Ukrainian armored technologies will be tested in the US
Kharkiv’s Malyshev Armor Plant recently manufactured and shipped to the United States four T-80UD tanks. The plant’s official told the Defense Express that the armored vehicles vary in terms of equipment and protection systems. Three tanks mount the latest inbuilt dynamic protection system with Nizh [knife] modules securing them against practically all types of antitank weapons, including the most formidable armor-piercing projectiles. One tank was shipped stripped of all dynamic protection.
Ukrainian-US talks on purchasing a shipment of Ukrainian tanks have been underway for more than two years. The possibility was first mentioned in March 2000, after Oleksandr Kuzmuk, then Defense Minister of Ukraine, visited Washington to meet with his US counterpart. The Defense Ministry press service stated that William Cohen showed an interest in purchasing several samples of Ukrainian armored vehicles. The new tanks are being used by the Armed Forces and can be quickly manufactured by the Malyshev Plant in Kharkiv, certified to sell weapons on its own. At the time, however, the plant manager, Hryhory Maliuk, was suspicious of the offer, saying the Americans were buying samples of costly armored vehicles in different countries just to improve their own antitank systems. He said he was not going to let them have his tanks as targets, adding, “We are poor but proud, so we are not going to do it, not now. We consider this a matter of prestige; besides, they might find some design secrets.”
A pause of over a year followed. In late 2001, some at the Ukrspetseksport state arms sales firm had become convinced that selling tanks to the United States could in no way damage Ukraine’s defenses. On the contrary, the experts felt sure that testing Ukrainian combat vehicles under fire would demonstrate the spectacular advantages of the Ukrainian armored construction school, providing access to new markets. New weapon systems are acknowledged only after the baptism of fire on the battlefield or when compared to other systems currently in use. Some military experts insisted that the very fact of selling tanks would be evidence of the Ukrainian designers’ confidence that their vehicles would pass muster. In addition, modified versions of those tanks had been put up for sale during tenders to re-equip the armed forces of Greece, Turkey, and Malaysia.
On May 13, 2002, Colonel General Oleksandr Stetsenko, Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at briefing that, starting last year, a US firm had been negotiating purchase of ten T-80 tanks with the Malyshev Plant, adding that Ministry of Defense had no objections. Colonel General Viktor Bannyk, state secretary with the Defense Ministry, said during his visit to the United States that the tank-building plant in Kharkiv was prepared to perform such a contract.
In June 2002, Ukrainian and US officials agreed on the type of tanks to be manufactured in Kharkiv and on the price. The Defense Express learned from an informed source at the Industrial Policy Ministry of Ukraine that the deal concerned new Ukrainian tanks of various modifications.
Now that the tanks have been shipped to America, certain conclusions are possible.
First, Ukrainian tanks can be used in US combat training. There are two such firing grounds there. However, the Americans are not likely to use the Ukrainian T-80UD tanks as targets to improve their antitank weapons; such armor plates were used for T-70s that started being manufactured in Poland under a license in 1979, later in Yugoslavia (known as M-84), Czechoslovakia, India, and Iraq. This means that the United States could have bought them in any of those countries.
However, judging by the equipment of the tanks shipped to the US, it is safe to assume that the Americans are not interested in piercing their armor and thus developing new munitions. Quite a few experts are confident that the United States wants the Knife, the new Ukrainian dynamic protection system. Three of the four tanks sold have this system, meaning that US military experts wants to see the difference between protected and unprotected armored vehicles. If the Ukrainian Knife proves as good as said, the US might want to buy it en masse to protect its tanks and subsequently perhaps also armored personnel carriers. After all, the war in Iraq has demonstrated the vulnerability of US armor, heretofore considered the world’s sturdiest. On August 28, a shell fired by an unidentified weapon pierced the 100 inch plate of a 69-ton tanks, passing through the gunner’s seat, his body, and imbedding itself 55 mm in the opposite plate, after damaging the turret control system, thus incapacitating the combat vehicle. At the start of the war, another tank was damaged by an RPG-7 [Soviet-made] bazooka. Defense News wrote that, judging by the nature of the damage, yet another US tank was hit by an RPG-7 on August 28.
The current deal obviously benefits the Ukrainian manufacturer. This benefit is not financial. The very fact of purchase and testing will be good publicity for the Ukrainian technology. Prof. Vasyl Khytryk, chief designer at the Mikrotek Critical Technology Base Center, says that the inbuilt dynamic protection system with Knife modules secures the tank against all antitank systems, primarily against armor-piercing projectiles, something no previous such systems could achieve. “Moreover, this protection system is immune even to a hardcore armor-piercing Soviet or NATO shell fired at a 100-meter range,” he adds, stressing that this is the only kind of protection under nuclear fire. The system is based on cumulative “knives,” up to seven in a box, so that when the box is pierced by projectile the knives tear it apart. This protection system is effective against both Soviet and Western antitank weapons.
At present, the old Soviet dynamic protection system is used only by the Israeli Merkava tank. The French are only preparing to install a dynamic protection system in their Leclerc tank. Prof. Khytryk notes that the Russian Steel Research Institute is also working on such a system, but is lagging behind the Ukrainian model by five years.
Thus Ukraine turned out the world’s only country in possession of this unique armor protection system which is already on active duty. A new system titled Zaslin (Barrier) is being developed and the US military is interested.
The US interest in such systems is explained not only by their desire to improve the reliability of their armored vehicles. They started by developing future-generation tanks with higher mobility and fire power. They must also weigh less, meaning thinner armor plates. Obviously, they will need advanced protection system on any real battlefield, confronting heavy enemy tanks, and these systems must be designed so as not to overly increase their weight. The dynamic and active protection systems offered by Ukrainian researchers could be the solution to the problem.
Now the question is whether the Ukrainian tank actually has the stated characteristics. An answer will be given after field tests in the United States. If in the affirmative, it will be proof that Ukrainian tanks remain among the most popular in the world.
