Al-Zarrar Tank Of Pakistan Army

Al-Zarrar Tank Of Pakistan Army
During a Demonstrtion

The Al-Zarrar is a modern main battle tank (MBT) developed and manufactured by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) of Pakistan for the Pakistan Army. The KMDB design bureau of Ukraine also took part in the development project. A re-built, upgraded variant of the Chinese Type 59 tank, Al-Zarrar is supposed to be a cost-effective replacement for the Type 59 fleet of the Pakistan Army. Equipped with modern armament, fire control and ballistic protection, the Al-Zarrar upgrade is also offered by HIT to the armies of foreign countries to upgrade their T-54/T-55 or Type 59 tanks to Al-Zarrar standard. 54 modifications made to the Type 59 make the Al-Zarrar effectively a new tank. The Al-Zarrar development program started in 1990 and the first batch of 80 upgraded tanks were delivered to the Pakistan Army on 26 February 2004.

History :-

It was decided by the Pakistan Army that their inventory of Chinese origin Type 59 tanks was too large to be discarded and replaced, so a phased upgrade program was started by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) in 1990. The idea was to upgrade the firepower, mobility and protection of the Type 59 to allow it to compete on the modern battlefield at a fraction of the cost of a modern main battle tank (MBT). The first phase of the upgrade program was completed in 1997. The second phase started in 1998 when HIT began development and testing of a new tank, a Type 59 re-built with over 50 modifications, resulting in three prototypes with slightly differing specifications (different fire-control systems, for example). Many systems originally developed for HIT's Al-Khalid MBT were incorporated. The prototypes underwent extensive testing by HIT and the Pakistan Army, who selected the final version of the tank, dubbed Al-Zarrar. HIT began full production of Al-Zarrar during May 2003 under a renowned Project Manager Mahmood Khan.

Design Specifications Of Al Zarrar Tank :-

Armament And Fire Control :-

Al-Zarrar's primary armament is a 125 mm smoothbore tank gun with an autofrettaged, chrome-plated gun barrel. It is capable of firing APFSDS, HEAT-FS and HE-FS rounds as well as anti-tank guided missiles and a Pakistani DU (depleted uranium) round, the 125 mm Naiza. Naiza is capable of penetrating 550 mm of RHA armour at a distance of 2 km. Reloaded by a semi-automatic auto loader, the gun has a dual-axis stabilization system and thermal imaging sights for the commander and gunner. Integrated into the fire-control system. The image stabilized fire-control system includes a laser range-finder for accurate range information and ballistics computer to improve accuracy. An improved gun control system is also fitted. The secondary armament consists of an external 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the roof of the turret, which can be aimed and fired from inside the tank, and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun.

Al-Zarrar MBTs Of The Pakistan Army's
27th Cavalry Regiment Stationed At Kharian.

Mobility and Protection :-

The Al-Zarrar is powered by a liquid-cooled 12-cylinder diesel engine, giving a power output of 730 hp (540 kW) and torque output of 305 kg.m at 1300–1400 rpm. A combat weight of 40 tonnes gives Al-Zarrar a power-to-weight ratio of 18.3 hp/tonne and a top speed of 65 km/h. Crew comfort is improved over the Type 59 by a modified torsion bar suspension system.

Al-Zarrar uses modular composite armor and explosive reactive armor to give improved protection from anti-tank missiles, mines and other weapons. The Pakistani ATCOP LTS-1 laser threat warning system is fitted to inform the tank crew if the tank is targeted by a laser range-finder or laser designator. Smoke grenade launchers are fitted to the sides of the turret. An automatic fire-extinguishing and explosion suppression system is installed to improve crew survivability.

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Powerful Weapon Of Pakistan Army | The Al-Khalid Tank (MBT)

Operated by a crew of three and armed with a 125 mm smooth-bore tank gun that is reloaded automatically, the tank uses a modern fire-control system (FCS) integrated with night time warfare equipment and is capable of firing many types of anti-tank rounds, normal explosive, high explosive as well as guided anti-tank missiles. Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank is named after the 7th-century Great Muslim General and Strategist Khalid Bin Waleed Razi Allahu Ta’ala Anhu.
Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank is the combination of technologies from old Chinese and Soviet tanks, the main feature of the composite design is that it is much smaller and lighter than most of the modern western and NATO tanks. Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank is based n Chinese type 90-II which was also a great combination of modern and old tanks of Russia and western tanks used by Americans and NATO forces. The most important feature of Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank design is that it is adaptable for manufacturing, so that it is very easy to combine it modern western technologies like engines, suspensions, transmissions and armament. The main variant of production of these tanks uses a diesel engine and a very high tech transmission supplied by KMBD Design of Ukraine. The first batch of ready for battle tanks were inducted in Pakistan army in year 2001. The actual numbers of tanks currently in service are classified as it is a matter of national security for both Pakistan and Muslim world. It is a general practice of militaries all around the world to not to reveal their operational capacities and number of troops and vehicles used under their command.

Armaments of Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank :-
Al-Khalid main gun is designed with a 125 mm (length: 48 calibers) smoothbore, auto-frettaged and chrome-plated gun barrel which can easily fire the following types of conventional ammunition and rounds.

• APFSDS
• HEAT-FS
• HE-FS.

Al-Khalid Main Battle Tanks are also capable of carrying and firing Gun launched, laser guided anti tank guide missiles.
The gun is a modified variant of KBA-3 series of 125 mm smooth bore gun for Al-Khalid MBT which provided compatibility with Ukrainian ATGMs such as Kombat. Gun-launched, laser-guided anti-tank guided missiles can also be launched.
Al Khalid also fires some Pakistani made ammunition. It fires Pakistani made du rounds named Naiza 125mm (amour penetration rounds: 550 mm In RHA at 2 Kilometers). It is also equipped with state of the art muzzle reference system and dual-axis stabilization system. Elevation and azimuthal control is provided by electro-hydraulic power drives. The automatic ammunition handling and firing system for the main gun has a total capacity of 24 rounds ready to fire magazine. The firing rate of this tank is very high. The firing rate is approximately eight rounds per minute.

Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank is equipped with a modern 7.62mm-coaxil machine gun. It is also capable of externally mounting different air defense guns that can be aimed and fired automatically from within the tank. It also has capability to launch smoke screens to avoid laser targeting from enemy tanks and enemy aircrafts. There are separate smoke grenade launchers.
The gunner is provided with a dual-magnification day sight and the commander with a panoramic sight for all-around independent surveillance. Both sights are dual-axis image stabilized and have independent laser range-finders. Al-Khalid Main Battle Tanks also has the hunter killer capability. It means that the commander of the tank can identify and acquire new targets while the gunner is engaging another target and destroying them.
There is also a state of the art automatic target identifying, tracking and locking system. This system help commander and gunner of al Khalid tank to accurately fire on moving targets even if their tank is also moving. Special night time warfare optics are also installed separately both for commander and gunner. Night vision warfare capability for the gunner and commander is provided through a dual-magnification thermal imaging sight. Both sights are also integrated with the fire-control system.
The fire control system is that of western origin which is installed in al Khalid tank. The ballistic computation time is less than one second.

• Effective range: 200 to 7,000 meters ( 2 to 8 Kilometers ).
• Sensor: laser ranging from 200 to 9,990 meters (200 Meters To 9.99 Kilometers).
• French Auto-tracking, interfaced with gunner station, firing four types of munitions, gunner's thermal imaging sight, commander's image intensification night vision sight, gyro-stabilized and UPS power supply system.

Protection
Al Khalid has many types of sensors and amour attached to it. Different types of amour are reactive armour, nuclear, biological, chemical defense amour. A very effective thermal smoke generator. It also has an internal fire extinguisher and explosion suppression system. The infrared signature of the tank is reduced using a special type of paint specifically developed for this purpose. Al Khalid tank is also equipped with newly developed indigenous explosive reactive amour. Which is very light weight and also more resistant to different type of anti tank ammunition including APFSDS, HEAT and HE-FS rounds.

These are some of the main specifications of the al Khalid tank inducted in 2001 in Pakistan army. Pakistani engineers are constantly working to improve it further to increase its capabilities. In general al Khalid tank is definitely a force multiplier for Pakistani armed forces to protect our ideological and geographical borders.

The Al-Khalid Tank (MBT)