Long-awaited Oplot set for US
BM Oplot MBT. (Photo: Ukroboronprom)
Ukroboronprom has finally shipped the BM Oplot MBT ordered by the US three years ago.
The single BM Oplot main battle tank (MBT) ordered by the US in 2018 is finally on its way across the Atlantic, Ukroboronprom announced on 19 October.
The US ordered the tank from Ukrspecexport (the export division of Ukroboronprom) for the US Army’s experimental arsenal.
The estimated cost of the Oplot (in 2018 dollars) was $7 million but delivery to the US was delayed by export control wrangles related to thermal imaging components.
Made in Ukraine as an advanced variant of the T-84 MBT, Oplot is armed with a 125mm KBA-3 smoothbore gun, a 7.62mm KT-7.62 coaxial machine gun, and a pintle-mounted 12.7mm KT-12.7 heavy machine gun on the roof which can be fired by the commander under armour protection.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that the MBT carries 40 125mm rounds, of which 28 are in the automatic loader.
BM Oplot is powered by a 6TD-2 multi-fuel, six-cylinder, double-stroke liquid-cooled diesel engine coupled to a manual transmission. It can ford 1.8m of water which can be increased to 5m with preparation.
The US has ordered other samples of Ukrainian-made defence equipment; for example, the DoD recently bought new radar hardware from Iskra and in 2003 it acquired four T-80UD MBTs.
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