Pakistan boosts defence production From tanks to guns for self-propelled guns/PHOTO

Pakistani media published footage from the state defence plant Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), which captures the production process of various armoured vehicles and other military products.

Pakistan is seeking to introduce about 680 VT-4 tanks of Chinese origin into the troops. MBT under its own name Haider are manufactured under license at local facilities, VPK reports.

It differs from the basic Chinese version, in particular, by a remotely controlled module armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun, which is located behind the commander's hatch, improved surveillance and aiming equipment and the Al-Khalid-1 fire control system developed in Pakistan.

The capacity of the HIT plant has been significantly expanded. Now the localization of Haider production is deepening here, although components for the armored hull continue to be imported from China. New production facilities have been mastered, in particular, new welded turrets for the Al-Zarrar tank (a deeply modernized version of the Type 59) are being produced, although they were previously made cast. The guns for the M109A5 self-propelled guns are produced in-house.

As indicated in the Defence24 publication, the Pakistani industry now has the ability to produce more than 90% of electronic systems for armoured vehicles, including for T-80UD purchased from Ukraine.