Pakistan Army Tank Force Modernization

Pakistan army has a large operational main battle tanks fleet of various different tanks however a few years back many of those with in army service (Type 59, Type 69 tanks) were old and obsolete. To remedy this problem Pakistan army had started a large-scale tank replacement program where the Type 59 and Type 69 tanks would be transferred out of Army service into national guard and (Paramilitary) Frontier corps. In place of these the army would procure a new tank after trails and testing, the finalists of which were the Chinese VT-4 and Ukrainian Opilot. In the end the VT-4 won and an order of 300 VT-4 has been placed which will soon be joining the Pakistan army tank corps. This tank will be he most advanced and capable with in South Asia giving Pakistan much needed increase in armored fire power.

However, the army does not plan on stopping there as the modernization plan seeks to completely modernize each section within the army corps. Hence as the VT-4 procurement is taking place the army had also introduced and inducted large number of more capable Al-Khalid-1 tanks which are an upgraded variant of the original Al-Khalid. This new variant comes with many upgrades that overall increase its fire power and protection due to new gun design (Longer more powerful APFSDs rounds), new fire control system and other upgrades. After this batch, the army plans on inducting more over the next few years until Al-Khalid 2 comes which will be an essentially a new tank in its self-due to the stated upgrades such as 1500hp engine, even more potent command and control systems, heavier armor, better ERA etc. Once Al-Khalid 2 arrives production of Al-Khalid 1 will halt but until then this new variant is planned to be inducted in more quantity.

Not wanting to neglect the Type-85 II and T-80UD tanks in active service the army has also rolled out upgrading packages for them. As a result, the Type-85 II has received many upgrades such as replacement of older gun, better fire control systems etc (Mostly focusing upon fire power as armor protection seems to be same). The upgraded tanks are now designed the Type-85UG and have made several appearances in military exercises conducted by the army. On the other hand, the T-80UG in funerary of 2021 Pakistan signed a $85m contract with Ukraine for the upgradation and overhaul of those tanks. The exact upgrade specifications are unknown how ever we can speculate that the main focus will be upon commander and gunner optics and fire control system.

In the end the Pakistan army will soon procure 300 VT-4, unknown additional Al-Khalid 1 and is operating upgraded T-80UD and Type-85UG while retaining Al-Khalid and Al-Zarrar tanks. The Al-Khalid is capable and the Al-Zarrar can hold its own due to massive upgrades within the project. The Pakistan army tank corps will field a formidable tank fleet strategically set up to be able to deal with any Indian aggression maintaining high operational readiness.