Kharkov, Ukraine – According to an announcement made by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready to place an order for ten Oplot main battle tanks (MBT), three Atlet Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicles (ARRV) and 10 BTR-4 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC).

This was announced by the Chief of General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Sergey Kirichenko during his visit to the State-owned Enterprise Kharkov Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB).

The task of accepting for service the new vehicles developed by KMDB and commencing purchasing them was given to the Army by the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko. Meanwhile, procurement of the upgraded Bulat MBTs will continue.

While visiting KMDB, General Sergey Kirichenko familiarized himself with the latest Ukrainian-designed armoured vehickes, including the upgraded Oplot MBT, Atlet ARRV, BTR-4 and Dozor-B APCs as well as the simulators for the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle crew.

The upgraded Oplot MBT differs in many aspects from its previous version that was demonstrated during the parade in Kiev in 2001. According to some media reports, this tank is the most protected MBT in the world, as it is immune to all existing and newest-generation anti-tank projectiles (with a slight increase of weight in comparison with the previous version). No detailed information about this tank has been unveiled, but the vehicle seems to be considerably lighter and smaller than any European or American tank. The pictures of the upgraded Oplot show some innovations into its traditional design, including a panoramic sight and remote-controlled anti-aircraft machine gun system positioned next to it (this feature was recently also adopted to the design of the German Leopard MBT and French Leclerc MBT).