Armenia and Russia have embarked on a large-scale project aimed at the modernization of the T-72 tanks in the Armenian Armed Forces’ arsenal.
The tanks will be upgraded to the T-74 level, a vehicle earlier used in tank biathlon competitions, the Russian Izvestia reports.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense was earlier planning to sign a tank modernization agreement with the Polish company Bumar Łabędy.
Speaking to the publication, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, a spokesperson for the Ministry, said that they have now got the necessary activities under way. But he refrained from unveiling specific figures or timeframes. An “informed source” was quoted as saying that several dozen units of equipment are being considered.
Sharing his impressions of the ArmHiTec-2016 conference in Yerevan, a Russian military expert, Aleksey Khlopotov, said the modernized T-72B4 tank was equipped with a remote control machine gun which can be adjusted also to the T-72 tanks.
“The agreement proposing the modernization of 84 tanks would cost an estimated US $100 million. But after participation in the Russian Tank Biathlon, Armenian tankers shared very positive views on the modernized T-72B4 tank. And that probably influenced the choice of the country’s military leadership,” said Vitaly Moiseev, the editor-in-chief of the internet project Otvaga 2004.