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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Our Tanks to ConquerAbu Dhabi?

23 March, 1999 - 00:00

Ukraine strengthens its positions in the world arms market

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day
"Ukraine has not only retained its potential as one of the leaders in world
arms exports, but also continues to develop its capabilities in the world
arms market," said in an UNIAN interview Valery Kazakov, Ukrainian Deputy
Minister for industrial Policy, on the eve of his visit to Abu Dhabi, where
on March 14 the Idex-99 Arms Exhibition, one of the world's most prestigious,
began.

Ukraine is taking part in this exhibition for the third time, and has
no intention to lag behind the 43 countries and over 800 arms manufacturers
participating in this forum. In addition, Ukrainian weapons will be demonstrated
this year in La Bourge (France) and at the Idef Military Machinery Exhibition
in Turkey, said Mr. Kazakov.

Now this country is considered as a serious competitor in the world
arms market. In fact, after the participation in the Idex-95 and Idex-97
exhibitions Ukrainian arms producers got contracts to supply 320 T-80UD
tanks to Pakistan, and a shipment of armored carriers to Indonesia. They
also intensified their cooperation with France and the Czech Republic,
while becoming a party to a joint Ukraine - China - Pakistan project to
create a new MBT-2000 tank. All this has helped Ukraine reach ninth place
among world arms exporters. This time, at the Idex show Ukraine is touting
an upgraded version of T-84, whose exterior design, taking into account
the experience of the last tank expositions held late 1998 in Greece, has
been slightly modified. Lt. General Mykhailo Borysiuk, the Director of
the Morozov Design Bureau, thinks that the performance of the operable
model in Abu Dhabi strengthens Ukraine's image as one of the world leaders
in the armored vehicle and tank building industry.

Representing the T-72, upgraded according to NATO standards, the Malyshev
Plant is also doing its best to meet its clients' needs. Actually there
are about 70,000 T-55's in 40 countries, and about 10,000 T-72's in the
Arab world, and it is much less expensive to modify these tanks than to
buy new ones.

 

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