Armenia and Russia have started the works of modernizing dozens of Armenian T-72 battle tanks as part of a joint program. As the Russian Izvestia newspaper writes today the upgrades will make the tanks analogous to the more advanced T-72Б4 tanks that have been used during the recent tank biathlon. The paper quotes Armenian Defense ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan saying the modernization works have launched and no deadlines are set yet for completion of the works.
The paper reminds of the previous reports that Armenia considered signing an agreement with a Polish defense company Bumar Łabędy for modernizing the tanks.
According to the source, the main upgrades will take place in Armenia, which will allow the Armenian side to modernize more tanks at a lower cost. The tanks will be equipped with more powerful engines amounting to 1130 horsepower without any resource over cost, which was possible due to the improvement of the cooling system.
Apart from that, Т-72Б4 has specially designed caterpillar tracks, which has improved the tank maneuvering. Furthermore, B4 version has a modern multichannel ”Сосна-У” sight to improve its operation at night.
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“If we compare Т-72Б4 and T-90”, then the biathlon version is given a preference due to its powerful engine, mobility and relatively light weight. The biathlon version has a more efficient fire-control system equipped with improved night vision devices,” the newspaper quotes independent Russian expert Aleksey Khlopotov, as saying.
The source also recalls that ArmHiTec -2016 First International Exhibition of Arms and Defense Technologies was held in Yerevan days ago where Т-72Б4 tanks presented by “Uralvagonzavod” were exhibited with remotely controlled main gun, which makes it possible to install those mechanisms on T-72 as well.
