T-84 (Oplot)

History of the T-84 (Oplot)

Ukraine was under Soviet influence until 1990, when the empire disintegrated in the transition to a more democratic state. A country like Ukraine gained independence and became a sovereign state again.

During Soviet rule, the Ukrainian military was the subject of procurement of Soviet-inspired designs, including aircraft, small arms, tanks and armored vehicles. One such system became the T-80, a Soviet main battle tank that entered service with the Soviet Army in 1976 and was not exported until the end of the Soviet Empire. The tank is still in heavy service (albeit somewhat reduced) around the world.

With the advent of the new Russia, more than 5,400 such examples were produced and then passed on to the successor countries. It was this tank - or more precisely the production T-80UD - that was chosen by the Ukrainian government for modernization and upgrading to the new standard of the Ukrainian army. Until 1995, Ukraine had as many as 345 T-80s, although this number has declined over time.

Still, Ukraine has experience with Russian equipment.

The choice of the T-80 was essentially necessary because the Ukrainians tried to become more independent in terms of military requirements. As such, it is foreseeable that localization efforts will become mainstream, making Ukraine less dependent on foreign personnel for its military needs for the foreseeable future.

While the resulting design program actually began in the late 1980s, the new "T-84" didn't appear until 1995 and entered front-line service with the Ukrainian army in 1999. This type of design is produced by KMDB (Kharkov Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau) at the Malyshev factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

The T-84 "Oplot" became a rather ambitious modernization program for the entire T-84 family. The turret was reworked again and in welded construction. Ammunition is now stored in a separate compartment from the crew to increase crew safety in the event of a direct hit by enemy projectiles or missiles.

The autoloader is now pushed into the turret. The Ukrainian Army currently deploys only a small number of Oplot series tanks, although recent developments have resulted in the type being procured in large quantities.

The T-84 "Oplot-M" is exactly the latest version of the T-84, based on the Oplot production variant of course. A modernized form of the Oplot (hence the "M" in the name), the genre brings an updated set of countermeasures to counter the increasing prowess of new anti-tank/anti-tank weapons on the battlefield today.

The Nozh ERA block also has enhanced armor protection, protecting the vehicle from new tandem warhead warheads.

The export-oriented T-84-120 "Oplot" has an improved turret mount with a NATO standard 120mm main gun and a new autoloader. Side armor skirts are standard.

Of course, like any other widely used frontline main armor system, the T-84 has evolved into various other battlefield forms, including the BREM-84 Armored Rescue Vehicle (ARV, aka "Atlet"), the BMU-84 Bridge machine and BTMP-84 infantry fighting vehicle - the latter is currently in prototype form at the time of writing. The IFV version deserves special attention here, as it is one of the few modern examples of a main battle tank design as the basis for an IFV.

This particular modification adds an extra pair of wheels to the extended hull design, with a 125mm main gun mounted in a mobile turret setup. The engine was relocated to allow for a five-person fighting compartment in the rear of the hull.

The Ukrainian government has been trying to get the Turkish army to procure their T-84 systems and has developed the T-84U prototype "Yatagan" specifically for this mission (it also has a saleable model for other interested customers). The main differences in this version are the inclusion of a 120mm main gun versus the original 125mm caliber system, as well as a brand new autoloading system. Therefore, the main gun is approved for NATO standard projectiles and AT-11 "Sniper" anti-tank missiles.

Both the Fire Control System (FCS) and the communications suite are tailored to Turkey's needs, and side armor skirts are standard.

Operators (outside Ukraine) include Georgia (12 tanks on order) and Thailand (about 49 tanks on order).

The first operations of the T-84 were recorded in the 2014 Ukrainian-Russian skirmish as part of the ongoing Donbas war.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

42 x 125mm bullets

450 x 12.7mm ammo

1,250 x 7.62mm ammo

Changes