Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) on Tuesday and oversaw the induction of Al Khalid-I tanks into o Armoured Corps Regiment of the Pakistan Army.
According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), COAS General Qamar Javen Bajwa – as the chief guest, attended the induction ceremony of indigenously developed and manufactured Al Khalid-I tanks into the Pakistan Army.
As per the military sources, Al Khalid-I is a joint venture with friendly countries China and Ukraine and will prove to be the backbone of Pakistan Army’s armoured corps.
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During his visit to HIT, COAS General Bajwa was briefed on various ongoing and future programmes and initiatives by Chairman HIT – Major General Aamer Raza.
Al Khalid-I Main Battle Tank (MBT)
Al Khalid-I is an upgraded variant of Al-Khalid MBT and has an increased ammunition capacity with 46 125 mm rounds, 1,500 127 mm rounds and 7,100 7.62 mm rounds.
Moreover, the tank has an improved fire-control system and can identify targets at ranges of up to 7 kilometres with effective engagement range of 3.5 kilometres.
The tank weighs 47 tonnes and is powered by a 1,200 horsepower engine of Ukrainian origin and has a top speed of up to 72 km/h.
Additionally, Al Khalid-I comes with ‘Vatra’ electro-optical jammer for protection against laser guided enemy weapons. The tank has also an improved air conditioning system along with ‘Sagem’ third-generation imaging systems resulting in improved target identification and tracking capability to the tank.
