Al - Zarrar The Al - Zarrar is a modern MBT ( main battle tank ) developed and manufactured by Heavy Industries Taxila ( HIT ) of Pakistan for the Pakistan Army . A re - built , upgraded variant of the Chinese Type 59 tank , Al - Zarrar is supposed to be a cost - effective replacement for the Type 59 fleet of the Pakistan Army . Equipped with modern armament , fire control and ballistic protection , the Al - Zarrar upgrade is also offered by HIT to the armies of foreign countries to upgrade their T - 54 / T - 55 or Type 59 tanks to Al - Zarrar standard . 54 modifications made to the Type 59 make the Al - Zarrar effectively a new tank . The Al - Zarrar development programme started in 1990 and the first batch of 80 upgraded tanks were delivered to the Pakistan Army on 26 February 2004 . History . It was decided by the Pakistan Army that their inventory of Chinese origin Type 59 tanks was too large to be discarded and replaced , so a phased upgrade programme was started by Heavy Industries Taxila ( HIT ) in 1990 . The idea was to upgrade the firepower , mobility and protection of the Type 59 to allow it to compete on the modern battlefield at a fraction of the cost of a modern main battle tank ( MBT ) . The first phase of the upgrade programme was completed in 1997 . The second phase started in 1998 when HIT began development and testing of a new tank , a Type 59 re - built with over 50 modifications , resulting in three prototypes with slightly differing specifications ( different fire - control systems , for example ) . Many systems originally developed for HIT ' s Al - Khalid MBT were incorporated . The prototypes underwent extensive testing by HIT and the Pakistan Army , who selected the final version of the tank , dubbed Al - Zarrar . HIT began full production of Al - Zarrar in 2003 . Design . Armament and fire - control . Al - Zarrar ' s primary armament is a 125 mm smoothbore tank gun with an autofrettage d , chrome - plated gun barrel . It is capable of firing APFSDS , HEAT - FS and HE - FS rounds as well as anti - tank guided missile s and a Pakistani DU ( depleted uranium ) round , the 125 mm Naiza . Naiza is capable of penetrating 550 mm of RHA armour at a distance of 2 km . Reloaded by a semi - automatic autoloader , the gun has a dual - axis stabilisation system and thermal imaging sights for the commander and gunner . integrated into the fire - control system . The image stabilised fire - control system includes a laser range - finder for accurate range information and ballistics computer to improve accuracy . An improved gun control system is also fitted . The secondary armament consists of an external 12 . 7 mm anti - aircraft machine gun mounted on the roof of the turret , which can be aimed and fired from inside the tank , and a 7 . 62 mm coaxial machine gun . Mobility . The Al - Zarrar is powered by a liquid - cooled 12 cylinder diesel engine , giving a power output of 730 hp and torque output of 305 kg . m at 1300 - 1400rpm . A combat weight of 40 tonnes gives Al - Zarrar a power to weight ratio of 18 . 3 hp / tonne and a top speed of 65 km / h . Crew comfort is improved over the Type 59 by a modified torsion bar suspension system . Protection . Al - Zarrar uses modular composite armour and explosive reactive armour to give improved protection from anti - tank missiles , mines and other weapons . The Pakistani ATCOP LTS - 1 laser threat warning system is fitted to inform the tank crew if the tank is targeted by a laser range - finder or laser designator . Smoke grenade launchers are fitted to the sides of the turret . An automatic fire - extinguishing and explosion suppression system is installed to improve crew survivability . Export . On 21 October 2008 , the chief of the Bangladesh Army met his Pakistani counterpart to discuss a programme to modernise Bangladesh ' s fleet of Type 59 tanks . Bangladesh intends to upgrade 300 of its Type 59 tanks to Al - Zarrar standard at the Bangladesh Army ' s 902 Heavy Workshop , making that country the first export customer of the Al - Zarrar .