Heinz Guderian once commented,
“If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.”
In modern global scenarios it is difficult to apprehend traditional wars like world wars but for the countries like Pakistan, with its critical and strategic location it becomes vital to revert to the combination of traditional and modern warfare. Without denying the importance of various military divisions, artillery holds a significant. In the artillery, tanks are considered as the backbone of artillery.
In Pakistan Army the armored units with a heavy support of tanks are primary force for offensive and defensive actions in case of any type of conflict. Armored Corps is adequately equipped with army weapons such as; handguns, sub machine guns, carbines; assault, battle sniper rifles; machine guns, grenade launchers, main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, armored recovery and bridging vehicles, anti tanks and aircraft defence and the list goes on. Pakistan army equipment is state-of-the-art and fully capable of defence and offense against any power.
Main Pakistan Army Battle Tanks
Let’s shed some light on Pakistan army main battle tanks (MBTs).
| Main Battle Tank
(MBT) |
Country of Origin | Operators | Armament | Ammunition |
| HIT Al-Zarrar | Pakistan | Pakistan | 11×25mm smoothbore main gun 11×2.7mm anti-aircraft heavy machine gun 1×7.62mm coaxial machine gun 8 x smoke grenade discharge |
45 x 125mm projectiles (estimated)
300 x 12.7mm ammunition (est) 2000 x 7.62mm ammunition (est) 8 x smoke grenades |
| HIT Al-Khalid I & II
(MBT 2000) |
Pakistan | Pakistan
China (training only) Bangladesh Myanmar Morocco |
11×25mm smoothbore main gun
11×2.7mm anti-aircraft heavy machine gun 1×7.62mm coaxial machine gun 2 x 6 smoke grenade discharge |
39 x 125mm projectiles
500 x 12.7mm ammunition 2000 x 7.62mm ammunition 12 x smoke grenades |
| Type 85-II | China | Pakistan
China |
11×25mm main gun
11×2.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun 1×7.62mm coaxial machine gun 2 x 6 smoke grenade discharge |
40 x 125mm projectiles
500 x 12.7mm ammunition 2000 x 7.62mm ammunition 12 x smoke grenades
|
| Type 69 MBT | China | Albania, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Iraq, Mayanmar, Pakistan, Sri lanka, Zimbabwe, Sudan | 1 x 100mm smoothbore main gun or 105 mm rifled main gun
1 x 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun 12 x smoke grenade discharged (if equipped) Optional: 1 x 12.7 mm anti aircraft machine gun |
34 x 100 mm projectile
500 x 12.7 mm ammunition (if equipped) 3000 x 7.62 mm ammunition 12 x smoke grenades (if equipped) |
Al-Zarrar Tank
Al-Zarrar has a very conventional design although the armor is equipped with explosive reactive armor (ERA). It also has the ability to use external fuel drum. Up till 2012, almost 320 type 59 Pakistan army tanks have been upgraded to Al-Zarrar standards. Currently, this tank is actively open for export, especially Bangladesh.
Al-Khalid Tank
Since Indo-Pakistan wars gave a huge experience in battle for Pakistan, they received a license for the manufacturing of the battle tanks. Heavy Industries Taxilla (HIT) are engaged in the production and development of the original Chinese type 85-IIAP, into of Al-Khalids. The recent production line is expected to deliver almost 600 tanks to army. Al-Khalid is endowed with the ability to cross water obstacles with the depth of 1.4 meters and 5 meters with snorkel.
Watch the Video of Al-Khalid and Al-Zarrar Tanks in Action
Pakistan Type 85-II Tank
Type 85-II is a local Pakistan Army variant. A total of 2,000 variants of this type is the estimated production.
Pakistan Type 69 Tank
Almost total of 4500 tanks of type of 69 and 70 are manufactured.
This Pakistan Army tank list is by no means exhaustive.
The MBTs of Pakistan adequately display Pakistan Army power, and the military is fully capable to match any adversary in conventional conflicts.
Also Read: Top 10 Secret Weapons of China: How advanced is China’s Military?
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