The prototype has a British GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems, Defence Control Systems Division Digital Fire Control System (DFCS) which has already been fitted to the Cadillac Gage Stingray 105 mm armed light tanks delivered to Thailand. The fire-control system incorporates image intensification night vision equipment and a laser rangefinder with a maximum range of 9,990 m that is accurate to +-10 m.

The rear-mounted power pack consists of a Detroit Diesel 8V-92TA eight-cylinder diesel developing 750 hp coupled to an Allison Transmission XTG-411 fully automatic transmission. The power pack is similar to that installed in the Stingray light tank but has a hydraulically driven cooling system.

The prototype is fitted with a fire detection and suppression system developed by Santa Barbara Dual Spectrum.

A wide range of optional equipment is available including different fire-control systems, vision equipment, hydropneumatic suspension, radios and an NBC system.

As of June 1996, a single prototype of the Jaguar MBT had been built and tested.