Pakistan to buy large consignment of Ukrainian tanks
Pakistan may order a large consignment of Ukrainian-produced Oplot tanks, reports Pakistani military-analytic society Defence Pakistan on Twitter.
According to an announcement by the national industrial portal, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Athar Abbas said that Pakistan intends to purchase roughly 100 Oplot tanks.
The agreement regarding the purchase of the Ukrainian Oplot military tank is now in the final stage of testing and evaluation. If it is signed, Pakistan will buy more than a hundred such tanks from the Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv, the ambassador said.
According to him, the defense sector has been one of the primary areas of collaboration between Pakistan and Ukraine.
“This has concerned purchases of heavy equipment and its maintenance, especially Al-Khalid tanks,” the ambassador noted.
“Several months ago an agreement was signed to jointly produce engines for Al-Khalid tanks and military helicopters. All of the production will be done in Pakistani territory,” the ambassador emphasized.
The military collaboration between the two countries began in 1996, when a contract amounting to $600 million was signed to deliver 320 T-80UD tanks produced at the Malyshev Factory to Islamabad.
The successful completion of this contract enabled Ukraine to become one of the 10 largest weapons producers in the world.
Ukraine recently shipped a consignment of five Oplot tanks to Thailand.