Ukrainian Company Malyshev will start the production of Oplot T-84 tanks for Thailand 2809121

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Defense News - Thailand
 
 
Friday, September 28, 2012, 08:00 AM
 
Ukrainian Company Malyshev will start the production of Oplot T-84 tanks for Thailand.
The Kharkiv-based Malyshev Plant announced plans to produce by the end of the year the first batch of five T-84 Oplot tanks for the Thai Army. Overall, under the contract the Ukrainian company will make 49 tanks worth over USD 200 million, Volodymyr Mazin, a representative of the Ukroboronprom SE's director general.
     

Ukrainian main battle tank T-84 Oplot at Eurosatory 2012 defence exhibition in Paris, France.
     

"Under the contract with Thailand, this year we produce five Oplot tanks. "The contract is designed for 2 years. We must do, they take, and the shipment will be later, for example, in January," he said.

In September 2011, Ukraine's state arms exporter Ukrspecexport announced a signature of a contract with the the Thai Army for the supply of 49 main battle tanks T-84 Oplot.

The state company said that the deal was one of the largest in the defense sector. Sources in the defense sector told Interfax-Ukraine that the deal was estimated to be worth about $240 million.

The Oplot tank, which was designed by Kharkiv Morozov Engineering Design Bureau on the basis of the Ukrainian T-84 tank. The main armament comprises a stabilised 125mm KBA3 smoothbore gun fed by a carousel-type automatic loader.

The T-84 Oplot is fitted with an integrated vehicle protection system, which includes passive armour, explosive reactive armour array as well as a number of other tank protection devices that are optimised against modern anti-tank weapons and make the tank considerably less vulnerable to the full range of anti-tank weapons.