PAKISTAN MAY NEGOTIATE WITH UKRAINE FOR 100 OPLOT-M MAIN BATTLE TANKS

[Arsalan]

If PA buys Oplot then will PA be able to integrate Chinese/Turkish ("superior") equipments on it?
@Quwa

But it is likely to come fully loaded as well. Lets see.

The engine was the only issue OPLOT M had during trials so testing OPLOT M again means testing the engine basically and if it fails again than we won't go for engine

YES, that is why it was sent back. It faced some problems in hot conditions and sand/dust partical issues. However if you follow the reports and talks coming out it seems that have been fixed and the engine remains the most interesting part of OPLOT for Pakistan as there are other programs that depend on that.

As said, lets see.
Once the engine is put through its paces again it will give us a better idea.

 

[CHI RULES]

In what ways? IMHO the only difference being yes/no uranium armor inserts. Besides, if customers choose a certain armor or equipment level, at a certain cost, then that's their business. That's tailoring your product to customer wishes, not necessarily downgrading per se.

Sir ur statement may be right abt Iraq but what abt KSA

Useless project if we are not aquiring Engine Tech

Actually we are acquiring as depicted from recent MOUs

 

[BetterPakistan]

Don't go on weight performance is the main key besides light weight do have advantage of agility and running easily in swamp areas

Al-Haider will be some new platform PA will not go for oplot as a AL-Haider. AL-Haider will be the most powerful tank of PA it will be superior to all the tanks available in PA arsenal

BTW do you know how much Al Khalid 2 weigh?

 

[Basel]

100 Oplot-M +2000 Kombat missile would be nice

How you rate their effectiveness against Indian army?

 

[JK!]

Looking back the 1996 deal to buy T80UD tanks cost $650 million in total which resulted in 320 systems being inducted into the army.

The recent MoU signed in November 2016 for armour upgrades was $600 million so a similar investment.

If 100 Oplot MBTs are purchased would they be included as part of this deal or is it an additional purchase?

@Path-Finder - look an example of a product sent for trial being sent back for feedback to be improved and retested to meet army requirements. I wonder if this could be done with say a rifle

 

[Path-Finder]

Looking back the 1996 deal to buy T80UD tanks cost $650 million in total which resulted in 320 systems being inducted into the army.

The recent MoU signed in November 2016 for armour upgrades was $600 million so a similar investment.

If 100 Oplot MBTs are purchased would they be included as part of this deal or is it an additional purchase?

@Path-Finder - look an example of a product sent for trial being sent back for feedback to be improved and retested to meet army requirements. I wonder if this could be done with say a rifle

i think you tagged me by mistake. you are meant to tag Hazrat @Zarvan on this issue!

 

[JK!]

Ukraine and Pakistan Move Forward With Armor Deal

Ukraine will supply tanks sights and overhaul the Pakistan Army’s fleet of T-80UD MBTs as part of a bilateral agreement

By Franz Stefan Grady
March 07 2017

Ukraine and Pakistan have started implementing a bilateral agreement for the upgrade of the Pakistan Army’s T-80UD Main Battle Tank (MBT), according to Ukrainian media reports.

Ukraine’s Interfax news agency reveals that representatives of Ukraine’s largest state-run defense contractor have met with Pakistan defense industry officials at this year’s International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in late February and concluded a number of agreements.

According to two signed contracts, Ukraine is slated to supply 88 tank sights and kick off a pilot project for the overhaul of an initial batch of five Pakistan Army T-80UD MBTs, which, depending on Islamabad’s satisfaction with the upgrade work on the first five tanks, will extend to the army’s entire inventory of around 300 T-80UD MBTs

Interfax reports that the implementation of the agreements has begun this month, although no details were given as to the specific timeframe of the pilot project nor a delivery date supplied for the tanks sights.

The T-80UD, an improved variant of the Soviet-made T-64 MBT, was first introduced into service with the Pakistan Army in the late 1990s in order to counter the Indian Army’s newly acquired T-90 MBT. From 1997 to 2002, Pakistan received a total of 320 tanks from Ukraine.

Unlike their Russian counterparts, the Ukrainian version is powered by a diesel engine, features a new welded turret, and is armed with the KBA3 125 millimeter smoothbore gun, a Ukrainian version of the Russian 125 millimeter 2A46M-1 cannon originally manufactured for the T-64 MBT.

Pakistan’s T-80UD tanks could be upgraded to the standards of the T-84 ‘Oplot-M’ MBT, a much improved variant of the T-84 (which in turn is an improved version of the T-80), featuring a larger turret mounting sophisticated sensors and, among other things, a panoramic thermal-imaging system.

In November 2016, Pakistan’s Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) and Ukraine’s Ukrspecexport signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering prospective agreements with an approximately total worth of $600 million for the modernization of Pakistan’s tank force.

Among other things, Ukraine and Pakistan agreed to the sale of 200 Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building (KMDB) 6TD-2 engines for the Pakistan Army’s al-Khalid MBT, jointly developed by Pakistan and China in the 1990s.

The Pakistan Army currently operates around 350 al-Khalid MBTs and is expected to substantially expand its MBT force in the years ahead. According to some sources, Pakistan is working on an upgraded variant of the MBT, dubbed al-Khalid II, and plans to build as many as 600 tanks of this improved variant.

Given the recent uptick in Ukraine-Pakistan defense cooperation, Ukrainian technical support for the al-Khalid II program may appear likely.

Source: http://thediplomat.com/2017/03/ukraine-and-pakistan-move-forward-with-armor-deal/

 

[Fledgingwings]

What about Al Khalid and Al Zarrar?

 

[MIR RAZA HUSSAIN]

BTW do you know how much Al Khalid 2 weigh?

its 50-51 tons

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Need to move away from Ukraine gadget .. security risk unstable country

• Any day Russia will bomb the shit out of it and we will be stuck with no engines for any Tanks

 

[PAR 5]

If im not wrong, the biggest interest in Oplot is not the tank but the 6TD-3 engine because we need a locally produced 1500hp engine for AK-2 and Ukrainians won't sell the engine tot without an oplot purchase. There's absolutely no interest in using 6TD-2 engine for upcoming tanks.

Absolutely. HIT cannot get the 1200 HP 6TD3 engines from Ukraine to develop the AK 2. But I doubt they will buy the full OPLOT tank for just the engines

 

[Zarvan]

Absolutely. HIT cannot get the 1200 HP 6TD3 engines from Ukraine to develop the AK 2. But I doubt they will buy the full OPLOT tank for just the engines

They are not just buying 100 OPLOT M. 100 will be the ones which we would get from Ukraine others will be produced in Pakistan. This is part of AL HAIDER project.

 

[Path-Finder]

Absolutely. HIT cannot get the 1200 HP 6TD3 engines from Ukraine to develop the AK 2. But I doubt they will buy the full OPLOT tank for just the engines

6TD-3 is 1500hp

 

[JK!]

In my opinion this could be one of the most significant and important acquisitions in Pakistans armour plans. It has the potential to lay foundations that can be built upon for years to come.

Western MBTs are built with crew safety in mind. The logic being even if hit they can keep fighting whereas Russian-Soviet doctrine which to an extent China used focussed on mass numbers to overwhelm the enemy. As such these were more basic rugged machines.

The T84 Oplot despite having that legacy has built upon it.

This could be the first MBT Pakistani tankers operate with blow out panels and a separate ammunition compartment. They can have that reassurance of being in a vehicle that has crew safety in mind. When General Creighton Abrams helped design and build the Abrams MBT he commented recalling his fear in Normandy WW2 being in a Sherman tank against German Tigers the superior machine. He didn't want future generations of American tank crews to have that. What a morale boost this can be for a Pakistani tanker knowing he is an advanced machine that has features to increase his odds of survival.

The T84 Yatagan was a proposed design to be Turkeys new MBT in the early 2000s. It was tailored to Turkish Army requirements and had a NATO standard 120mm gun to fire NATO standard ammunition. It was slated to have and feature indigenous Turkish systems.

Again this is of benefit to Pakistan as if Oplot will be the Haider MBT it is a platform to bring in and become familiar with Turkish subsystems in Pakistani MBTs. The perk of having the engine brought in under ToT has been discussed already by other members.

Essentially this is just a win for a Pakistan in my opinion. The scope to bring the existing T80UD fleet up to Oplot standard. Advanced thermal sighting systems. Crew safety features that could be adopted in the rest of the MBT fleet. A platform that can adopt foreign systems like the ones from Turkey. The 1500hp engine that can become standard in Haider and AK2.

That last point is the most important. It is why this could lay that foundation I mentioned because all this good stuff can be considered and used in designing and building Al Khalid 2.

 

[maximuswarrior]

In my opinion this could be one of the most significant and important acquisitions in Pakistans armour plans. It has the potential to lay foundations that can be built upon for years to come.

Western MBTs are built with crew safety in mind. The logic being even if hit they can keep fighting whereas Russian-Soviet doctrine which to an extent China used focussed on mass numbers to overwhelm the enemy. As such these were more basic rugged machines.

The T84 Oplot despite having that legacy has built upon it.

This could be the first MBT Pakistani tankers operate with blow out panels and a separate ammunition compartment. They can have that reassurance of being in a vehicle that has crew safety in mind. When General Creighton Abrams helped design and build the Abrams MBT he commented recalling his fear in Normandy WW2 being in a Sherman tank against German Tigers the superior machine. He didn't want future generations of American tank crews to have that. What a morale boost this can be for a Pakistani tanker knowing he is an advanced machine that has features to increase his odds of survival.

The T84 Yatagan was a proposed design to be Turkeys new MBT in the early 2000s. It was tailored to Turkish Army requirements and had a NATO standard 120mm gun to fire NATO standard ammunition. It was slated to have and feature indigenous Turkish systems.

Again this is of benefit to Pakistan as if Oplot will be the Haider MBT it is a platform to bring in and become familiar with Turkish subsystems in Pakistani MBTs. The perk of having the engine brought in under ToT has been discussed already by other members.

Essentially this is just a win for a Pakistan in my opinion. The scope to bring the existing T80UD fleet up to Oplot standard. Advanced thermal sighting systems. Crew safety features that could be adopted in the rest of the MBT fleet. A platform that can adopt foreign systems like the ones from Turkey. The 1500hp engine that can become standard in Haider and AK2.

That last point is the most important. It is why this could lay that foundation I mentioned because all this good stuff can be considered and used in designing and building Al Khalid 2.

Excellent post. This post explains all the benefits and wins and there are many indeed.