KHARKIV. Dec 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Malyshev Plant (Kharkiv) is ready to ship a new batch of Ukrainian Oplot tanks to Thailand in December 2015 if the Defense Ministry of Ukraine agrees the shipment, Chief Engineer Oleksandr Sheiko has said.
“The delivery guideline is December, if the Defense Ministry agrees it,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Sheiko did not specify the number of tanks that could be shipped. He said that if the ministry approves the shipment, the implementation of the Thai contract could be finished in 2016.
The Oplot tank has been developed by the Kharkiv-based Morozov Design and Engineering Bureau. The first two Oplot tanks entered service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May 2009. An over $200 million contract for the delivery of 49 Oplot tanks to Thailand was signed in 2011. The Malyshev company started implementing the contract in April 2012. Investment in the tanks’ serial production amounts to $30 million, according to the company management.
Experts estimate the Oplot tank has an 80% processing complexity coefficient, one of the world’s highest among new combat vehicles. The tank has advanced systems of protecting communication and control gear, including an active system for countering smart weapons, as well as night vision instruments and a remote- controlled machine-gun.
