Pakistan Ministry of Defense had ordered around 300 VT-4 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) a few years back, deliveries of which will begin in late 2020 to early 2021. Initially a batch of around 150 MBTs will be delivered for which 800-900 million dollars have already been paid by Pakistan. These tanks being delivered to Pakistan are an upgraded and superior version of the already modern VT4 MBT, with superior FY IV ERA and a 1500 horsepower engine instead of the standard FY II ERA and 1300 HP engines. The Pakistani variant of VT4 consists of a different and newer turret boost design. These tanks are being delivered by Norinco, but all post-delivery maintenance, potential upgrades and overhaul will be done in-house by HIT Taxila, Pakistan.
MBT VT-4 capabilities and statistics
Data available is for standard VT-4 MBTs (non-Pakistani)
VT-4 MBT integrates advanced armor and fire control capabilities resulting in increased firepower and protection against any adversary hardware in the battlefield. The VT-4 is a 52-ton tank over 10 meters in length having a maximum operational range of 500 km and maximum speed of 70 km/h. The tank is armed with a 125-mm smoothbore cannon which can fire a variety of shells including HE rounds, kinetic-energy penetrator rounds (APFSDS), high explosive squash-head (HESH) rounds, high explosive anti-tank rounds (HEAT) and guided missiles at a maximum effective range of 7 km. The secondary armaments on the tank is a 12.7mm MG placed on a remote weapon station and a 7.62mm coaxial heavy machine gun next to the main gun. The Fire Control Radar has hunter-killer capabilities, laser rangefinders, roof-mounted panoramic sights, a 3rd-generation stabilized thermal imaging system and a digital gun control system designed to support day and night operations.
The tank is protected with a base armor configuration of composite armor and additional surface ERA armor which greatly increases over all protection. The tank also has the GL5 APS (Active Protection System). This system can detect anti-tank warheads such as ATGMs. Upon detection the system will automatically activate the tank’s soft kill system. VT-4 MBT also comes with the standard defensive grenade launchers, and a laser warning device, an IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system, NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) protection, explosion suppression system, fire extinguishing system, and air conditioning.
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