"Oplot" - a tank for export

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Modern designers of armored vehicles are forced to work in difficult conditions of intense competition in the foreign market. They should choose the right solutions, find the optimal ratio between combat qualities and price.

An example of a fairly successful marketing design is the T-84U Oplot, a tank developed in Kharkov. Despite the fact that no fundamentally new schematic solutions were applied during its development, it turned out to be in demand on the foreign market.

The power plant is located at the rear, the tower is inhabited, in a word, everything is like its ancestor, the T-80, designed back in the Soviet years and, in turn, leading the pedigree from the reliable and powerful T-54.

However, there are also very serious advantages that the Oplot tank can boast of. Specifications are markedly improved by the installation of a heavy-duty (1200 hp) engine that can work on almost anything that burns. Suitable and diesel fuel, and kerosene, and gasoline, and even alcohol. You can mix different types of fuel in any proportion.

Oplot is a tank designed to meet the requirements of the international arms market. In order to increase its export potential, solutions were used that are not typical for the Soviet school of armored vehicle design. Instead of the usual control levers, the driver uses a steering wheel to move the car, which is more typical for American tanks. The caliber of the turret gun complies with NATO standards - 125 mm.

Significantly enhanced armor protection, especially the side planes of the hull. "Oplot" is a tank in which for the first time in Ukraine the technology of one-piece forging of the turret was applied.

Changes in the instrumentation of the combat vehicle are especially important. The widespread use of imported fire control units and external orientation also solves the problem of making it more attractive to foreign buyers.

Of course, the Ukrainian Oplot tank is good, and thanks to many expensive components used in its design, it surpasses the Russian T-90 in some respects. However, when evaluating and comparing these two machines, one should compare not only technical characteristics, but also many other factors.

Firstly, the T-90 has already been taken out of production in Russia, that is, it has been declared obsolete in the manufacturing country itself. This fact can mean one thing - there are already new (and fundamentally) samples on the way. These include the car "Armata". Therefore, despite the victory in the tender for the supply of a batch of this equipment to the Thai army, it can be stated that money for serious design and developmentthere is clearly not enough work in Kharkov. Comparison with the model of the outgoing generation in itself indicates that the "Oplot" is a tank that is outdated at the level of the concept.

Secondly, the possibilities for mass production of this machine are also subject to evaluation. The number of Oplots purchased for the Ukrainian armed forces barely exceeds a dozen combat units. As for foreign armies, they are in no hurry to rearm, preferring to maintain good relations with long-standing suppliers from the US and other Western countries.