T-64BM Bulat (tank) - the last upgrade of the T-64
The history of Soviet tank building knows a lotcases, when machines released a few dozen years ago, still continue to be quite relevant in the modern battlefield. Not without modernization, of course. One of such examples is "Bulat". This tank is produced by the Kharkov plant and represents the modernization of the old T-64A.
Predecessor
History of T-64A
It is fair to say thatoriginally the idea of the appearance of a similar machine arose in the designers back in 1946. This idea was prompted by the work begun on the creation of a fundamentally different diesel engine (with which the USSR always had a problem). Soon famous in narrow circles of KB number 75 completed its creation. Almost immediately, work began on the tank itself, which for a long time was code-named "Object 430".
Post-Soviet history
Sixty quarters started production at the plantnamed after Malyshev since 1963 (Kharkov Tank Plant). The release lasted a quarter of a century, and during this time, about 5.5 thousand of these machines, which were advanced for their time, were brought down from the conveyor.
Immediately after the collapse of the USSR, the Kharkov tankthe plant was quickly adjusted to the hands of independent Ukraine (along with all the equipment already paid for). It is not surprising that the "foreign" T-64 quickly ceased to be of interest to the Ministry of Defense, and therefore the tanks that remained in Russia quickly "retrained" into training cars where the cadets practiced the most unimaginable exercises, simply spending their resources.
Since the whole project base was on handspecialists from Ukraine, they nevertheless decided not to completely destroy the enterprise. It was decided to start the modernization of the old equipment with the installation of relatively new weapons, surveillance devices and others. Under the T-64E brand, the car is now actively (albeit in small batches) delivered to states like South Sudan and Somalia, which simply do not have the money for normal, modern armored vehicles.
So where did that "Bulat" come from? The tank is a further development of this old line.
Modernization of T-64E
Soon it became clear that the domestic troopsUkraine urgently needs normal tanks. The situation was stalemate: it seems that Kharkov was the pearl of the whole tank building of the USSR, only all decent cars were sold for a long time, and only the corps remained from the "mothballed" T-80 and T-72. In a word, new, "Ukrainian" tanks were needed.
Of course, high hopes were placed onsemi-mythical (for the Ukrainians themselves) "Oplot", that's only in the APU of these tanks is still not more than a dozen, and their cost is such that it is pointless to expect further saturation of "independent" troops with this technique. But these cars please the owners of the oil budgets in the UAE, where they are very positive.
The output was found relatively quickly. There were a lot of T-64s in the warehouses. It remained only to "screw" to them a new engine 5TDFE, whose power is very decent 900 liters. from. Oddly enough, but all the work of the Ukrainians were held in secrecy, no one could see the new tank. Only a couple of years ago it was actively advertised in the press, it managed to "light up" even at a prestigious arms exhibition in the UAE.
What has changed in the tank?
It should be noted that the results of the work in theeven visible to the naked eye. The tank no longer looks like a relic of the times of the Second World War, it looked like a modern war machine. The body of the tank is evenly distributed dynamic protection, the frontal part looks powerful and reliable. Let's look at the main innovations:
- The sides of the car are covered with the "Knife-2" protection blocks. For a better coverage of the surface, they are made both square and rectangular.
- Two types of "dynamics" - "Knife-2" and "Contact-1" - "rationally distributed over the surface of the armor, assembled for a simple and cheap "lattice" scheme. The main advantage of this method of installation is the extremely small weight of the armor protection of the machine.
- Constructive component of the tower is also in the rootchanged, which is especially visible in the lateral projection. The Ukrainian side does not cover this moment, but experts suggest that there is an additional ammunition compartment in the tower.
So what else is a tank characterized bywhich was created "Bulat"? The tank, as we have already said, is equipped with much more sophisticated surveillance devices. So, for the first time in tanks of this class, a panoramic sight with a thermal imager appeared, which greatly increases the chances of the tank surviving in combat.
Since the place to install it is selectedreally successful, we can say with confidence that the modernization was carried out carefully. In general, all Ukrainian tanks are not bad idea, but only the implementation of projects often suffers. Usually this is due to the low quality of the armored steel used and the lack of experienced experts of the old Soviet school.
The main armament of the tank
These modules are extremely effective in urban areas.conditions in which conventional Soviet tanks traditionally suffer heavy losses from anti-tank weapons. In addition, they are extremely effective in countering enemy light armored vehicles, allowing no waste of the main ammunition.
In general, the work really washeld impressive. But this is not yet Bulat. The tank, which bears this name, is a further development and processing of the modification of the old machine just described. So, we finally get down to the description of the immediate "hero" of our article.
So what is Bulat?
So, the new Ukrainian tank is"Deep rethinking" machines T-64A and T-64B (and other modifications). The purpose of the modernization was to bring the new car very close to the level of T-80UD, T-84U. As we wrote above, the “first phenomenon” occurred in 1999.
The whole modernization was reduced to in-depth work in three areas:
- Significant increase in mobility (new power plant).
- Strengthening protection, including from more or less modern anti-tank complexes.
- Enhance firepower and combat power through the installation of new weapons systems.
Power point
It is logical that to increase mobility in the motorthe branch is set completely new diesel engine. As in the case with its predecessor, the 5TDFM motor was chosen for this role, its power is 850 horsepower. In principle, this is a further development of a rather old 5TDF diesel engine, which engineers have worked on.
To fit in the old engine compartment5TDFM, it was necessary not only to completely replace the old and inefficient air cleaner, but also to recycle the exhaust system, which also does not meet any modern requirements. In order for the Ukrainian tank Bulat (once again reminded, created on the basis of the old T-64) not to spoil the roads as monstrously as its predecessor, in Kharkov developed special linings for tracks designed for movement on public roads.
Anyway, asphalt highway aftermovement of the column of vehicles that are equipped with such devices will not turn into a tank landfill. The advantage of such a scheme is that there is no need to make any additional modifications of the caterpillar itself. Asphalt shoes and fasteners are supplied by the plant (seemingly) separately, upon the customer's request.
In general, Ukrainian tanks "Bulat" and "Oplot" throughout the entire period of their operation are actively accompanied by the manufacturer, which causes a certain respect.
Protection against anti-tank weapons
The security package consists of two separate modules: passive armor invoice and built-in dynamic protection system. External dynamic protection is represented by a frontal module and screens that are mounted along the entire perimeter of the tank hull. Modular sections are mounted on the roof of the tower and in some hard-to-reach places, which can be quickly changed in case of their failure. Elements of built-in dynamic protection enhance the resistance of vehicles to anti-tank weapons even more.
The total mass of the full set of dynamic protection(along with fasteners) is about 3.5 tons. Only one crew of the tank, and with their own forces, will be able to install in approximately 5.5-6 hours. Built-in dynamic protection, which is already installed on the tank by the manufacturer, does not need any additional care during operation. Thus, the protection system from Kharkiv manufacturers is good because its installation and operation do not require complex tools and highly qualified specialists.
Results of the upgrade
So what is the T-64 Bulat tank? As Ukrainian producers themselves say (not suffering from an excess of modesty), it is “almost identical to the Russian T-90 tank” and “comparable in performance to the newest Oplot”.
Yes, the car has good prospects in the field.further modernization, especially in the area of improving the power plant by installing the 6TD-1 or 6TD-2 engine. You can greatly improve the sights, put a fundamentally different SLA, means of navigation and communication. In addition, the resource of the car after modernization is close to 11 thousand kilometers (as for a new tank).
If you put aside the pathos, then all is notso rosy. Yes, in its characteristics, the upgraded T-64 can really be compared to the T-72 of the early series. But how it can “outperform” a fundamentally different T-90 and new modifications of the T-72 is not entirely clear.
Basically, he does havepositive traits. Thus, in the manufacture of rollers and other parts of the undercarriage of the T-72 tank, more than a ton of non-ferrous metal alloys are used, while for the T-64 no more than 200 kilograms are needed. Accordingly, this fact sharply reduces the cost of the combat vehicle, but the reliability of the hodovka suffers.
The only thing in which the T-64 is really better isIt is maintainability of the undercarriage. And then, to the latter, experts have a lot of questions (once again think about non-ferrous metal alloys). The fact is that in the GDR (where most of these tanks went), the technicians had numerous complaints about the wear of the tracks and the crowns. The T-64 very often flew caterpillars, and often this was accompanied by severe injuries and injuries to people who were close to the tank.
And absolutely "unusual" look statementsUkrainians that their “best modern tank” almost surpasses the English “Challenger” and the German “Leopard 2 ″ - which looks especially ridiculous in the light of the fact that the British machine was objectively recognized as the best tank during the NATO operation in Iraq. It would be superfluous to say that “Bulat” managed to make war only in the Donbas, and in the network there are already a lot of photos of wounded and burned Ukrainian cars. Why is he so good?
Apparently, its cheapness: the cost of upgrading one old T-64 (according to two or three years ago) is about 400 thousand dollars, while for the production of one “Oplot” you need at least 1.5 million.
Debugging
In the network today, there are so many “chants” that are dedicated to the “new” tank, that I would like to arrange a moment of objectivity by talking about its shortcomings.
First, the weight and engine power. Bulat weighs 45 tons with an engine power of 850 l / s. “Outdated and inefficient Russian tank T-72” has a mass of 44.5 tons and an engine whose power is 1000 l / s. What kind of “highest mobility” (advertising booklets of the Kharkov factory) can we talk about here at all? If necessary, you can hang up a couple of tons of armor on the T-72, while for the T-64 you need to change the engine for this purpose.
A gun. The “Bulat” tank, the characteristic of which we are considering, is completed with the KBA3 model (usual 2A46M-1). The manufacturer claims that it is "much better than the guns of the T-72 and T-90." I wonder what is better? The 2A24M-4 / M-5 gun was installed on Russian tanks, which gives 17% less dispersion when firing on the move and provides an improvement of 15-20% of accuracy (just the same in comparison with the old 2A46M-1). Paradox, not otherwise.
As for the real firing range, then withthis is still more interesting. Judging by the official, Soviet data, the “Ukrainian” cannon provides a real target range of 1.5 km (which was the norm for those times). In Tagilts, this value is 2.3-2.5 km. And where is the "improvement"? Again it is not clear.
As for the passive and dynamic armor,here the story is generally vague. Not a single (!) High-grade State test "Bulat" with all this "body kit" did not pass. All data - exclusively from official Kharkov sources. Surely all the same reasons are guided by international customers: they are interested in T-72, T-80, T-90 and the same “Oplot”, but for some reason they are completely uninterested in “Bulat”.
Based on the foregoing, you can dosimple conclusion. The Kharkov modification, of course, improves the quality characteristics of the old T-64, but it definitely does not transform it into a super-weapon. Modernization is quite good, meets the needs of the modern Ukrainian army, which is not spoiled by normal funding. But still, miracles do not happen: the car from the 60s, even with a new engine and dynamic protection, doesn’t match modern tanks.
