Heavy Industries Taxila (Reporting name: HIT), (Urdu: ہیوی انڈسٹریز ٹیکسلا) is a state-owned enterprise and a defense contractor located in Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan.[1][2]
 | |
| Company type | State owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| HIT | |
| Industry | Defence |
| Founded | 1971 in Taxila, Punjab |
| Founder | Ministry of Defence |
| Headquarters | Taxila , Pakistan |
Key people | Chairman: Lt-Gen. Shakir-ullah Khattak |
| Products | Vehicular |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence Production |
| Website | hit.gov.pk |
The HIT is wholly owned owned and sponsored by the Ministry of Defence Production and its programs are managed by Army GHQ who approves its corporate appointments.[3] The HIT promotes, markets, engineers, develops, and undertakes heavy engineering works for Pakistan's military and for the civilian law enforcement agencies. It has extensive experience in the overhaul and upgrade of tracked armored fighting vehicles for the Pakistan Armed Forces.[1][4]
Production
editMain battle tanks (MBT)
edit- Haider – (under development) – 3rd+ generation main battle tank. Pakistani modernized variant of VT-4, jointly developed with Norinco of China.
- Al-Khalid – 3rd generation main battle tank. Jointly developed with Norinco of China, entered service in 2001.
- Al-Khalid I – Upgraded variant of Al-Khalid, entered service in 2020.
- Al-Khalid II – Modernized Al-Khalid successor, status unclear, probably replaced by Haider.
- Al-Zarrar – 2nd generation main battle tank. Heavily upgraded Type 59 tank, entered service in 2004.
Infantry fighting vehicles (IFV)
edit- Viper – The prototype was showcased in IDEAS 2018. The IFV is based on APC Saad chassis with 6 road wheels, weighs 16 tons, and has appliqué armour. Viper can accommodate 13 fully equipped troops; and has a modified Turra 30 remotely controlled weapon station (RCWS) armed with a Slovak-made Shipunov 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon, Kalashnikov PKT 7.62 mm medium machine gun (MG), two ready-to-use 9M113 Konkurs (AT-6 'Spandrel') anti-tank guided missiles and smoke dischargers.
- Al-Hamza – The IFV is based on APC Saad, fitted with 25 mm automatic cannon. It was developed as an export product and is not in service with the Pakistan Army.[5]
Armoured personnel carriers (APC)
edit- APC Talha – Armoured personnel carrier based on M113 chassis with five road wheels, accommodates 11 fully equipped troops. 250 delivered to the Pakistan Army by 2006.[5]
- APC Saad – Armoured personnel carrier based on the APC Talha design. Modified with extended hull and six road wheels, 14.5 mm machine gun, improved armour protection and a more powerful engine supplied by Germany's MTU. Accommodates 13 fully equipped troops.
- Dragoon II – Armoured multi-role vehicle built with a supervision and support of DUMA Engineering of Belgium.
- Mohafiz series – Internal security vehicle
- Mohafiz-II – Based on the Land Rover Defender.[6]
- Mohafiz-III (Protector) – Based on the Land Cruiser 79.[6]
- Mohafiz-IV (Interceptor) – Upgraded variant of Mohafiz (vehicle) series based on the Land Cruiser 79.[6]
Fire support vehicles
edit- Maaz – Based on the APC Talha, armed with the Baktar-Shikan anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launcher and operated by a crew of four. There is capacity for eight extra rounds and the missile firing unit on the roof is retracted into the cabin for reloading.[5]
- Mouz – Based on the APC Talha, armed with either the Anza or RBS 70 air-defence missile systems. The missile firing unit on the roof is retracted into the cabin for reloading.[5]
- Sakb – Armoured Command-and-Control vehicle based on the APC Talha.[5]
Engineering & support vehicles
edit- Al-Hadeed – Armoured recovery vehicle based on APC Saad.[5]
- Al-Khalid AVLB – Armoured vehicle-launched bridge based on Al-Khalid tank.[5]
Armoured utility vehicles
editWeapons
edit- 125mm Smooth bore tank gun – for Al-Khalid & Al-Zarrar tanks.[8]
- 155mm Self propelled (SP) gun – for M109A2 (overhauled) self-propelled howitzer.
Former products
edit- Type 85-IIAP – Chinese main battle tank produced under license.
- Type 69-IIMP – Chinese main battle tank produced under license.
- M113 – Armoured personnel carrier produced under license. (APC rebuild & overhaul facility is still running).[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) GlobalSecurity.org website, Retrieved 28 September 2021
- ^ Samuel Cranny-Evans (31 July 2020). "Pakistan Army inducts first batch of Al-Khalid-I MBTs (main battle tanks)". Janes.com website. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Associate Press of Pakistan. "Defence Production Minister visits Heavy Industries Taxila". Associate Press of Pakistan website. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Jon Grevatt (3 September 2019). "Pakistan to corporatise Heavy Industries Taxila". Janes.com (defence weekly magazine - UK). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h ARG. "Talha Armored Personnel Carrier". Military-Today.com website. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ a b c "HIT-Products".
- ^ "Pakistan Army". Pakistan Defence website. 8 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Heavy Industries Taxila (125 mm Tank Gun Barrel)". Depo.org website. 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2021.