New Delhi: On 6 March, Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir visited the Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) in Pakistan’s Taxila city and presided over the rollout ceremony of the Haider tank.
The Pakistan Army issued a statement saying that the tank marked a significant milestone in the country’s indigenisation efforts in the field of defence.
The Haider tank, which will be Pakistan’s Main Battle Tank, is a product of collaborative efforts between China’s Norinco (North Industries Corporation), a defence industry corporation, and several industries within Pakistan.
According to the Pakistani military, the tank represents a leap in tank warfare capabilities, boasting cutting-edge technology and remarkable firepower, protection, and maneuver characteristics.
Haider comes with an autoloaded 125 mm smoothbore gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun (MG) mounted in its two-person turret. A remotely operated weapon system (ROWS), a 12.7 mm machine gun is also mounted on the turret roof behind the commander’s position. The tank is powered by a Chinese 1,500-horsepower diesel engine and hydraulic mechanical automatic transmission.
However, ThePrint has reviewed documents from Heavy Industries Taxila, which paint a different picture compared to what the Pakistani military wants to project.
Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment told ThePrint that there was a reason why Pakistan officially termed the project the Haider tank (pilot project).
They said that Pakistan had initially ordered around 176 VT-4 tanks from China in 2017 to replace its aging fleet of Main Battle Tanks. The order was subsequently increased to 300 tanks, which were used to equip Pakistan’s elite armoured division under Mangla Corps.
Much to the Pakistan Army’s despair, the tank developed various issues during the post-delivery tests and field firing trials.
Sources explained that, given the teething issues with the imported VT-4 tanks and also because of severe financial constraints, the goal to buy more VT-4s was scaled down.
However, to maintain combat parity with the Indian Army, Pakistan went on to sign a separate agreement with China’s Norinco for local assembling and production of 679 VT-4 Tanks under licence by Pakistan’s Heavy Industries Taxila by the brand name ‘Haider’.
“While Pakistan domestically has been promoting the narrative that the new Haider tanks have completely indigenously developed components, foreign media reports have shown that Pakistan is still dependent heavily on Norinco to import the bulk of the tank’s components,” a source said.
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Concerns with shipment
It was during the first shipment of one such consignment that Pakistan received altogether faulty hulls with critical dimension variations. It is because of these design discrepancies that the local assembly of the “Haider” tank was put to a halt last year till the arrival of fresh replacement.
Given the delay in response from Norinco, Pakistan has resorted to local modifications of smaller and more manageable faulty components at its end itself, sources said.
This is not the first or the only instance of poor maintenance and supply chain management issues showcased by a Chinese state-owned military contractor.
Sources said that Chinese-made F-22P (Zulfiqar Class) frigates bought by Pakistan Navy and Wing Long 2 (UCAV) are also facing similar poor supply chain management issues at the end of Chinese companies.
Incidentally, China has managed to sell its VT-4 tanks to three customers after being unveiled for export in 2012. The present operators include Nigeria (operating approximately 34 tanks), Thailand (operating approximately 38 tanks) and Pakistan.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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