(1/24) Today I'd like to talk about the T-84 Oplot.
(2/24) The T-84's story is a rather long and tortuous one that begins with the T-80UD (Object 478B) and the Pakistani order.
(3/24) The Pakistani order brought in much needed cash for the Malyshev factory, and one of the results was a new welded turret developed for the Pakistani T-80UDs (Object 478BE). This turret was made by the Azovstal and Azovmash factories in Mariupol.
btvt.info
btvt.info
(4/24) It's sometimes reported that these turrets use ceramic inserts, but after asking @AndreiBtvt, he confirmed that they only ever used polyurethane cellular filler blocks like the T-80U and T-80UD use.
(5/24) The Object 478 family underwent quite a few changes over the years. Object 478DU1 was the trial T-80UD developed for the Pakistani tender, which eventually entered production as Object 478BE.
(6/24) Most of these were one-off prototypes, but the one that eventually entered service in 2000 was the 478DU9.
(7/24) The 478DU9 actually originally entered service under the name BM Oplot, as referenced in the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution. But some time later, this was changed to T-84, and that name seems to have stuck.
city.kharkiv.ua
city.kharkiv.ua
(8/24) Anyway, what's so special about the T-84 compared to a T-80UD? Well, it can reverse at 32 km/h.
(9/24) The T-84 still uses BKP transmission units, which are also on even Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian tank built since the T-64. So how does it get 32 km/h reverse speed out of these while the T-64/72 can do <5 km/h and the T-80 about 10 km/h?
(10/24) A BKP is actually a combination of two things: a planetary gearbox (PKP) and final drive (BP). To alter the complex PKP is highly non-trivial, so KhKBM decided to modify the much simpler final drive instead.
(11/24) As Chobitok explains, what they simply did was give the final drive another duplicated set of planetary gears. One set works in forward (reductor) movement, the other works in reverse. The reverse gear is limited to 4 speeds (32 km/h) for safety reasons.
(12/24) It is possible, in theory, to apply this modification to any tank using BKPs (T-64s, T-72s, T-80s, etc.), but so far only the T-84 and BM Oplot have it.
dzen.ru
dzen.ru
(13/24) Of course, the T-84 is no slouch going forwards either. Having a 1,200 hp engine helps a lot in that respect.
youtu.be
youtu.be
(13/24) The T-84 was also the first Ukrainian tank to feature network centric-warfare features like a satnav and datalinks.
(14/24) Like the Bulat, it was originally supposed to have a gunner thermal sight (Buran-Catherine), but due to cost-cutting, it was instead stuck with the old Buran-E passive NV sight.
(15/24) They would eventually get thermal sights around 2018. There is no confirmed model, but as with the Bulat, I would suspect it is Trimen's TPN-4 MBT.
(16/24) They would also get 3rd gen NV for the commander, new L3Harris radios and SN-4215 Bazalt satnavs like other Ukrainian tanks getting modernised at the same time.
(17/24) Accordingly, these modernised tanks have sometimes been called T-84U. However, I don't know if it's an official name.
(18/24) The T-80UDs sold to Pakistan featured Kontakt-5. However, NII Stali, as the patent holder for Kontakt-5, demanded $55 million in licensing fees (about 10% of the Pakistani contract value). This was the impetus that led to the development of Nizh ERA.
(19/24) (The Ukrainian govt. would later annul NII Stali's patent in Ukraine, so today Ukraine makes its own Kontakt-5 4S22U and Kontakt-1 4S20U elements, but that's another story...)
old-defence--ua-com.translate.goog
old-defence--ua-com.translate.goog
(20/24) The T-84 would be the first Ukrainian tank to use Nizh. I don't know how effective it is on the T-84, since it was never deployed in the Donbas War and there is not enough info from the ongoing invasion. It seems to work, based on this video.
youtube.com
youtube.com
(21/24) There are only 6 T-84s in Ukraine at this time. One ('Murchyk') is with the 3rd Tank Brigade. The other 5 are most likely with the 14th Mechanised Brigade.
youtube.com
youtube.com
(22/24) 14 Mech. received theirs for the 2018 NATO SETC, where they encountered serious problems with the autoloader, fire control system, as well as other systems. I'd hope they've fixed them by now.
novynarnia-com.translate.goog
novynarnia-com.translate.goog
(23/24) The other country with T-84s is...the US, who bought four 'T-80UDs' in 2004, mostly for testing. I don't know if the US has any plans to send them back to help the Ukrainians.
(24/24) Overall, I think the T-84's an interesting vehicle. There almost certainly aren't enough of them to make a real difference in the war, but the crews lucky enough to drive them seem to appreciate it.
youtube.com
youtube.com
Loading suggestions...