Al-Khalid main battle tank (MBT-2000) Tank "Al-Khalid" was created on the basis of the Chinese tank type 90-2. This tank was created almost entirely, except for the engine, at the production facilities of Pakistan. The engine is a copy of the Ukrainian 6TD-2 diesel engine with a capacity of 1200 horsepower. This engine is used in the Ukrainian T-80/84 tanks. The advantage of this tank is a much lower silhouette compared to other modern tanks, with a maximum weight of 48 tons. The crew of the tank consists of three people. The Al-Khalid tank is equipped with a 125 mm smoothbore gun that can also launch missiles. A unique feature of the Al-Khalid tank is that it is equipped with an automatic Tracker system. It also has the ability to track and hold more than one target that is on the move. The tank can operate fully functional, even at night with the help of thermal guidance systems. The maximum speed of the tank is up to 65 km/h. Pakistan began developing its first fully tank in 1988, and in January 1990, an agreement was reached with China on the joint design, development and manufacture of armored vehicles. The design is derived from the Chinese type 90-2 tank, work has been going on with the Chinese company NORINCO and Pakistani HEAVY INDUSTRIES for several years. The initial prototypes of the tank were made in China and sent for testing in August 1991. Production was deployed in Pakistan at the plant in Taxila. Since then, the main efforts have been directed to improving the design of the tank for the territory of Pakistan and adapting the engine to high temperatures. Tank engine type 90-2 replaced by Ukrainian 6TD-2 with 1200 hp. Ukraine is a key partner in the production of the Al-Khalid tank, which is a joint venture between China, Pakistan and Ukraine. Ukraine is also assisting Pakistan in upgrading the T-59 Al-Zarar tanks to the level of T-80UD tanks. In February 2002, Ukraine announced that the Malyshev plant would provide another batch of 315 engines for Al-Khalid tanks within three years. The estimated cost of the contract was 125-150 million US dollars. Ukraine has one of the most reliable tank engines operating in hot climates. At one time, Ukraine and Russia, as two great tank powers, adopted two different ways of developing tank engines. Ukrainian designers chose diesel as the main direction of development, and Russian tank builders chose gas turbines, like many other countries. Now, according to the chief designer of the armored forces of Ukraine, Mikhail Borisyuk, when countries with a hot climate have become the main buyers of armored vehicles, the stability of the engines at an ambient temperature above 50 degrees has become one of the key factors ensuring the reliability of tanks. Under extreme hot climate conditions, gas turbine engines are outperformed by diesel engines, they had serious problems during tests in India, and they began to experience failures in stable operation. Diesel, on the contrary, showed high reliability. At Heavy Industries, production of the Al-Khalid tank began in November 2000. As of early 2002, the Pakistani army had about twenty Al-Khalid tanks in operation. She received her first batch of 15 Al-Khalid tanks in July 2001. Pakistani army officials report that they hope to produce a total of more than 300 tanks in 2005. Pakistan plans to equip its armored units with 300 more Al-Khalid tanks in 2007. Pakistan plans to build a total of 600 Al-Khalid tanks in mainly to counter Indian Arjun tanks and T-90 tanks purchased by India from Russia. The development of this tank continues, while changes are being made to the fire control and communications system. In April 2002, at the ongoing DSA-2002-International Arms Show, a military and government commission of officials from Malaysia examined the Al-Khalid tank, and showed their interest in buying it from Pakistan. The UAE expressed interest in 2003 in purchasing Pakistani military equipment, including the Al-Khalid tank as its main battle tank. In June 2003, Bangladesh also became interested in the tank. In March 2006, Jane's Defense Weekly reported that Saudi Arabia plans to evaluate the combat performance of the Al-Khalid tank in April 2006. Pakistani defense officials said the Saudi government may be interested in purchasing up to 150 Al-Khalid tanks for $600 million. The performance characteristics of the main battle tank "Al Khalid" Combat weight, т 48 Crew, people 3 Dimensions, mm: length 6900 width 3400 height 2300 clearance 470 Armor, mm   combined Armament:   125 mm smoothbore 2A46 gun, 7,62 mm Type 86 machine gun, 12,7 mm W-85 anti-aircraft machine gun Ammunition:   (22 + 17) shots, 2000 rounds caliber 7,62 mm, 500 rounds of caliber 12,7 mm Engine diesel: 6TD-2 or 6TD, 1200 hp or 1000 hp Specific ground pressure, kg / cm 0,9 Highway speed km / h 62 Cruising on the highway km 400 Obstacle obstacles: wall height, mm 850 ditch width, mm 3000 ship depth, м 1,4 (with OPVT - 5) Sources: G.L. Kholyavsky "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Tanks 1915 - 2000"; Christopher F. Foss. Jane's Handbooks. Tanks and combat vehicles”; Philip Truitt. “Tanks and self-propelled guns; Christoper Chant “World Encyclopedia of the Tank”.