Ukraine Attacks Russia With Upgraded Soviet-Era T-84 Oplot Tanks

by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Russia is known to operate thousands of Soviet-era T-72 and T-90 tanks, yet many have wondered about the relative extent to which they have been upgraded and maintained for modern war.  Overall, Russia is widely known to have lost thousands of tanks to Ukrainian anti-armor attacks, amounts which open-source estimates suggest may be as much as one-half of Russia’s tank fleet. 

However, what about the possibility of upgrading and successfully maintaining Soviet-era tanks? Certainly decades old platforms can become almost entirely new vehicles if they are sufficiently upgraded with new generations of technology. The 1980s-era Abrams tank is a great example of this, as today’s emerging variants are almost entirely new vehicles due to years of upgrades. 

What about Ukraine? Do they have any upgraded Soviet-era main  battle tanks? The answer is yes in the case of Ukraine’s upgraded T-84 Oplot. 

Ukraine is receiving M1 Abrams tanks, German-built Leopards, British Challenger 2s, and a range of allied-supplied armored combat vehicles, yet the country does also operate a small number of its own Soviet-era T-84 main battle tanks.

It may not be clear exactly how many T-84s Ukraine operates or how much they have been upgraded and maintained and modernized. Available information on the tank describes it as a fast tank, driven by a high-performance piston engine with a power-to-weight ratio of roughly 26 horsepower per tonne. The T-84 is a main battle tank variant based upon the Soviet-built diesel-engine T-80.

T-84 Oplot Upgraded

Ukraine does operate an advanced variant known as the T-84 Oplot, which incorporates an armored ammunition compartment in a new turret bustle. However, only 10 of these were reported to have entered service in 2001. The Oplot fires a 125mm smoothbore cannon, coaxial machine gun, and anti-aircraft machine gun.