TaimiKhan Bro,
I,ve noticed that u have good know how about armoured vehicles, can u please shed some light on A.K?
for example:-
1)how capable is it?
2)which tank can we compare it with?
3)is there A.K, A.K-1 and A.K-2 or just A.K and A.K-1?
4)what are the differences between all above?
5)which tank P.A intends to produce in bulk?
6)how much its gonna cost per unit?
7)Have we secured any orders from foreign buyers as yet?
8)who is our potential buyers?
9)can A.K or others in its series overwhelm Indian Tanks?
10)How tough its armour is expected to be?
no patriotism, answer me with utmost honesty please...
First of all thanks for your such nice comments, i wish it had been true
, but alas am not good at armored vehicles, but do have a good understanding as have read about them a lot & have been around armored corps officers. anyhow will do my best to reply to your satisfaction as much as possible.
1)how capable is it?
In the light tank category meaning eastern block, i do rank it capable enough to counter any latest eastern tanks, but against western versions it may not hold that much until a very powerful gun or ammo is introduced strong enough to penetrate their armor.
2)which tank can we compare it with?
Eastern block tanks, T-72s latest versions, Ukrainian ones, to great extent T-90s & some of the Chinese versions too.
3)is there A.K, A.K-1 and A.K-2 or just A.K and A.K-1?
The below pic is the more upgraded AK version with a soft kill APS Shotra system which wasn't seen in the initial versions. But i do believe a more upgraded version of AK (more in the league of latest Chinese T-99 version) is still to be seen in action, which i also believe would be the AK-2 much talked about). This pic may be called the AK1 as its upgraded model then the initial AK & AK2 will have a lot of changes.
http://img36.imageshack.us/i/alkhalidnew.jpg/ http://g.imageshack.us/img36/alkhalidnew.jpg/1/
4)what are the differences between all above?
Hope the above answer also answers this question of yours, as i see more of a clone of T-99G or A2 version in AK2.
5)which tank P.A intends to produce in bulk?
The AK2 as initial AK are around a 300+ figure meaning the bulk production of AK series are still to be done which would be the highly upgraded version as we have to counter in future the latest 1000+ Indian T-90s & upgraded 1000+ T-72s.
6)how much its gonna cost per unit?
Rough estimate would be between 2-4Million US$ per unit cost as more new technologies are gonna be added in future.
7)Have we secured any orders from foreign buyers as yet?
Nops, not yet. Will be pretty hard to come by though in the forcible future.
8)who is our potential buyers?
Sri Lanka (was), Bangladesh, ME countries etc etc
9)can A.K or others in its series overwhelm Indian Tanks?
In my opinion the fear of AK did make the Indians go for the Russian T-90s. Plus more emphasis on upgrading their T-72s too.
10)How tough its Armour is expected to be?
Well HIT has now stated its own Armor related research, plus Chinese factor is always there. Recent news have been saying that it had taken hits from certain types of ammo & sustained them too. Meaning it will be protected to some extent & with add on armor packages more protection will be given & upgraded as new techs come into play. Its armor would be something like Type-99s or so.
Personally i believe the latest version of AK to be more like a brother of the Chinese Type-99A2 or the G variant, as Chinese have now adopted the Hunter-Killer capability like AK in their latest version of Type-99 too.
Do read the below mentioned links & threads for an in depth understanding as these kind of discussions have been done a lot. Very informative too.
http://www.defence.pk/forums/land-forces/22400-pa-tanks-comparison-contempory-tanks-7.html
http://www.defence.pk/forums/weapons-club/31547-ztz99-mbt-chinesse-tank-new.html
http://www.defence.pk/forums/land-f...tions-related-number-tanks-pakistan-army.html
http://www.defence.pk/forums/land-forces/88-al-khalid-2-a-16.html