During the parade to celebrate the 30th Independence Day of Ukraine, the first four T-64BM2 main battle tanks belonging to the 92nd Mechanized Brigade were presented.
The prototype of the T-64BM2 vehicle was created in a record time of six months in cooperation with companies belonging to the Ukroboronprom concern, mainly from Kharkiv, Defence 24 reports.
As emphasized by the representatives of the Kharkiv Tank Works, the biggest challenge was the reconstruction of the rear part of the vehicle to replace the 850hp 5TDFM engine and its transmission with a more powerful 1,000hp 6TD-1 power unit. This significantly increases the driving dynamics, but also increases the unification of power units with the T-64BW Krab tanks, which will receive the same engine, and the Opłot-M2, which uses the power unit of the 6TD family with a capacity of 1,200hp. Ultimately, it is planned to use the 6TD engine on all variants of the T-64 tanks operated by the Ukrainian army.
Equally important, but less demanding, was the modernization of the fire control system, and above all the installation of the 1G46 sight, thanks to which the machine gained a thermal imaging option that allows for much more effective operation at night.
At the same time, the T-64BM2 tank can use Kombat guided missiles fired from a 125 mm cannon. The vehicle also received modern Ukrainian communication, navigation and positioning systems, which significantly improves the possibilities of securing data exchange and managing the battlefield.
As emphasized by representatives of the armed forces of Ukraine and the Ukroboronprom group, the four vehicles presented during the parade on August 24, 2021 are part of a full company that is to be put into service soon. Thanks to this, the operation of all systems will be checked in the field, and the results of these tests will be related to the state tests that are currently underway. Works related to the modernization to the T-64BM2 standard will also be used in the Krab program, which aims to develop a basic vehicle based on the T-64BW.
