Syrian War Doubles Sales of Russian Tanks

In 2016 Russia’s UralVagonZavod Corporation doubled its exports of tanks and armored vehicles, Rossiiskaya Gazeta wrote citing the company’s press service.

UralVagonZavod, based in Nizhny Tagil, owes some of these skyrocketing sales to the successful performance of its tanks in Syria.

Even veteran T-72 and T-90 tanks can withstand direct hits by US guided missiles – something neither their American nor Turkish counterparts can boast.

With 149.9 billion rubles in sales last year, UVZ is now set to enter the list of the world’s top 50 arms manufacturers.

Meanwhile, the corporation offers ever more advanced weapons, including the T-72BZ, which is a radically modernized version of the T-72 workhorse tank. The T-72BZ boasts a more powerful engine and a state-of-the-art fire control system.

Simultaneously, UralVagonZavod launched the mass production of the BMP-3MA – an armored mine-clearing vehicle capable of cutting passages through minefields on the go.

Syrian Army modified T-72 tanks hold a position during Syrian forces' assault to capture the rebel-held village of Hawsh Nasri, which is located near the rebel-held town of Douma on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus

© AFP 2023 / STRINGER

The Nizhny Tagil engineers have also upgraded their TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy self-propelled flame thrower, the DT-10PM truck and are now building a fire engine of their own design.

UralVagonZavod recently unveiled its all-new Terminator tank support fighting vehicle based on the T-72 tank, a system of long-distance  demolition of high-explosive fragmentation shells used by T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks and a combat robot equipped with a 57 mm cannon.

The T-90 tank

© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov

“There are no armored fighting vehicles around capable of withstanding a direct shot by this cannon,” an UVZ representative said.

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