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06.06.2002 18:50:41
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МБТ-2000 Аль-Халид
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MBT 2000 (Al-Khalid)
Development
On 1 October 1988, it was announced that Pakistan would manufacture a new MBT (MBT 2000) with the assistance of the People's Republic of China and with the now Heavy Industries Taxila in Pakistan carrying out the programme.
The project was approved by the Defence Committee of the Cabinet on 16 January 1990 and the contract with China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) was signed in May 1990.
Rather than build a new MBT from scratch, Pakistan elected a four-phased approach:
Upgrade the existing Type 59 MBT. Details of the three phase Type 59 MBT upgrade are given in the following entry.
Assembly/manufacture of the Type 69-II MBT; this has 50 per cent of its components from the Type 59 and 50 per cent new components. Production of Type 69-II hulls commenced in Pakistan in 1993 with the turrets still coming from China. The Pakistan designation is the Type 69-IIMP with the engine developing 580 hp. Details of the Type 69 are given under China
Co-production and manufacture of the Type 85 MBT; this has 20 per cent components from the Type 59, 30 per cent components from the Type 69-II MBT and 50 per cent new components. Co-production of the Type 85 has now commenced and a batch of these vehicles has already been supplied from China. In Pakistan service these are designated the Type 85-IIAP. Details of the Type 85 are given under China
Production of the MBT 2000 with 45 per cent of its components taken from existing vehicles (10 per cent Type 59, 15 per cent Type 69-II and 20 per cent Type 85) and 55 per cent new components.
The Heavy Industries Taxila, also known as P-711, has been established and running for some time. It was then decided to build additional facilities for specific components:
P-882
All types of AFV hull
P-883
All types of turret
P-884
All types of engine from 520 to 1,500 hp
P-885
Progressive manufacture of guns from 105 to 203 mm
P-886
Flexible machining centre
The first prototype of MBT 2000, which is also referred to as the Al-Khalid or P-90, was completed on schedule in June 1991, with trials being carried out in 1992.
It is expected that initially 65 to 70 per cent of the key components will be made in Pakistan, 20 to 25 per cent will be supplied by China and the remainder will come from other countries.
During the development phase of the Al Khalid a number of prototypes of the vehicle were built and tested in various configurations:
Configuration 1 was based entirely on the Chinese systems viz the Chinese 125 mm smoothbore gun and automatic loader, fire-control system, gun-control system and diesel power pack. The latter comprises a 1,200 hp diesel engine manufactured in China and based on the MTU 396 series engine manufactured under licence from MTU of Germany coupled to a Renk LSG 3000 automatic transmission.
Configuration 2 used a Chinese 125 mm smooth bore gun and automatic loader, fire-control system and gun-control equipment with a Western power pack consisting of a British Perkins Engine Company 1,200 hp Condor diesel coupled to a French SESM-500 automatic transmission.
Configuration 3 was based on a 1,200 hp power pack, 125 mm smoothbore gun and automatic loading system from Ukraine with the fire-control system and gun-control system being of East European design.
Configuration 4 would have been based on Western armament and power pack with the latter consisting of an MTU 871 or General Dynamics Land Systems AVDS-1790 series diesel engine coupled to a Renk LSG 3000 automatic transmission. This option did not materialise owing to difficulties in the acquisition of these systems due to trade embargoes.
During the planning stage, a thorough technical evaluation of hydrogas suspension and a Renk 304 automatic transmission was carried out. In the end these were not considered to be feasible due to problems associated with maintainability, reliability and other limitations.
Due to high ambient temperatures and dust in areas where the Al Khalid MBT was due to operate, special emphasis was placed on the design and installation of high-capacity cooling and efficient air clearing systems.
Trials with the prototype Al Khalid MBT have been undertaken in ambient temperatures of up to 55єC and with very fine sand/dust particles.
According to the prime contractor, the users and technical experts were fully satisfied with the trials conducted in the summer of 1998 in the southern deserts of Pakistan and subsequently in different regions of the country presenting different terrain environments.
Late in 2000 it was stated that a preproduction batch of 15 Al Khalid MBTs would be built to enable trials to be undertaken at squadron level before volume production starts. The first of these 15 pre-production Al Khalid MBTs was handed over to the Pakistan Army for extensive trials in July 2001 and all have now been delivered.
The Heavy Industries Taxila facility has successfully undertaken manufacture of Chinese Type 69-II and Type 85II AP MBTs and the US M113 series APC.
It is understood that a major upgrading and rearranging of production lines has been under way at the HIT for several years to allow for production of the new Al Khalid.
This also includes the establishment of CNC machining centres for precision machining of the hull, turret and other critical parts to undertake production of the Al Khalid.
Pakistan is also understood to have been making simultaneous efforts towards the development of special armour for use in tank production. The HIT has been successful is developing special steel for tank guns and composite armour materials for use during series production.
During successive trials, armour protection of the hull and turret of the tank have been tested through live firing which defeated all types of 120 and 125 mm tank projectiles and selected other tank ammunition.
Description
The layout of the MBT 2000 is conventional, with the driver's compartment at the front, turret in the centre and the power pack at the rear. In many respects the MBT 2000 appears to be almost identical to the Chinese NORINCO Type 90-II MBT.
The turret and hull are of all-welded steel armour construction and an additional layer of composite armour has been added over the frontal arc, to which explosive reactive armour can be added if required. Turret thickness at the front is estimated to be 600 mm with the glacis/nose estimated to be 450 to 470 mm.
The armour is of modular design enabling the user to change the damaged modules or replace the existing models with new armour packages as the threat evolves or as new technology becomes available.
Main armament is a 125 mm smoothbore gun fitted with a thermal sleeve and a fume extractor. The 125 mm gun is autofrettaged and chrome plated. This can fire APFSDS (muzzle velocity 1,760 m/s), HEAT (muzzle velocity 850 m/s) and HE-FRAG (muzzle velocity 950 m/s). It can also fire a laser guided projectile fitted with a HEAT warhead. The gun is fed by an automatic loader enabling the crew to be reduced to three - commander, gunner and driver.
A 7.62 mm machine gun is mounted coaxially with the main armament and a 12.7 mm machine gun is mounted on the roof for anti-aircraft and local defence. Mounted either side of the turret, towards the rear, is a bank of four electrically operated forward-firing smoke grenade dischargers. A turret basket is provided at the rear.
The computerised fire-control system includes a bi-axis stabilised dual magnification gunners sight, bi-axis stabilised commanders sight with hunter killer capability, computer, commander's control panel, laser range-finder, crosswind sensor, tilt sensor and angle velocity sensor. This allows the MBT 2000 to engage moving targets under day and night conditions.
The gunner's integrated biaxis stabilised sight incorporates day/night channels, thermal imager and a laser range-finder. It has dual magnification of Ч3 and Ч10 and two fields of view, 20єand 6є.
The commander's roof-mounted panoramic sight is also biaxis stabilised and has day, second-generation image intensification and a laser range-finder. The sight has a magnification of Ч7.5 and a 7.5є field of view.
The laser range-finder has a range of 200 to 5,000 m and interfaced with the gunner's sight is an auto tracker.
The complete power pack, which consists of the engine, transmission and cooling system, can be removed from the vehicle in 30 minutes to facilitate field replacement.
Suspension is of the torsion bar type with six large dual rubber-tyred roadwheels either side, idler at the front, drive sprocket at the rear and track-return rollers. The upper part of the suspension is covered by a track skirt with a wavy lower part.
Variants
There are no known variants of the MBT 2000.
Specifications
Crew: 3
Combat weight: 46,000 kg
Power-to-weight ratio: 26.08 hp/t
Length: 6.9 m
Width: 3.4 m
Height: 2.3 m
Max road speed: 70 km/h
Acceleration: 0 to 32 km/h: 10 s
Range (road): 400 km
Vertical obstacle: 0.85 m
Trench: 2.7 m
Gradient: 60%
Side slope: 40%
Engine: 8-cylinder, 4-stroke, water-cooled, turbocharged diesel developing 1,200 hp
Transmission: semi-automatic hydromechanical power shift with 4 forward and 2 reverse gears
Suspension: torsion bars, shock-absorbers and hydraulic bump stops
Armament:
(main) 1 Ч 125 mm smoothbore gun
(coaxial) 1 Ч 7.62 mm MG
(anti-aircraft) 1 Ч 12.7 mm MG
(smoke grenade dischargers) 2 Ч 4
Ammunition:
(125 mm) 39 (22 in automatic loader)
(12.7 mm) 500
(7.62 mm) 2,000
(grenades) 16 (12 smoke, 4 HE)
Gun control equipment
Turret power control: powered/manual
(by commander) yes
(by gunner) yes
Gun stabiliser:
(vertical) yes
(horizontal) yes
Range setting device: yes (laser)
NBC system: yes
Night vision equipment: yes
Status
Entering production for the Pakistan Army who have placed a contract for the first batch of 15 preproduction vehicles which have now been delivered.
Manufacturer
Heavy Industries Taxila.
Chinese supplied Type 85-IIAP MBT showing roof-mounted 12.7 mm AA MG
Chinese supplied Type 85-IIAP MBT (Christopher F Foss)
(2001)
MBT 2000 (Al-Khalid) MBT which is very similar to the Chinese Type 90-II MBT and is shown here fitted with explosive reactive armour to its turret and chassis (HIT)
(2000)
First preproduction MBT 2000 (Al Khalid) MBT was handed over to the Pakistan Army in 2001 and is now undergoing extensive trials
(2002)
С уважением, Venik