The Al Khalid main battle tank is the result of a joint venture between China and Pakistan. It is in service with the Pakistani Army. In 1990, China and Pakistan signed an agreement saying that China would help Pakistan to develop a new main battle tank, which eventually would be produced in Pakistan. Development of …
Category Archives: 21st Century Tanks
Altay Main Battle Tank
The Altay MBT will be Turkey’s first indigenous main battle tank. In 2005, Defense Industries of Turkey (SSM) launched the Altay National Tank Project. Otokar was chosen as the main contractor in 2008, and development of the MBT began in 2009. Otokar is working alongside South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem and its subcontractors Aselsan, MKEK and …
Arjun Main Battle Tank
The Arjun main battle tank was designed to be a replacement for India’s Vijayanta MBT. It was named after Arjuna, a warrior prince in the Mahabharata. Development of the Arjun main battle tank began in 1974. However, delays prevented the first prototype from being finished until 1984, and the tank did not enter production until …
K2 Black Panther Tank
The prototype XK-2 became the K2 Black Panther MBT of South Korea and began service in 2014, a few years later than originally scheduled. The K2 has advanced sensor packages and fire control systems, as well as a built-in inter-tank network that allows for coordinated massive attacks and on-site control of auxiliary unmanned vehicles and …
Type 99 Main Battle Tank
China’s Type 99 main battle tank, also known as the ZTZ99 main battle tank, was designed to be a match for modern western tanks. In the 1990s, China began working on an improved version of the Type 90 main battle tank, which was developed as part of a joint project with Pakistan to create a …
Uran-9 UCGV
Russia’s Uran-9 Robot Tank began development in 2016 after an announcement by Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec State Corporation) at the end of 2015 and first saw active combat during the War in Syria in 2018 and was officially adopted into the Russian Army in January 2019. The Russian Ministry of Defense saw the automated tank as …