Reznikov: The Ministry of Defense will order Oplot tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine will be armed with domestic Oplot main battle tanks.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov made the corresponding statement.

During the minister’s visit to the Kharkiv region, the capabilities of the Ukrainian Oplot tank were showcased.

The Ministry of Defense informs that the trip took place jointly with the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Oleksandr Zavitnevych, as well as the head of the Ukroboronprom state concern Yuriy Husev.

The Ministry of Defense also published several photos of the testing of the Oplot tank at one of the training grounds.

“I am convinced that in the tank coalition, the Ukrainian tank, for example, the Oplot, should be in the forefront. There must be an armored fist at the front, because the most important value is the preservation of the lives of our defenders.

For them to be able to protect us, for them to keep their health, they need armored vehicles. I love the cuisine and music of different peoples of the world, but in industry I remain an industrial Ukrainian protectionist. That is why it was decided that the Ministry of Defense would order Oplot tanks from Ukroboronprom for the Ukrainian army,” the Minister said.

The Minister did not give any other details. For security reasons, Ukraine almost does not report on the supply and ordering of new military equipment and weapons, so that the enemy does not know about the new capabilities that Ukrainian forces are acquiring at the front.

It is unknown from the report whether it is planned to involve foreign partners in the production of the Oplot tank. It is worth noting that some of the Ukrainian defense enterprises, which produced components for domestic tanks and other armored vehicles, were destroyed by the Russian invaders during missile strikes or were even temporarily captured and looted.

The Oplot tank is the Ukrainian main battle tank, which was developed by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank is intended for defeating all types of ground targets in conditions of enemy fire resistance.

The performance of a wide range of combat tasks is possible under various climatic, meteorological and road conditions in the range of ambient temperature from -40°С to +55°С, with relative air humidity up to 98% at a temperature of +25°С, at an altitude of up to 3,000 m above sea level sea and air dust that occurs during operation. Today, the only tank operator is the Royal Thai Army, which has 49 units in service, all of which were delivered during 2014-2018 under the 2011 contract.

In August 2021, the Malyshev Factory produced Oplot-2M tank by order of the Ukrspecexport company. It was produced as an exemplary demonstration specimen for demonstrations by a Ukrainian special exporter at international exhibitions and participation in demonstration tests for potential foreign customers.