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Featured Al-Khalid and 6TD-2 Engines: An Informative Article

Dazzler

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The Al Khalid derived from Norinco Type 90IIM MBT. It was in the early 90s, when India started to test their Arjun MBT. Pakistanis looked for a MBT design that could be produced by herself.
Norinco provided their own Type 90IIM prototype, this is an MBT design which comprised many Western components, such as engine and transmission.

There were 4 prototypes for Al-Khalid development, namely P1, P2, P3 and P4.
P1 has a Chinese tank diesel engine with ZF LSG3000 transmission.
P2 has a British Perkins CV12 Condor diesel engine with French SESM ESM500 transmission.
P3 has a Ukrainian KMDB 6TD-2 2-cycle boxer engine with its own twin planetary gearbox.
P4 has a German MB871 engine with ZF LSG3000 transmission, similar to South Korean K1 MBT.

Norinco and Pakistanis planned to adopt one of the Western powerpack at first, but due to CoCom (Coordinating Committee for Export to Communist Countries) restrictions, China is under embargo, which means China would not import weapons form Western countries. Obviously P3 powerplant would be the only choice. All those descriptions on the internet about ESM500 in Al-Khalid is fatally wrong.
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The Al-Khalid pre-production batch and production version all equipped with Ukrainian KMDB 6TD-2 powerpack.
It is an extremely compact design, the engine laid transversely in engine room, twin planetary gearboxes connect to both left and right end. The 6TD-2 has two crankshafts: the front one drives the mechanical supercharger, while the rear one drives the gearboxes. The cooling system covering the whole engine room, the engine itself has no mechanical connection to the cooling system, and the cooling system doesn't need mechanical drive. The cooling system based on a unique principle: exhaust gas driven ejector. The exhaust gas from the engine is injected through the outlet ducting, produce a low pressure in the outlet side, that will suck in cold air from the inlet side. This principle is also used in the T-64, T-80UD and T-84, but as far as I know, Swedish Ikv 91 is the only western tank that have similar cooling principle.
alkhalid 1.jpg

As a result, the total length of powerpack is significantly shortened, much more shorter than the European powerpack mentioned above. This leads to a spare storage room between the fighting compartment and the engine compartment. This storage is for extra ammunition and fuel, when turret points 3 or 9 o'clock, the top cover of the storage could be opened from outside, containing 10 rounds for main gun, with projectiles on the outsides, semi-combustible charges on the inside.
The data table from HIT also describe the ammunition capacity as 39+10, means that 22 ready rounds in the T-72 type carousel autoloader, 17 backup rounds scatter around the fighting compartment, and extra 10 rounds could be carried in the storage room.

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The driver of Al-Khalid control the vehicle via steering wheel and an automatic gear control box. The steering wheel and gear control box send electrical signals to the computer, then computer control the hydraulic servo actuator to perform engage and disengage of brakes and clutches, making steering and gear changes, as well as adjusting the speed and torque of the engine.
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Mechanically the gearboxes are nearly the same as T-64s and T-72s, but have different side reducer unit. The KMDB side reducer unit is designed as a secondary gearbox, acting like a forward-reverse selector. When both reducers were put into reverse, the vehicle can reverse using the normal forward ranges. From 1st gear to 4th gear, all could be used as high speed reverse, and that's why KMDB said this is a 7F4R gearbox system. And if only one reducer was put into reverse, the track will be driving in opposites direction, causing the vehicle turns within its tracks, a.k.a. pivot steer or center steer. T-84 also applied this driving and steering system.
The advantages of Al-Khalid's powerpack is the versatility: 2 types of MBT in the Pakistanis arsenal, T-80UD, Al-Khalid, share the same engine and gearbox.
 
Thank you, really clears up alot of the Transmission confusion. Pivot turning is a really nice advantage to have. Hope AK-2 will use a Bustle Autoloader instead of the AZ carousel Autoloader being use now.
 
Thank you, really clears up alot of the Transmission confusion. Pivot turning is a really nice advantage to have. Hope AK-2 will use a Bustle Autoloader instead of the AZ carousel Autoloader being use now.
Tailored for desert warfare. Excellent cooling n air filteration system
 
in the very near future, HIT will replace the AK-1/2 Ukrainian engine with the Chinese engine and drive train used in VT 4. There are chances that a 1500 hp of the above-mentioned variant of the Chinese engine will be used in the AK
 
in the very near future, HIT will replace the AK-1/2 Ukrainian engine with the Chinese engine and drive train used in VT 4. There are chances that a 1500 hp of the above-mentioned variant of the Chinese engine will be used in the AK

Agreed. PA would have never acquired the VT-4s to begin with unless the Chinese provided access to key technologies which can be used in future versions of the AK. VT-4 only being a stop gap and technology transfer to make up for low number of AKs being produced at HIT.
 
in the very near future, HIT will replace the AK-1/2 Ukrainian engine with the Chinese engine and drive train used in VT 4. There are chances that a 1500 hp of the above-mentioned variant of the Chinese engine will be used in the AK


EME /Armored corps trials of the T 84 oplot in ukraine vs VT4 clearly demonstrated the superiority of UKR engine and drive train ,

VT4 was only chosen thanks to Chinese soft financing and easier payment terms , and the fact that it would be replacing the T 59s .

front line work is still with T 80UD
Agreed. PA would have never acquired the VT-4s to begin with unless the Chinese provided access to key technologies which can be used in future versions of the AK. VT-4 only being a stop gap and technology transfer to make up for low number of AKs being produced at HIT.


+ soft payment terms and replacement role of T 59
 
EME /Armored corps trials of the T 84 oplot in ukraine vs VT4 clearly demonstrated the superiority of UKR engine and drive train ,

VT4 was only chosen thanks to Chinese soft financing and easier payment terms , and the fact that it would be replacing the T 59s .

front line work is still with T 80UD



+ soft payment terms and replacement role of T 59

Disagree.

The revised VT-4 is a marked improvement over the mbt 2000/ Alkhalid platform in every department. The engine/ transmission performed near flawlessly during the second leg of trials. Its FCS/ GCS/ Stabilization/ ammo are at another level.

The Oplot only enjoys better armor. At best, it is on par with the AK-1 in terms of overall performance. Not to mention its FCS still lacks auto tracking which is a handy feature and gives the PA an edge over the enemy.

Alkhalid's gunner station (above) vs t-90S's (India) station

1606203768046.png





1606203805984.png
 
EME /Armored corps trials of the T 84 oplot in ukraine vs VT4 clearly demonstrated the superiority of UKR engine and drive train ,

VT4 was only chosen thanks to Chinese soft financing and easier payment terms , and the fact that it would be replacing the T 59s .

front line work is still with T 80UD



+ soft payment terms and replacement role of T 59

Somebody gave u the wrong info.
Initially when the vt 4 came the only thing that impressed the evaluation team was the engine.....so much so that PA asked norinco to give them just the engine.

This I stated in the vt 4 thread some time back.

PA is least impressed by the ukranian antics, their unreliable delivery schedule and sub standard parts.
Just the T80ud overhaul was costing PA more than the price of a brand new tank. That's the reason why other than the vital components PA is sourcing parts from Russia and china.
They Ukrainians think that by bringing in flashy girls they can win everyone over......not this time.
But the girls they brought along the oplot were stunners to say the least ;)
 
Somebody gave u the wrong info.
Initially when the vt 4 came the only thing that impressed the evaluation team was the engine.....so much so that PA asked norinco to give them just the engine.

This I stated in the vt 4 thread some time back.

PA is least impressed by the ukranian antics, their unreliable delivery schedule and sub standard parts.
Just the T80ud overhaul was costing PA more than the price of a brand new tank. That's the reason why other than the vital components PA is sourcing parts from Russia and china.
They Ukrainians think that by bringing in flashy girls they can win everyone over......not this time.
But the girls they brought along the oplot were stunners to say the least ;)

my oh

it seems you were at the trials in malyshev ; -)
Disagree.

The revised VT-4 is a marked improvement over the mbt 2000/ Alkhalid platform in every department. The engine/ transmission performed near flawlessly during the second leg of trials. Its FCS/ GCS/ Stabilization/ ammo are at another level.

The Oplot only enjoys better armor. At best, it is on par with the AK-1 in terms of overall performance. Not to mention its FCS still lacks auto tracking which is a handy feature and gives the PA an edge over the enemy.

Alkhalid's gunner station (above) vs t-90S's (India) station

View attachment 690629




View attachment 690630
Disagree.

The revised VT-4 is a marked improvement over the mbt 2000/ Alkhalid platform in every department. The engine/ transmission performed near flawlessly during the second leg of trials. Its FCS/ GCS/ Stabilization/ ammo are at another level.

The Oplot only enjoys better armor. At best, it is on par with the AK-1 in terms of overall performance. Not to mention its FCS still lacks auto tracking which is a handy feature and gives the PA an edge over the enemy.

Alkhalid's gunner station (above) vs t-90S's (India) station


Vt4 , as i said, is being inducted to replace rear echelon T 59s .

i wouldnt comment any further
 
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Vt4 , as i said, is being inducted to replace rear echelon T 59s .

i wouldnt comment any further

more than half of our fleet is made of obsolete tanks, even after vt4 induction more than half of our fleet will remain obsolete as even inducting 1000 vt 4 along with around a regiment and some AK every year will take a very long time and time is something we don't have.
PA has huge gaps to fill as at the moment we are just making numbers.

The last resort for any tank is when it is used as an artillery piece and that's exactly wt we have been doing.
 
Vt4 , as i said, is being inducted to replace rear echelon T 59s
VT4 as T59 replacement?:disagree:

more than half of our fleet is made of obsolete tanks, even after vt4 induction more than half of our fleet will remain obsolete as even inducting 1000 vt 4 along with around a regiment and some AK every year will take a very long time and time is something we don't have.
PA has huge gaps to fill as at the moment we are just making numbers.

The last resort for any tank is when it is used as an artillery piece and that's exactly wt we have been doing.
How are you defining obsolete fleet here?
 

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