KIEV, February 14 (AVN) - Turkey has announced resumption of its tank tender, with only German Leopard-2AS, US Abrams-A1M, French Leclerc and Ukrainian T-84 remaining on the competitor list, Vladimir Vakulenko, deputy chief constructor of the Kharkov-based Morozov design bureau, told the Military News Agency.
According to him, the Ukrainian tank has good chances to win the tender. Among its advantages are the new armour, the up-to-date sighting complex which also takes part in the tender on its own, and the Varga protection system. Special sensors of this device are picking up electric rays produced by the enemy's sights and automatically trigger 'projectors' which suppress them. They can blind both tanks and the infantry's anti-tank weapons.
T-84 is equipped with a 1,200hp diesel engine which is placed in the motor and transmission section, as on T-80UD ('the Pakistani variant'). Another new device is the gear-box which enables the tank to manoeuvre freely and move in reverse gear, as it was demanded by foreign customers. The tank is equipped with the Ukrainian 125-mm cannon, but can also adopt a NATO-compliant 120-mm cannon.
The previous stage of the tender was halted in 1999 after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey. The country's authorities spent an enormous amount on money on relief works and were unable to finance the purchase of new tanks.