Islamabad is considering sending 44 T-80UD tanks to Ukraine. According to sources, there are some conditions. Someone has to pay for these tanks, or as the Ukrainian news outlet Defense Express puts it, “the main condition is financial assistance from Western countries.”
In the field of military production, Ukraine and Pakistan have good relations. Islamabad has been sending humanitarian aid and military supplies to Kyiv since the beginning of the conflict. Official Islamabad, on the other hand, denies that Pakistan supplied weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
Such claims have recently surfaced. Then, according to various sources, Ukraine received 155mm shells, M4A2 projectile charges, M82 pods, and PDM detonators. The delivery was handled by a third party. Poland is said to be that country, but there is no proof.
Pakistan clearly wants to profit from a possible delivery while also avoiding Russia’s wrath. A transfer of this magnitude would legally “wash Islamabad’s hands” of the Kremlin by stating that they are not responsible for the actions of third parties.
There has however been a double standard regarding military supplies since the beginning of the war. When a country wants to deliver Soviet or Russian equipment, it does not seek permission from the producer country, Russia. When Western weapons are to be supplied, the producing country, most often the United States, must first grant permission. In this way, Ukraine is harmed in terms of weapon supply. In other words, Kyiv receives more obsolete Soviet equipment than it requires from Western sources.
The tank’s main armament is a 125 mm smoothbore gun. This enables the T-80UD to use a variety of ammunition, which is essentially a Russian standard. Armor-piercing projectiles with a stabilised rejection fin [APFSDS], high-explosive anti-tank [HEAT] projectiles, and high-explosive fragmentation [HE-FRAG] rounds are among them.
The T-80UD’s armour is made of ceramic and steel materials. It was created in accordance with the standards of the 1990s. In other words, the armour was designed to protect against then-standard anti-tank missile systems, including armor-piercing projectiles.
The tank is powered by a 6-cylinder Ukrainian diesel engine. It has a minimum of 1,000 horsepower. A full tank of fuel gives the tank a range of 560 kilometres. The tank’s top speed is 60 kilometres per hour.
In the late 1990s, Pakistani T-80UD tanks were delivered to Islamabad. Pakistan currently has 320 units of this tank on hand. The tank, like the majority of tanks in service today, is led by a third generation. According to publicly available information, all 320 tanks are operationally ready and in service with the Pakistan Army.
