30 Pakistani Al-Khalid Tanks Broke Down Because Of Faulty Ukrainian-Supplied Machine Oil

Al-Khalid tank

30 transmission units of Pakistani Al-Khalid tanks broke down due to faulty Ukrainian machine oil. Pakistani tanks were using the “Azmol Garant” machine oil. However, official manufacturer of the “Azmol Garant” did not supply its oil to Pakistan.

The Ukrainian state owned company “Ukrspetzeksport”, holding the exclusive rights to export Ukrainian military product, bought the oil from a different unlicensed vendor. The counterfeit oil was bought for $6 thousand per ton, while the oil from the licensed manufacturer goes for half the price, $3 thousand.

This isn’t the first recent case of tank failure related to corruption in the ranks of Ukrainian military. In September, 35 Ukrainian T-64 tanks broke down on a test range near Melitopol. After working for a few hours, the tanks started losing power, with their engines repeatedly cutting out. At first 21 tanks failed, with 14 more failing in a few days. According to the command, the tanks were equipped with brand new engines, with no more than 3-4 hours of working time. The failures were reasoned out to be because of the faulty fuel.

Ukrainian journalist Taras Zhovtenko investigated the incident. According to him, a special committee, created to investigate the tanks, received three engines of the failed T-64s. The committee reported that the engines were anything but new, with metal corroded, a lot of dust residue and other evidence of long use. The oil waste from the engines contained dirt, metal, and traces of fuel. This couldn’t have happened to a brand new engine.

The real age of the engines was not announced. The committee declared that tanks engines failed due to poor storage conditions and improper depreservation.

According to Zhovtenko, Major General Yuri Melnik, who ordered the committee to stop investigating the faulty engines after two out of three had been inspected, was incriminated for using old and faulty tank engines under the guise of brand new ones back in July of this year. In 2015, Melnik and his accomplices intentionally bought faulty and old T-72 engines for the price of new ones. His machinations landed him a nifty profit of more than $1 million.