Upgraded MBT T-84 Oplot Fortress for Ukrainian army.

According to the latest press release by UkrOboronProm, Ukrainian State Enterprises (DPs) Malyshev Plant and Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB) are preparing to deliver a batch of T-84 Oplot "Fortress" main battle tanks (MBTs) for trials by the Ukrainian armed forces.

T-84 Oplot main battle tank, here without its reactive armor that will equip the "Fortress" variant (Picture source: UkrOboronProm)

The T-84 Oplot "Fortress" is a new type of main battle tank that was redesigned and developed by Ukraine in the 1990s. The “Fortress” is a modified version of the earlier T-80UD. The tank boasts a new welded turret with separate crew and ammunition compartments with blowout panels on the ammunition compartment. It is armed with a 125mm KBA3 smoothbore gun and bustle-mounted automatic shell loader, which can fire numerous types of tank shells and anti-tank guided missiles. Its defensive systems include the Nozh explosive reactive armor, Varta soft-kill active protection suite (APS) and, in time, Zaslon hard-kill APS.

The vehicle has three forward-facing periscopes in front of the driver's cupola. The center periscope can be replaced with a night driving device. It also includes a gunner's day sight, PNK-6 commander's panoramic sighting system, PTT-2 thermal imaging sight, anti-aircraft sight and anti-aircraft machine gun control system. The detection range of targets for thermal sighting system is up to 8 km. The tank is also equipped with LIO-V ballistic computer, armament stabilizer and other systems.

The T-84 uses the 6TD-2 diesel engine and its output can reach 1,200 hp. Its high-performance opposed-piston engine makes it one of the fastest MBTs in the world, with a power-to-weight ratio of about 26 horsepower per tonne (19 kW/t). The battle tank is also equipped with a diesel-electric auxiliary power unit (10 kW) to supply power to onboard systems when the main engine is turned off.

On the road, the tank can speed up to 70km/h. Off-road, it can still reach an impressive 50km/h. KMDB has also developed an automatic transmission control, which allows rotation of the tank using the steering wheel instead of levers, which greatly simplifies the tank operational processes and at the same time makes it more agile and potent.

The Oplot is equipped with torsion bar type suspension. Either side of the six dual-rubber-tired road wheels is provided with idler at forward, drive sprocket at the rear, and track support rollers. The first, second and sixth road wheel stations are fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers. The tank can negotiate a gradient of 320 and side slope of 250. Equally, the tank can ford a water depth of 5m using deep water fording equipment.

The T-84 main battle tank is armed with a 125-mm autoloader-equipped gun, capable of firing controlled antitank missiles up to about 5 km. Weighing almost 50 tonnes, the T-84 tank can speed up to 70 km/h thanks to its 1,200 HP engine. The tank is protected with up-to-date Ukrainian reactive armor and electro-optical countermeasures system.