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October 18, 1999
   
Ukraine is a new player in the global arms export business, with cooperation deals with 60 countries (up from 30 a few years ago). Ukraine was 30th in arms exports in 1992, 15th in 1996, and 10th in 1998. Ukraine has found a booming business in providing spare parts and maintenance for the millions of Soviet-built weapons around the world. The T-84 (its export version of the Russian T-80UD) is highly regarded (at least by those who cannot afford Western tanks), since it is superior to the Russian version of the same vehicle. It has a superior 1200hp engine, a road range of 540km, and better explosive-reactive armor. While it uses the same 125mm gun as the Russian version, it has better fire control and claims to be able to achieve 80% first-round hits (with guided rocket ammunition) at 5,000m.--Stephen V Cole