Pakistan's tank logistics must be a challenge with AZ, AK, T80UD, Type85, Type59 and Type69 tanks plus now VT4
7 DIFFERENT TANKS IN in a army of 650000 troops
I remember reading in some thread a while back about the in-house upgrades/maintenance of all these tank types PA operates. There seems to be at least some degree of commonality in some parts. If I find it...I'll link it. I think it's a sticky thread and the posts were by
@Dazzler or was it
@HRK ...it's been a while.
Pakistan need to convert all type 85 59 69 into track IFV or AK standard and mass produce VT-4 . it will reduced logistics nightmare.
Pak operates hundreds of M113s already. Depleting tank strength rn wouldn't be good. Tensions are high...and if Pak would convert it's hundreds of type 85/69/59 into IFV...I doubt Pak can afford to replace those numbers with new acquisitions of either AK1 or VT4.
It would be better to rebuild/upgrade the M113 IFVs into Viper...little by little. The remaining type 59/69 that didn't get upgraded to AZ standard should be upgraded to AZ standard. AZ can probably go toe to toe with Indian T72s.
It has more to do with the varied terrain our country has. Different types of terrain require different types of tanks having different characteristics.
IMO two types should suffice...a heavier one like VT4 and an AK like or slightly lighter tank(like AZ) should suffice for a majority of Pak's terrain towards the eastern border.
To put numbers...
Heavy tank: e.g. VT4 is IIRC 52 tons
Light tank: e.g. AK(46 tons) OR AZ(44 tons)
It doesn't have to be these tanks specifically...I'm just using these bcuz they are currently serving in the PA in various terrains. For the lighter tank(e.g. AK) a 1200hp engine is sufficient IMO(perhaps can use increased torque)...
...for the heavier tank a 1500hp engine would be better IMO.
If Pak can streamline its various tanks to just two types(in the long term) as discussed above...I think it should cover a majority of the terrain types.