Ukraine has shipped the fifth batch of new main battle tank Oplot-T, consisting of five tanks built at the facilities of state-owned Malyshev Machine-Building Plant (Kharkiv) under a $240 million contract signed in 2011.

According to reports in Thai social networks, the fifth batch of Oplot tanks recently arrived from Ukraine by sea to the Sattahip Naval Base. According to information of Interfax-Ukraine, the fifth batch of the tanks was loaded on ships in March. The new six batch will be shipped in June.

The Oplot tank was developed by the Kharkiv-based Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau under the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's order. It was introduced into service in May 2009. The Ukrainian army received the first two Oplot battle tanks.

A contract with Thailand was concluded in 2011 to the tune of over $240 million for the supply of 49 Oplot tanks. In April 2012, the Malyshev Machine plant began working on the contract.

The Malyshev plant spent some $30 million to launch serial production of the Oplot. The first five tanks were delivered to Thailand at the start of 2014, four more in December 2015 and 10 more in early 2016. The fourth shipment of Oplot tanks occurred in November 2016.

Completion of the contracted deliveries is scheduled for the fall of 2017.

Following Russian aggression in 2014 Ukraine was compelled to suspend a number of export contracts to supply military hardware. The equipment was instead used in battle operations in eastern Ukraine. Exports were resumed in 2015-2016 by expanding production capacities of Ukraine's government-owned military concern Ukroboronprom.