The Ukrainian government issued new budgetary spending guidelines in 2006 authorizing monthly outlays for the purchase of T-84-120 “Oplot” tanks to reach 30 percent of the Defense Ministry’s total weapons budget, lenta.ru reported on 15 March, citing arms-tass.su. The first developmental prototypes of the tanks, which are constructed at the A. Morozov Engineering Factory in Kharkiv, appeared in 1994. Five years later, the first models began to be used in the Ukrainian armed forces. Currently, the Oplot is one of Ukraine’s most frequently exported tanks. (www.lenta.ru, www.arms-tass.su, March 15)