T-Rex (tank)

T-Rex (Ukrainian: Тірекс) was a Ukrainian main battle tank announced in 2016.

The vehicle was announced in 2016^[4] and was developed by the Arey Engineering Group [uk],^[1] an engineering group belonging to the Azov Battalion.^[4] It was named after Tyrannosaurus rex.^[4] Its main competitor was the Russian MBT T-14 Armata. Sergei Stepanov, the chief designer for Arey, claimed that the tank would have a "conceptually new system of fire control and a high level of personnel protection," along with "many features include high maneuverability, 360-degree vision, and a high-bandwidth counteraction analytics system."^[1]

The vehicle would be based on the T-64^[2] and hulls of T-64 and T-72, inherited by the thousands from the Soviet Union, would be reused in the production of the tanks.^[1] The Azov Battalion estimated that up to 20 tanks could be upgraded every month.^[4]

The tank would be based on the T-64^[2] and would feature an unmanned turret.^[2] The three crew members would be seated in an armored capsule at the front of the hull, where they could remotely-control the cannon, the automatic loader and the machine guns^[1] T-Rex would weigh 39 tons and be equipped with a 125mm main gun with "high-power projetiles". The armor would utilize both Nizh and Duplet (Ukrainian: Дуплет) explosive reactive armor.^[2] The combat capability was said by the Ukrainian press to be exceeding those of the Ukrainian Oplot and Bulat,^[1][2] while at the same time being more cost-effective than the Bulat.^[2]

• Patent for T-Rex (in Ukrainian)