HIT Al Khalid (MBT 2000)

HIT Al Khalid (MBT 2000) History

The Khalid tank is essentially a hybrid tank design with systems, weapons and subsystems sourced from a variety of global sources, although the tank system itself as a whole is a locally produced product in Pakistan. Its indirect lineage can be traced back to the Soviet Cold War T-54 series, while its direct lineage can be traced back to the China North Industries 90-II main battle tank.

In addition, the engine is native to Ukraine, while production takes place in Pakistan. In many ways, Al-Khalid can be considered the "ultimate" evolution of the successful Soviet T-54 system.

Al-Khalid's design continued through most of the 1990s, until the system became known as "MBT 2000". The design was adopted by China North Industries 617 Factory and Pakistan Heavy Industries Taxi Company (HIT), and a cooperation agreement was officially signed in January 1990. A prototype emerged the following year and entered the evaluation phase.

At the heart of the new tank design should be ease of production, a system that can easily accept the use of foreign power packs.

Khalid's main armament is concentrated on the powerful 125mm smoothbore main gun, located in the center of the front of the turret. In keeping with the design of modern Russian tanks, the Al-Khalid carried the main gun loader as a crew, replacing it with a sophisticated but effective automatic loader.

The tank commander provided air defense support via an externally operated 12.7mm heavy machine gun mounted on top of the turret. A 7.62mm infantry machine gun is coaxially mounted on the turret face next to the main gun.

Six smoke grenade launchers are mounted on each side of the turret, and powerful laser rangefinders, laser detection systems and NBC protection are standard at the Al Khalid base.

As of this writing (2015), over 600 examples of Al-Khalid have been produced. The main production model is the Al-Khalid, based on the NORINCO prototype and equipped with a Ukrainian KMDB 6TD-2 (P3) diesel engine. The Al-Khalid I is an upgraded variant with improved systems, engines, autoloader and armor, as well as the ability to fire KOMBAT anti-tank missiles.

The Al-Khalid II is an improved variant with an improved turret, improved armor pack, improved projectile and sensor equipment, enhanced situational awareness, increased combat weight and new engines.

Al-Khalid is named after the Muslim heroic general Khalid ibn al-Walid (592-642 AD), the prolific and legendary military commander of Muhammad.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

39x125mm projectile.

500x12.7mm ammo.

2,000 x 7.62mm ammo.

12 x Smoke Grenade.

Changes