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Despite The Pandemic, Nigeria Takes Delivery Of VT4 Battle Tanks And ST1 Tank Destroyers (PHOTOS)
Nigeria Takes Delivery Of VT4 Battle Tanks And ST1 Tank Destroyers
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Nigeria recently took delivery of some armoured vehicles from China.
The military hardware was delivered by China’s state-owned NORINCO to the Nigerian Army.
The delivered 17 armoured vehicles include artillery trucks, VT4 main battle tanks and ST1 tank destroyers.
NORINCO won the $152 million military equipment and training package last year. They reportedly got the nod owing to its flexible maintenance policies and the durability of the equipment.
This makes Nigeria the first in the world to own these armoured vehicles, which are built to carry a minimum of 12 armed personnel.
“The brand new Chinese weapons are in different categories- heavy tanks, light tanks and two types of artillery weapons.
The first set of 15 40-foot containers that were offloaded before today were made up of spare parts and accessories of all these equipment,” Army’s Chief of Policy and Plans (CPPLANS) Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun said.
“Those who will operate them have been trained in China. If not for the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19, we expected some of their trainers to join us here to train more people,” Adeosun added.
VT4 main battle tankThe VT-4 main battle tank also known as the MBT3000, is a Chinese third-generation main battle tank built by Norinco for overseas export.
It is the latest tank model from the Type 90-II ( Al-Khalid ) tank family. It uses technology from the Type 99A currently fielded by the People’s Liberation Army.
The tank appears to have composite and explosive reactive armour. They are also integrated with digital communications systems for tank-tank communication and communication between commanders.
The tanks are equipped with an active protection system designated GL5, defensive grenade launchers, and a laser warning device. The vehicle also has an IFF system, NBC protection, explosion suppression system, fire extinguishing system, and air conditioning.
