Presumably, a person interested in tank building issues is generally aware of the situation in the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. Therefore, there is probably no meaning to consider its meaning in detail. In short, the situation is perfectly visible on the example of the famous Kharkiv Malyshev Plant. The last success accompanied the enterprise more than ten years ago: in 1996, it was possible to sign a contract with Pakistan in the amount of 550 million dollars, involving the supply of 320 T-80UD tanks. The pace was good, and the contract was fulfilled in 1999.
But if in the Soviet years the plant could produce thousands of tanks, and in the 90s - hundreds, now the production of 1 (one) "Oplot" has become a real problem. Recently it became known that Ukraine was unable to sell the Americans one copy of the tank, which was supposed to be built seven years ago. Now the manufacturer will return an impressive advance to customers, and Washington will not be able to test one of the T-80 versions in action.
The war in Donbass did not fundamentally change anything in this regard: the situation in tank building was critical and remains. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian specialists of the Ministry of Defense found a place in the new realities: we are talking about the repair and modernization of old Soviet MBTs. Most often (and this is well illustrated by the situation with the BM "Bulat"), the modernized versions inherited the same shortcomings that Soviet tanks had, and sometimes even managed to multiply them. However, to all appearances, Ukraine finally received a quite worthy economical version of the T-64 - the T-64 of the 2017 model. The expert in the field of tank building Aleksey Khlopotov, known as Gur Khan, drew attention to him.
Good
Let's start with the positive aspects for Ukraine. As follows from the message of "Ukroboronprom", dated February 11, "Kharkov armored plant" by that time had more than a hundred T-64 model 2017 behind it. Good pace for the former CIS.
At first glance, it may seem that we are just looking at one of the many previously presented versions of the T-64, but this is not entirely true. The main difference of the modernized tank was the electronics, advanced by the standards of the CIS. As part of the modernization, the car received modern night vision devices with a third-generation electro-optical converter. They were installed on standard mountings and connected to the tank's electrical network. As the site of "Ukroboronprom" reports, "thanks to high-quality components, they (devices - VO) are highly resistant to light interference and ensure operation under difficult conditions, they are not sensitive to illumination even when the enemy uses special interference in the infrared range." In turn, the gunner's sighting system received a thermal imager, which provides the ability to conduct hostilities in simple and difficult weather conditions, at any time of the day.
An important element of the improvement was the satellite navigation system from the "Orizon-Navigation" company. Due to it, it is possible to exchange data online with other servicemen, information about the location of the tank can be received, among other things, by the senior officers participating in the operation.“The modernization includes: replacement of TPN-1-49-23 with TPV, replacement of TKN-3V and TVN-4 with the same generation 3+ (or 4) image intensifiers, DzhiPiSka with an antenna, a new radio with a secure coded channel, a new NDZ,”one of the servicemen of the Ukrainian army said to Aleksey Khlopotov.
Of course, the ability to fight at night, as well as the network-centric principle, are not new to Western countries. However, for the CIS, it is still a luxury. In addition, a digital radio station "Lybid K-2RB" was installed on the tank, which, according to Khlopotov, is better than the Russian R-168 installed on the T-72B3 tank. The specialist also praised the use of the Knife reactive armor on the T-64 of the 2017 model, noting that it was superior to the Contact. Although such an categorical statement sounds ambiguous.
Bad
“In terms of operation, the T-64BV model of 2017 does not differ much from the serial T-64BV. The engine is still the same, although some are equipped with an 850 hp Bulatovsky. Apparently in the future they plan to put it on, or maybe they just tried it,”his friend from the Ukrainian Armed Forces told Gur Khan. Simply put, they again saved money on the driving performance of Ukrainian tanks. It should be said that high mobility has never been an advantage of 64s. According to this indicator, the vehicle cannot be compared with either the best Western tanks, or the gas-turbine T-80, or the new Russian T-14 (although there are many questions about the power plant of the latter).
The T-64B, we recall, with a mass of almost 40 tons, the engine power is 700 horsepower. It is noteworthy that the problems with the overweight "Bulat" and its relatively weak engine, apparently, did not teach the Ukrainian experts anything. However, the aforementioned T-72B3 is also far from a high-spirited runner. With a vehicle weight of 46 tons, the power of the V-84-1 engine is 840 horsepower. On the other hand, on the T-72B3 of the 2016 model, V-92S2F are installed, having a maximum speed of 1130 horsepower. This is much better.
Do you need it?
In conclusion, I would like to note that both tanks - the T-64 of the 2017 model of the year and the T-72 of the 2016 model of the year - can be called economical options for modernizing old combat vehicles, which, in general, are quite suitable for countries that do not have large funds for defense. and safety. In the case of Russia, the problem is not so much poverty as the need to spend a huge part of the defense budget on maintaining the nuclear triad. It is worth adding here all sorts of semi-mythical projects of the future, as well as banal misappropriation of funds.
In the case of Ukraine, everything is even simpler: there are no new tanks, there are no contracts for the purchase of serious consignments of equipment abroad. In conditions when you cannot completely rely on your military-industrial complex, and there is a chronic lack of money, you do not have to choose. So the economical T-64 of the 2017 model has become almost the best creation of the Ukrainian defense industry over the past few years, if not more. We also add that in the case of Ukraine, the savings on tanks are partially justified. For the Ukrainian army, MBT is not the most important thing: perhaps new modern infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and anti-tank systems are much more important.
