Just before and immediately after the break-up of the Soviet Union, tank development in the country was in the doldrums, hindered by the lack of money to explore new avenues and by rigid thinking which would not accept that any money should be spent on weapons with the population getting more and more impoverished because of economic crisis. However, with Ukraine becoming independent, the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau made its best to preserve its lead in tank design. Although the Design Bureau was facing severe financial constraints due to virtual stranglehold on funds for defence, particularly for new equipment, and this situation persisted for a number of years, research work never stopped at the Design Bureau. The KMDB became the leading tank design authority of the newly-independent Ukraine responsible for the successful translation of the military requirements into hardware, with tank series production being undertaken by the State Enterprise Malyshev Plant. Strenuous efforts were made to preserve continued tank production at the plant, at least a slow rate production.

In 1993 the KMDB demonstrated its T-80UD tank in Pakistan. The demonstration was successful and, as a result, T-80UD was later on selected as a contender to meet Pakistani Army's requirement for a new MBT, and in the summer of 1995 two T-80UDs were delivered for extensive user trials in Pakistan. The trials lasted 2 months and included both firing trials and automotive trials. In August 1996, Pakistan placed an order with Ukraine for the supply of 320 T-80UDs with deliveries from 1997 to 1999. After signing the contract with Pakistan, the Ukrainian tank manufacturers ran across various unanticipated obstacles, as about 70 per cent of the MBT had to be imported from other parts of the former Soviet Union, mostly Russia, and there was a political opposition in the latter to supplying the required MBT components to Ukraine in order for the Pakistani order to be fulfilled. This resulted in Ukraine's aspiration to establish all necessary manufacturing facilities inside the country, which was successful, and soon Ukraine was fully self-sufficient in tank manufacture. The T-80UDs for Pakistan were manufactured with an annual production rate of 100-110 tanks. The first batch of 15 vehicles was delivered to Pakistan early in 1997, with final deliveries taking place in November 1999.

In the Independent Ukraine