THE KIROV ASSOCIATION DESIGNER OF SOVIET BATTLE TANKS-PROSPECTS FOR THE 1990S

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: December 1, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
Secret
The Kirov Association
Designer of Soviet Battle Tanks-
Prospects for the 1990s
A Research Paper
Secret
SW 84-10101DS
IA 84-10082DS
December 1984
E 502
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
SECRET
25X1
The Kirov Association: Designer of Soviet Battle Tanks--
Prospects for the 1990s
Key Judgments
Information available as of 1 September 1984 was used
in this report.
Soviet' battle tanks are designed by one organization in
the USSR--a group that we call the Kirov Association. It
probably consists of a tank design institute and a
production tooling design organization, both in Gorelovo, a
tank prototype production plant in Leningrad, and as many as
four facilities located elsewhere that develop and test tank
components. In addition, the Kirov Association is building a
modern tank plant in Gorelovo to assemble new tank
prototypes. When finished, around 1987, the new plant will
take over from the Leningrad plant. This construction
indicates a continued Soviet commitment to tank development
that can be expected to extend well into the next century.
The Kirov Association designs one new tank model at a
time. It can modernize at least two existing tank models
simultaneously, however, in addition to its new tank model
design. After it has designed and tested a tank prototype in
Gorelovo, Kirov coordinates series production of the tank
with whichever of the four plants will manufacture it--
Nizhniy Tagil, Kharkov, Omsk, or Chelyabinsk. When a
prototype's design has been completed and transferred to a
manufacturing. plant for series production, Kirov is
available to initiate another new model design.
About 12 or 13 years is needed at present to develop a
new battle tank in the USSR--roughly six or seven years to
bring it through full-scale engineering development at
Gorelovo and another five or six years to convert it into a
series production model at a manufacturing plant. It took
about five years to design the T-72 tank; but some tanks,
for instance the new gas-turbined, missile-firing T-80, have
taken longer to develop because their subsystems failed
frequently during development. Kirov required eight years to
design the T-80, and another six years was needed to get it
into series production.
We believe that the Kirov Association is well along in
designing its new main battle tank of the 1990s. [Military
requirements to develop this tank--which may have a small
Page 1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
turret or be turretless--were probably issued to the Kirov
Association about 1980. Kirov probably has a full-scale
mockup or a prototype assembled in 1984, but we are not sure
whether it has obtained final approval of its design from
the Soviet military. Should the design be approved any time
soon, we would expect the Kirov Association to begin
prototype production in 1985. Subsequent testing done on
schedule at a manufacturing plant such as Nizhniy Tagil
would normally lead to'series production and deployment of
the new tank in the early 1990s.
Page i
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
Iq
Next 15 Page(s) In Document Denied
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6
. 4k
Secret
Secret
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/24: CIA-RDP86R00995R000400880003-6