Less than a month after their creditable debut at the Combined Resolve X drills with NATO troops in May, Ukraine’s tankmen have accepted yet another challenge for their Western colleagues – the Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2018, which is due to kick-off on June 3 in central Germany.
The competition this year features the top armored units of the United States, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine, France, and Sweden at the U.S. 7th Army training ground by the town of Grafenwoehr near Nuremberg.
It is the third annual competition between the best Western armored forces, which has been co-hosted annually by the U.S. Army Europe and Germany’s Bundeswehr since 2016.
“The Strong Europe Tank Challenge is designed to project a dynamic presence, foster military partnership, promote interoperability, and provide an environment for sharing tactics, techniques and procedures,” the U.S. 7th Army Command press service said regarding the maneuvers.
“Participating units are tested on offensive and defensive operations as well as tasks including vehicle identification, battle damage assessment, and precision maneuvers.”
Similarly to previous challenges, the Western militaries have put forward their most skilled tank crews of their most advanced warhorses, such as Germany’s Leopard 2A6, the American Abrams M1A2 SEP, the French Leclerc, and the British Challenger 2.
Ukraine, which is taking part in the annual challenge for the second time, has rolled out five modernized T-84 tanks, including one spare vehicle, with the team being commanded by Captain Roman Bagaev of the 14th Armored Brigade. Crowned the Ukrainian army’s best tank platoon in 2016 and 2017, Bagaev and his men also participated in the previous Strong Europe challenge.
Last year, the Ukrainian tankmen in T-64BV tanks took 4th place out of five teams, placing ahead of the Polish team in their Leopard 2A5 vehicles. The Austrian team in their Leopard 2A4s were the winners last year, while the Germans won in 2016.
This time, Bagaev’s platoon are equipped with the much more advanced T-84 machines, modernized and overhauled at the Malyshev Tank Factory in Kharkiv.
Ukrainian army tank company leader Captain Roman Bagaev takes a selfie with fellow tankmen from Ukrainian and U.S. armed forces during the Combined Resolve X drills in Germany on May 12. (Ministry of Defense of Ukraine)
According to UkrOboronProm, Ukraine’s state-run defense industry giant, the newer tanks are a much-improved weapon compared to the army’s old warhorse, the T-64, and its modernized version, the T-64BV.
The T-84s for the Ukrainian team are equipped with advanced TPN-4 fire sights that detect hostile vehicles from the distance of up to 3,500 meters, or from up to 2,200 meters for hostile manpower. Their autoloading 125-millimeter cannons can deliver up to eight rounds per minute, which, according to the designers, allows for effective target destruction in the minimum time.
Also, their 1,200-horsepower engines are a third more powerful than those of the older T-64BVs, so the 50-ton T-84 tanks are now on a par with the Abrams and Leopard 2 in terms of motor power.
“This allows the carrying out of rapid maneuvers on the battlefield, with frequent changes of position and without the risk of exposing the vulnerable elements of a vehicle to enemy fire,” UkrOboronProm claimed on June 1, adding that T-84 can reach forward speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour, and up to 35 kilometers per hour when using its four reverse gears.
“The battle vehicle has an additional electricity supply set that powers onboard systems when the tank is stationary,” the designers added.
Besides, more attention has been paid to crew survivability and protection.
The T-84s have been equipped with the Varta electro-optical jamming system, which detects targeting laser irradiation on the tanks, and also with the Shtora smoke curtain that fools the targeting systems of anti-tank rockets.
“The tank is also supplemented with high-sensitivity fire detectors instead of thermal probes. They boost the response of the automatic fire suppression system if the tank catches fire.”
“This helps save the crew and increases the durability of the battle tank in combat.”
The T-84 was designed in Ukraine in the early 1990s as a new modification of the T-80, a Soviet development of the 1970s, praised for their gas turbines and increased mobility but severely criticized for their weak armor, high production cost, and complexity of service and repair.
In particular, the T-80 performed badly during Russia’s First Chechen War of 1994-1996, suffering an extremely high loss rate in urban warfare in Grozny.
Compared to its predecessor, the T-84 has stronger armor, including new reactive explosive armor, and a more powerful engine. However, only 10 vehicles had been produced for the Ukrainian army by 2000.
Over subsequent years, several new versions of the T-84 were released, with the most famous being the Oplot main battle tank, which the Ukrainian leadership traditionally presents as Ukraine’s most advanced military product.
In late December 2017, Ukraine’s Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Victor Muzhenko said that Oplot might be rolled out for the Strong Europe Tank challenge 2018. However, due to the Oplots not being ready, Ukraine’s team was given T-84s.
