Al-Khalid

The Al-Khalid (Urdu: الخالد ٹینک‎—Al-Xālid Ṫaiŋk, literally "The Immortal Tank") is a main battle tank jointly developed by Pakistan and China during the 1990s. The original prototype was known as the MBT-2000. Around 310 Al Khalid MBTs were produced by 2014. The Bangladesh Army ordered 44 MBT-2000s from China in 2011. The tank is also used by the Royal Moroccan Army. It was trialled by the Peruvian Army for possible acquisition, but was not purchased due to financial problems.

Operated by a crew of three and armed with a 125 mm smooth-bore tank gun that is reloaded automatically, the tank uses a modern fire-control system integrated with night-fighting equipment and is capable of firing many types of anti-tank rounds as well as anti-tank guided missiles. Al-Khalid is named after the 7th-century Muslim commander Khalid bin al-Walid (592–642 AD).

An evolution of Chinese and Soviet tanks, the design is considerably smaller and lighter than most Western main battle tanks. It is based on the Chinese Type 90-II, which combined technologies from several Soviet and Western tanks. The Al-Khalid is unusual in that it was designed to be adaptable for manufacture, so that it can be easily integrated with a variety of foreign engines and transmissions. The current production variant of the Al-Khalid uses a diesel engine and transmission supplied by the KMDB design bureau of Ukraine. The first production models entered service with the Pakistan Army in 2001.

Pakistan plans start the production of next generation Al-Hyder tank (Main Battle Tank 3000) after the completion of orders for Al-Khalid MBT. The country placed an order with Ukraine's Engine design bureau to further upgrade the tanks with a new engine.

Users

 * Bangladesh
 * Bangladesh Army x 44
 * Morocco
 * Royal Moroccan Army x 150
 * Myanmar
 * Myanmar Army x 148
 * Pakistan
 * Pakistan Army x 350+ Al-Khalid Is, 600+ Al-Khalid IIs planned
 * Sri Lanka
 * Sri Lankan Army x 22