The delivery of the 49 Oplot-Ts (Oplot-Ms with tropical-grade air conditioning and Western comms) to Thailand finally concluded in 2018, many years behind schedule and leaving Ukraine with just one demonstrator model. This attracted an export order from Thailand, which sought to replace M41A3 Bulldog light tanks in four cavalry battalions.Īssembly of a T-84u Oplot-M turret in the Malyshev factory in 2017 for delivery to Thailand. In 2009, the Kharkiv factory unveiled a major modernization called the Oplot-M (detailed below). However, financial problems led to resale of four Oplots to the United States for study and training purposes. These were delivered by 2003 and initially entered service with Ukraine’s 92 nd Mechanized Brigade.
Thus Ukraine procured just 10 T-84Us in 1999, likely hoping the micro-order would encourage exports. In the 1990s and 2000s, however, Ukraine was strapped for cash, sitting on a huge pile of retired Soviet tanks in storage, and didn’t expect to be invaded by Russia. Some ammunition in the turret was moved to rear storage compartments to improve crew survivability. It could also reverse many times faster than Soviet tanks at around 20 miles per hour. The uprated 1,200-horsepower 6TD-2 diesel engine allowed the 46-ton T-84U to achieve speeds of 43 miles per hour, 16% faster than Soviet-era T-72s despite not using a gas-turbine.
It was followed by the T-84U Oplot, which added passive thermal night sights and an auxiliary power unit. This began in 1993 with the plain-old T-84 with a new all-welded (instead of cast) turret and more powerful engine. In the 1990s, after Ukrainian independence separated KMDB from Russia’s tank industry, Ukraine began developing ‘Ukrain-ized’ T-80UDs. Pakistan operates 320 T-80UDs imported from Ukraine. T-80UD Bereza at Verkhnyaya Pyshma tank museum in 2022.
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