New Oplot tank added to Ukrainian army arsenal, says defense minister
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has added the new Oplot tank to the Ukrainian army's arsenal, Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said.
"I signed a decree on [May] 28, and we added a new tank to our arsenal," he said in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Yekhanurov said that the tank is one of the best of its class in technical terms. He said that two tanks of this kind had already been bought for the army. He said that the armored vehicle had been produced by Kharkiv Malyshev Plant and developed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau.
Yekhanurov said that to finance work on the development and purchase of new equipment, including Oplot tanks and Bulat systems, the ministry had already transferred UAH 100 million to their producers.
The Oplot tank is a main battle tank based on the T-84, itself a development of the Soviet T-80 main battle tank.