Pakistan Eyes Buying 600 Battle Tanks: Indian media

The Pakistan Army is eyeing purchase of nearly 600 modern battle tanks including the T-90 from Russia, according to an Indian news agency.   

Most battle tanks Pakistan was planning to procure are likely to have features like computerised fire control system for increased accuracy, and they would be able to hit targets within a range of 3 to 4km, the Indian PTI news agency reported quoting intelligence sources as saying Sunday.

However there is no mention of this in either Russian or Pakistani media. The Russian media which is quick to respond to such claims has not reported on the matter. 

Pakistan has selected the Chinese VT-4 MBT and is in the process of ordering around 100 of them, Pakistani media had reported during the November 2018 IDEAS show in Karachi. In addition it is developing its own Al-Khalid II MBT. So placing a huge order of 600 tanks does not seem plausible at this stage.

Equipped with a China-made 1200-horsepower diesel-fuelled engine and a hydro-mechanical drive system, the VT-4 can run at a maximum speed of 70 km/h and a maximum cross-country speed of 50 km/h.

Add-ons include a new GL5 Active Protection System (APS) which customers can have the system fitted on the VT-4 if they require.

Apart from the Chinese VT-4 tank, the army is looking to induct Oplod-P tanks from Ukraine. Ukraine origin T-80 UD and T-85 UD, as well as upgraded version of T-59 tanks comprise 50 per cent tank fleet.