Category Archives: 1990s Tanks

The C1 Ariete main battle tank is the Italian army's main battle tank. In 1984, the companies Oto Melara and Fiat Iveco formed a consortium to develop a series of fighting vehicles - a tank destroyer, an infantry fighting vehicle and a main battle tank - for the Italian army. This led to the development of the

Great Britain's Challenger 2 main battle tank is known for the instrumental role that it played during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, particularly during the capture of Basra. The Challenger 2 was also used in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Challenger 2 main battle tank was the first British tank to be developed entirely by a private contractor

The French company GIAT (now Nexter) designed the Leclerc main battle tank to be a replacement for the AMX-30 main battle tank. Development of the Leclerc main battle tank began in 1983. The first prototype was finished in 1989, and the first production model was completed in 1991. The Leclerc MBT entered service with the French

The PT-91 Twardy main battle tank is a Polish main battle tank that is based on Russia's T-72 MBT. Twardy is Polish for "hard" or "resilient". A prototype of the PT-91 main battle tank was built in 1992 and the tank entered service in 1993. The PT-91 Twardy main battle tank incorporates many improvements over the T-72, including

The T-84 main battle tank is a Ukrainian main battle tank. After the Soviet Union broke up, Ukraine inherited factories that had been set up to produce Soviet T-80 main battle tanks. Therefore, Ukraine based its T-84 main battle tank on the T-80. Unlike the T-80, the T-84 MBT has a welded rather than a cast turret. The

The T-90 main battle tank was under development during the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1988, the first prototype was completed.  In 1992, the T-90 entered service with the army of the newly formed Russian Federation. The T-90 is based on the Soviet Union's old T-72 MBT. However, the T-90 main battle tank uses

China's Type 85 main battle tank was designed to be an upgraded version of the Type 80 MBT. Type 85-I  never got past the prototype stage. However, the next variant, Type 85-II, was able to enter production successfully.  It was introduced in 1991. The Type 85-II main battle tank uses many of the systems of the Type

Japan's Type 90 Main Battle Tank is the main battle tank of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF). It was a replacement for the Type 74 MBT.  Although the Type 90 main battle tank and all of its components, except for the main gun, were designed entirely in Japan, the tank bears similarities to

The Zulfiqar main battle tank is an Iranian tank based on the Soviet Union's T-72 main battle tank. M48 Patton and M60 Patton tanks. Production of the Zulfiqar MBT began in sometime between 1996 and 1999. The Zulfiqar main battle tank has a torsion bar suspension that resembles the suspension on the American M48 and M60