• Armament
• Fire Control System
• Protection
• Mobility
• Other Features
• Participation in International Exhibitions
• Participation in Comparative Evaluation Trials

Oplot Main Battle Tank

The Oplot main battle tank is the result of continued main battle tank development by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau, which is Ukraine's leading design authority for armoured fighting vehicles.

     The overall layout of the Oplot main battle tank is conventional with the driver’s compartment at the front, fighting compartment in the centre and power pack at the rear. The driver is seated in the centre and has a single-piece hatch cover that lifts and swings to the right. In front of this are three forward-facing periscopes, the centre one of which can be replaced by a night driving device. There is an escape hatch in the hull floor behind the driver. The commander is seated on the right and the gunner on the left both provided with single-piece roof hatches.

     The Oplot main battle tank is based on a T-80UD, but has a number of advanced features which distinguish it from the T-80UD. These include the following:

• new all-welded turret;
• explosive reactive armour of new generation to give more protection against both chemical energy and kinetic energy attack over the frontal arc;
• thermal imaging sight;
• 1,200 hp engine rather than a 1,000 hp engine the T-80UD is powered by;
• digitisation of the electronics packages associated with the fire-control system;
• optronic countermeasures system;
• auxiliary power unit;
• muzzle reference system;
• navigation system;
• enlarged side skirts to give additional protection of the hull sides and running gear components against attacks by infantry armed with short range anti-tank missiles.

The latest version of the Oplot main battle tank offered for the export market also features an automated gear shifting rather than a mechanical gear selector, new driver's steering controls (the driver now steers the vehicle with a steering T-bar rather than tillers, thus reducing the load on the driver), an air conditioning system, projectile muzzle velocity sensor, and other improvements.

The Oplot main battle tank uses locally produced components and subsystems, although systems of foreign origin can be incorporated at the customer's request.

The Oplot main battle tank is a very efficient fighting machine intended to fulfil the mission of providing mobile protected firepower in all types of terrain. The Oplot is very well protected, has good battlefield mobility as well as good strategic mobility, and is able to undertake a wide range of battlefield missions on a 24 hour basis under all weather conditions.

Steering T-bar at the Oplot MBT driver's station

Status

The Oplot main battle tank is now in service with Ukraine (in 2000 the Ukrainian Defence Ministry ordered 10 new Oplot series main battle tanks).

Oplot MBTs during a parade in Kiev (August 2001) 

Oplot Main Battle Tank Specifications

Three-view general arrangement drawing of the Oplot MBT