Kharkiv Armored Plant State Enterprise, which is a part of Ukroboronprom State Concern, is testing the latest modernization of T-64BV tank preformed in 2022. During the overhaul and modernization in the order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the company’s specialists have equipped the tank with new third-generation surveillance and sighting units, anti-accumulation sternward bar armor and rubber shields on the tower. In addition, the fuel system of the combat vehicle has also been improved and additional armored protection of fuel tanks has been installed. This combat vehicle is the main tank of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, being designed to strengthen mechanized units in all types of military combat, break through fortified positions, destroy firing points, hardware and manpower of the enemy personnel, rapid build up of defensive lines.
“T-64BV tank of 2022 model received new up-to-date radio stations to replace the old Soviet ones. Among other, from now on this combat vehicle has navigation, internal and external communication systems which fully meets NATO standards,” Herman Smetanin said, director of the Kharkiv Armored Plant.
In 2010, the Kharkiv Malyshev Factory upgraded ten T-64B tanks (originally produced in Kharkiv in 1980) to T-64BM Bulat standard, and a further nineteen were delivered in 2011. In 2019, UkrOboronProm reported that the Kharkiv Armored Plant (KhBTZ) had delivered over 100 updated tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The upgraded tanks included new thermal imaging for all crew, remove Luna infrared searchlight, include TPN-1-TPV Ukrainian night sight in place of TPN1-49-23, Nizh reactive armour modules designed for bolt-on replacement on T-64BV turrets, SN-4215 networked satellite navigation unit, and Lybid K-2RB digital radio (under licence from Motorola) providing secure communications with a 70 km range. In August 2019, UkrOboronProm announced the Lviv Armored Plant (LBTZ) had also started modernizing T-64s to the 2017 standard.
The T-64 is a Soviet second-generation main battle tank introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while the T-62 supported infantry in motorized rifle divisions. It introduced a number of advanced features including composite armor, a compact engine and transmission, and a smoothbore 125-mm gun equipped with an autoloader to allow the crew to be reduced to three so the tank could be smaller and lighter. In spite of being armed and armored like a heavy tank, the T-64 weighed only 38 tonnes (42 short tons; 37 long tons). These features made the T-64 expensive to build, significantly more so than previous generations of Soviet tanks. This was especially true of the power pack, which was time-consuming to build and cost twice as much as more conventional designs.
