Thread by @CalamineW

(1/24) Let's take a look at the BM Bulat today.

(2/24) The Bulat is named after bulat steel, known from medieval Eastern European times. It is analogous to Damascus steel, as I understand it (though I could be mistaken).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulat_ste…

(4/24) The primary difference between the prototype T-64U/BM and the production BM Bulat is that the Bulat switched from Kontakt-5 to Nizh containers, which are narrower.

(5/24) I will someday talk more about Nizh ERA, which is based on arrays of linear shaped charges.

Its effectiveness is hotly debated online, but for now, I'll just say that the Ukrainians seemed to be quite happy with its performance in the Donbas War, from what I can see.

(6/24) Incidentally, according to Chobitok, the MOU (Ukrainian Ministry of Defence) failed to order Nizh elements for some of the Bulats delivered before 2014. As many as 1/3 of the Bulats used in the Donbas War had to make do with 4S20 (Kontakt-1 elements) instead (lower).

(7/24) As mentioned in the previous thread, the Bulat has the full 1A45 Irtysh FCS, taken from the T-80UD/84. Irtysh features the 1G46M Promin gunner primary sight and TPN-4 Buran gunner night sight. A thermal sight was offered, but unfortunately rejected due to cost.

(8/24) Irtysh was the first Soviet integrated FCS, providing full duplicated controls for the commander and his own independently stabilised sight with night vision, the TKN-4S Agat-S. He is also able to operate the AAMG remotely on its stabilised mount.

(9/24) In addition to these, the turret traverse/stabiliser was changed to the 2E42, improving accuracy and provide a much faster turret traverse speed.

The MZ autoloader was changed to the 6ETs43, which can now rotate in both directions.

https://t.co/dj2KNkeGuybtvt-info.translate.goog/1inservice/bm_…

(10/24) The Bulat can also fire the Kombat missile. It is based on the Soviet-era 9M112 Kobra, but utilises laser-beam-riding guidance similar to the 9M119 Refleks, making it a sort of hybrid between the Kobra and Refleks.

(11/24) All of this stuff added weight, and the Bulat (45 t) weighs about 4 t more than the T-64BV (41 t). To compensate for this, a boosted version of the 5TDF, the 850 hp 5TDFM was introduced. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned elsewhere, this did not prove enough.

(13/24) Prior to 2014, there was some debate as to which tank would form the future of the ZSU tank fleet: the BM Bulat or the BM Oplot?

The Oplot cost 4x the Bulat, but had many more advanced features, like commander independent thermal optics and improved comms + satnav.

(14/24) Unfortunately, as it turned out, neither was affordable for Ukraine under wartime pressure, and some of the features the MOU 'cheaped out' on, like thermals, comms, and satnavs, were more important than fancy things like the Kombat ATGM.

(16/24) The Bulat saw extensive action during the Donbas War, during which it was used exclusively by the 1st Tank Brigade (1 OTBr).

(17/24) During the battle of Debaltseve, at Lohvynove, it is claimed that three Bulats fought against several Russian T-72s, claiming three T-72s knocked out for no losses (as always, take claims with a pinch of salt).

https://t.co/0A8Uf3cYyzcensor-net.translate.goog/ru/resonance/3…

(18/24) One of the Bulats was damaged, but the Nizh ERA worked and the tank survived the battle.

(19/24) It's been claimed that after 2015 they were relegated to reserve status for use by reserve units like 4 OTBr.

However, this 2019 Chernihiv documentary shows this is not true, and that 1 OTBr kept some of its Bulats.

(20/24) This interview with 1 OTBr's commander, Leonid Khoda, also proves that they continue to use the Bulat in the ongoing Russian invasion.

In addition, the 12th Independent Tank Battalion (12 OTB) and 4 OTBr are known to use the Bulat as well.

(21/24) I do not know how well the Bulat has been performing in the ongoing war, other than only relatively few have been confirmed captured or destroyed on Oryx (10 destroyed/captured out of ~100 Bulats known to be in ZSU service)

(22/24) In 2017, the Malyshev factory began modernising and refurbishing the Bulats, similar to the T-64BV modernisation programme. They received modern radios and satnavs, as well as 'modern aiming and observation devices'.

https://t.co/8jpquHSmLNdefence--ua-com.translate.goog/news/zavod_ime…

(23/24) They do not specify exactly what 'devices' are used, but if I were to guess it would probably involve giving the gunner a thermal optic. It is known that Trimen makes a thermal variant of the Buran, which is used on the T-84. I'd guess the Bulat uses it too.

(24/24) These upgrades probably fix most of the Bulat's problems, though nothing much can be done about the engine without a rebuild.

If nothing else, the Bulat seems to have consistently proved quite resilient under fire, and is probably quite capable with the 2017 upgrades.

As an aside, the Bulat is often referred to as 'T-64BM' or 'T-64BM Bulat', but strictly speaking, its official name is just 'BM Bulat'. This is how it is referred to in the service acceptance order, and I also confirmed it with Chobitok and @AndreiBtvt.