Ukraine wants to buy new Oplot tanks

Ukraine plans to buy homegrown Oplot main battle tanks, according to Oleksii Reznikov, the head of the country’s Ministry of Defense.

Reznikov said that Defense Ministry will acquire Oplot tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“I am convinced that a Ukrainian tank, such as the Oplot, should be at the forefront of the tank coalition. There must be an armored fist on the frontline because the most important value is to save the lives of our defenders. For them to be able to protect us, for them not to lose their health, they need armored vehicles. I love the cuisine and music of different world nations, but in industry, I remain a Ukrainian industrial advocate. That is why it was decided that the Ministry of Defense will order Oplot for the Ukrainian army from Ukroboronprom,” the minister said.

The tank was developed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB) for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to replace Soviet-era T-64s and T-72s. It is fitted with Duplet built-in Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) of a new generation, that protects against tandem warheads. The tank is fitted with the Shtora countermeasures system, which reduces hit probability of enemy anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) system with semi-automatic guidance.

The Oplot tank is armed with a 125 mm fully-stabilized smoothbore gun, fitted with a carousel-type autoloader. The combat vehicle is capable of firing 9K119M Reflex (NATO Designation AT-11 Sniper-B) gun-launched anti-tank guided missiles.

The new tank has a weight of some 51 tons. It can carry a crew of three, and it is enabled with a maximum speed of 70 kph, according to data from Ukroboronprom.