Features of Al-Zarrar Main Battle Tank of

Pakistan Army
 Admin PSF

2 years ago

Al-Zarrar Main Battle Tank of Pakistan Army

Type: Main Battle Tank.

Designed: 1990.

Built Upon: Type 59 tank.

Designer: Heavy Industries Taxila.

Number built: 700.

Operator: Pakistan Army.

Weight: 44 tons.

Length: 31.17 ft.

Width: 10.83 ft.

Height: 8.20 ft.

Crew: 4 crew members.

Caliber: 125 mm smoothbore.

Armor: Modular composite armor over hardened steel body and Explosive

reactive armor.

Main armament: 125mm smoothbore ammunition.

Secondary armament: 12.7 mm external machine gun / 7.62 mm coaxial

machine gun.

Defense: 8x smoke/flare grade dischargers.

Engine: 1xKMDB 12-cylinder liquid cooled diesel 730 HP/

Suspension: High-hardness-steel torsion bar.

Operational range: 450 km.

Speed: 65 km/h.

NBC protection: Shielded.

Optics: Thermal Imaging (G) / Passive IR (D, C) / Image Intensification (G, C).

The Al-Zarrar is a second-generation main battle tank (MBT), currently in the

services of the Pakistan Army. The tank is named Al-Zarrar, which means “main
striker” in Arabic and Persian languages.

Developed with Ukrainian assistance and manufactured by the Heavy Industries

Taxila (HIT) the Al-Zarrar features a 125 mm smoothbore gun as its primary
weapon. The tank can achieve a maximum speed of 65 km (40 mi) per hour,
weighs around 44 tons and has a four-man crew: commander, gunner, loader,
and driver.
Al-Zarrar Main Battle Tank of Pakistan Army
History

The Pakistani military have long been users of the Chinese ZTZ-59 tank, being
aware that the ZTZ-59s were obsolete against modern tanks and not keeping
up with Indian tanks a replacement program is needed. There were, however,
too many of ZTZ-59 to simply scrap away. So in early 1990s Pakistan military
got together with a few foreign armament firms in a bid to modernize their ZTZ-
59s enough to be able to face against more modern enemy tanks and have a
good probability chance to come out on the winning end of a fight. It would
essentially give the Pakistan Army a modern tank at a fraction of the cost
(though the upgrade program ended up costing more than originally thought).
The development program started in 1990 and now around 500 of Pakistan’s
ZTZ-59s have been upgraded to the Al-Zarrar standard. Virtually every area of
the Type 59 is upgraded enough so that the Al-Zarrar is now essentially a new
tank in an old tank’s skeleton. Improvements have been made to the key areas
of armor protection, firepower, fire control, suspension, and mobility.

Armament and Firepower

Al-Zarrar’s primary armament is a 125 mm smoothbore tank gun with an
autofrettaged, chrome-plated gun barrel coupled with a modern fire control
system built in Pakistan with the assistance of Krauss-Maffei of Germany. It is
capable of firing APFSDS, HEAT-FS and HE-FS rounds as well as anti-tank
guided missiles.

The Auto loaded main gun is fully stabilized (dual-axis stabilization system) with
thermal imaging for the gunner that is accessible to the commander. The main
gun also has a laser rangefinder, a ballistic computer, and a monitor to help the
gunner search for targets and give him information about targets and the state
of the main gun and its ranging components. The gunner’s hatch has vision
blocks around it that give 180-degree vision (front, rear, and right side).

The commander has, in addition to thermal imager access (Thermal imager of

gunner), his own IR vision and an image intensifier. The driver, on the front
right side, has vision blocks that allow frontal vision and vision to both sides;
one of these vision blocks can be removed and replaced by an IR vision block.
The commander has an NSVT machinegun mounted on his cupola; this machine
gun can be aimed and fired from under armor The overall secondary armament
consists of an external 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on the roof of the turret
and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun.

Mobility and Speed

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 44 tons gives Al-Zarrar a power-to-weight ratio of
18.3 hp/ton and a top speed of 65 km/h. Crew comfort is improved over by a
modified torsion bar suspension system. The transmission of the older ZTZ-59
was upgraded for the new engine and is semi-automatic. The suspension is
improved with wider tracks, improved road wheels and drive sprockets, and
better shock absorption through a modified torsion bar system. Though the Al-
Zarrar retains the ability to mount reserve tanks at the rear, in practice, they
are considered a combat hazard and are normally either not carried or
jettisoned before battle.

Protection and Defense Systems

Al-Zarrar uses modular composite armor (Placed over the older Hardened steel
armor) and explosive reactive armor to give improved protection from anti-tank
missiles, Anti-tank mines and other weapons.

The Al-Zarrar was originally to use a large amount of appliqué armor, but this
was replaced in development with a modular armor suite, including new
composite armor on sides, turret, and front. The floor armor has been
dramatically increased as well. Lugs for ERA are found on the glacis, hull sides,
turret front, turret sides, and the forward part of the turret roof. A Pakistani-
designed laser threat warning system is also fitted; this lets the crew know if
they are being targeted by laser designators and automatically fires smoke
grenades to block the laser designation beam; 5 smoke grenade launchers are
found on each side of the turret. Both the ammo bins and the crew
compartments have automatic explosion and fire suppression systems. NBC
protection sub-systems are also installed to improve crew survivability. The
floor armor of the Al-Zarrar is AV-8.

Read our article: Salient Features of Pakistan Army’s VT-4 MBT.

URL: https://pakstrategic.com/2020/09/23/salient-features-of-pakistan-
armys-vt-4-mbt/
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Salient Features of Pakistan Army’s VT-4

MBT
 Admin PSF

2 years ago
 Salient Features of Pakistan Army’s VT-4 MBT

As Pakistan army prepares to induct 300+ VT-4 Main Battle Tanks, it is

important to be aware regarding a few of its characteristics that will make
them the most capable tanks in Pakistan’s arsenal

1500 HP Engine: As per special requirements stated by Pakistan ministry of

defense, Pakistani VT-4 comes fitted with a powerful 1500 horsepower engine
instead of the 1300 Hp engine on standard VT-4 models. This gives the
Pakistani version great maneuverability, speed and increases operational
range.

FY-4 ERA: Another special requirement set by the ministry of defense on

account for more protection is the newer ERA model that Pakistani VT-4
comes fitted with, the FY-4. Unlike the standard FY-II, the Pakistani VT-4
offers superior and greater protection against multiple types of threats such as
APFSDS, HEAT, tandem AT projectiles etc.

Commanders Thermal Sight: The VT-4 solves a big issue that plagued the
Al-Khalid by allocating a separate thermal sight for the commander as
opposed to on the Al-Khalid where the commander has to borrow the gunners
thermal sight for spotting targets. Due to this the Commander can freely scan
the area while the gunner works uninterrupted increasing over all fighting
efficiency.

Remote Weapon Station: The VT-4 comes equipped with a roof mounted

remote weapon station armed with a 12.7mm machine gun. This means that
the commander can freely and accurately use the MG against low flying aerial
targets and soft ground targets without being exposed to any danger.

GL-5 APS: Sources state that the VT-4 comes equipped with a GL-5 active
protection system, however the hard kill component is yet to be seen on a
public VT-4 image. This could mean that VT-4 comes equipped with the
sensor and detection components of GL-5 which would help increase the tanks
threat awareness and better integrate soft kill defenses.

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Categories: Armour, Land

Tags: China, Pakistan, Pakistan Army, VT-4 MBT

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