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By Mykola Siruk, Den, Kiev, in Russian 13 Mar 04; p 3
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 16, 2004
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KIEV - Poland has proposed making a joint bid with Ukraine for an
800m-dollar contract to modernize Iraq's T-72 tanks and to supply wheeled
armoured vehicles for the Iraqi army, Mykola Siruk writes, quoting Polish
Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke. Representatives of Ukraine's
Kharkiv-based Malyshev tank plant and the Ministry of Industrial Policy have
so far given rather noncommittal responses to the offer; meanwhile, Ukraine
has achieved notable success in upgrading post-Soviet tanks, and the Poles
may let Ukraine modernize the Iraqi tanks single-handedly, reserving the
armoured vehicles part of the contract for themselves, Siruk says.
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Ukrainian T-72 AG Battle Tank
Photo by the Morozov Design Bureau
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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The following is the text of Mykola Siruk's article entitled "An expected
breakthrough: will Ukraine and Poland modernize Iraqi tanks?" published in
the Ukrainian newspaper Den on 13 March; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:
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Poles confident of winning contract for Iraqi tank
Poland is proposing to make a bid with Ukraine on the Iraqi weapons market
and share a tender worth 800m dollars for the modernization of Iraqi T-72
tanks and the supply of wheeled armoured vehicles for the Iraqi army. This
is precisely how a statement by the Polish Deputy Minister for National
Defence Janusz Zemke on the results of a five-day visit by a Polish
parliamentary delegation to a sector of responsibility of the Centre-South
multi-national division in Iraq may be interpreted. Some experts believe,
not without good reason, that Ukrainian weapons manufacturers should look at
the Polish proposal not simply as a goodwill gesture, but as a guide to
action.
It is curious that this invitation was made on the eve of a joint session of
Ukrainian and Russian special exporters in Kiev which discussed cooperation
in the field of tank construction. A no less interesting feature of this
proposal is the fact that the tanks to be modernized are those which were
manufactured in Poland on a Soviet licence. In other words, Russia, which is
always talking about its claims to copyright, will not be able to intervene
in this deal.
According to [International Institute for Strategic Studies document]
Military Balance, the Iraqi army had 700 tanks on its strength in 2003. From
1982 to 1990 it was Poland who supplied Iraq with about 500 tanks. As part
of the former socialist camp, this state had a licence for its own
production of the T-72M1 tank.
Deputy Minister for National Defence Zemke and former Polish Defence
Minister Bronislaw Komorowski believe that Polish companies have a good
chance of winning the tender for the modernization of the Polish-made T-72
tank and the supply of armoured personnel carriers for the Iraqi army which
is being created.
At the same time, the Polish PAP agency reported, they stressed that only
Poland and Ukraine have opportunities for modernizing a tank of the Soviet
era to meet the requirements of the 800m-dollar tender. But Zemke urged the
Polish firms preparing to participate in this tender to work more closely
with Ukraine and make more active contacts in Iraq. He also stressed that
the proposal which is based on international cooperation will have a good
chance of succeeding.
At the same time, Zemke made references to the recent failure by the Polish
foreign-trade firm Bumar to secure the tender for the supply of equipment
for the Iraqi army. At the time the Polish firm acted single-handedly and
lost out to the Nour concern which is close to the Iraqi National Congress
Party. Incidentally, the Pentagon annulled the results of this tender and
now 17 firms are competing for these supplies.
The Polish Bumar company welcomes Zemke's proposal to involve the Ukrainian
tank industry in modernizing the T-72 and supplies of wheeled APCs. A
spokesman for the company noted that at an exhibition in Delhi in February
Bumar representatives reached agreements with Ukrainian special exporters on
working together in India. Although he did not indicate the substance of
these accords, saying they were of a confidential nature, it was more than
likely that they, too, concerned the modernization of India's T-72s.
Another indirect confirmation of this is the fact that the efforts of the
Russians to move forward their modernization project in India failed to bear
fruit. Meanwhile, Poland and Delhi signed a contract on the supply of
evacuators, and even earlier - on the supply of a fire control system for
Indian tanks.
Ukrainians cool on Polish proposal
Ukrainian tank industry experts were unable to comment on the Polish deputy
minister's statement about the modernization of the Iraqi tanks. A
representative of the Kharkiv Malyshev [tank] plant described the Polish
proposal as "raw", therefore, they say, it is too early to speak about the
possible participation of Ukrainian enterprises in this modernization. At
the Ministry for Industrial Policy they believe that the Ukrainian tank
industry is capable of doing any modernization. However, serious discussions
could only start after a specific official proposal has been received, the
spokesman said.
On the one hand, the achievements of the Ukrainian tank builders are indeed
very considerable. At an armaments exhibition in Brno in 1997 the Ukrainian
version of the modernization of a T-72AG, developed by the [Kharkiv-based]
Morozov design bureau, together with the Czech firm Bohemia and the French
SAGEM group, was awarded the Gold Medal. Some 320 T-80UD tanks were supplied
to Pakistan. The Yatagan version of the T-84 tank, with a 120mm-gun, is one
of the competitors for a Turkish tender. Ukrainian tank engines are
recognized as some of the best in the world when it comes to operating in
hot climates.
Moreover, Ukrainian industry has mastered the production of 125-mm and
120-mm calibre guns and ammunition up to NATO standards. The Ukrainian gun
is detachable, as opposed to the gun mounted on the Polish tanks. It is
possible to mount 120/140-mm calibre guns on a basic T-72 battle tank, and
at the same time the clearance volume of the tank is insignificant, because
these guns have clearances similar to those of the 2A46, 2A46M and KBA3
guns. The proposed Ukrainian 120-mm gun with a quickly detachable barrel is
standardized to the maximum in its breech end with the gun on the T-72.
To enable a standardized 120-mm round of NATO standards to be used in the
tank, the gun's automatic loader is located in the stern compartment of the
turret. The standard of armour of the autonomous compartment of the
automatic loader is similar to that of the basic Leopard and Abrams battle
tanks. The overall battle scale of the tank's ammunition is 40 rounds, 22 of
which are situated in the automatic loader. Clearly, the Ukrainian tank
industry will be able to make a significant contribution to the
modernization of the Iraqi T-72 tanks, with its 850-hp 5TDMF3 engine or the
1,000-hp 6TD, and the barrel with automatic loader.
Furthermore, the Iraqi tanks can be equipped with dynamic Nozh protection,
which the Pentagon was also interested in (they bought three T-80UD tanks
equipped with the Nozh). The Ukrainian fire control system can also be used
in Iraq, because the French heat visors did not perform too well in the
sandy conditions, whereas the Ukrainian heat visor system could be just the
thing.
It is not impossible that the Polish side may hand the modernization of the
tanks entirely to the Ukrainian tank industry. But the Poles themselves may
take on the supply of armoured wheeled vehicles, which they are now
producing in cooperation with the Finnish company Patria in their own
country. The Polish deputy minister was in Kharkiv last year where he had
talks about the possibility of mounting Ukrainian barrels with guns on
Polish RT-91 tanks, which Poland is due to supply to Malaysia.
At the time this proposal met with a cool reception, because until now
nothing has been heard about the contract for the supply of Ukrainian
barrels on Polish tanks. It is possible that the Ukrainian tank builders did
not want to forgive Poland for losing out on the Malaysian tender.
Incidentally [newspaper subheading]
As part of the Iraqi rebuilding programme, the Pentagon has offered two
American companies contracts for a total sum of 1.1bn dollars, according to
an American representative in Baghdad on Friday [12 March]. A contract for
the sum of 500m dollars was obtained by the company FluorAMEK which will be
engaged in rebuilding electricity networks.
The mixed company Washington International - Black and Veatch has obtained a
contract for 600m dollars for carrying out public works. Earlier, an
announcement was made about the signing of seven contracts for Iraqi
rebuilding work at a cost from 8.4m to 43.4m dollars. They have all been
awarded to US or British companies.
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