Attempts to acquire their own tank building have been made by various states over the years. Combat vehicles were produced both to equip their ground forces and for export supplies.
A live Osório prototype, October of 2021. The vehicle is not fully operational. The turret and FCS are completely disable only the engine, transmission and the running gears are functional.
Thanks to the @santiago2ex https://t.co/UiSVOZHheA pic.twitter.com/Jin0mR7yWx
— The Dead District (@TheDeadDistrict) October 18, 2021
Some countries succeeded, while others were able to produce only a few prototypes, after which all work in this direction was permanently discontinued.
Among the latter is Brazil, where in the mid-70s they created a very successful three-axle reconnaissance armored car EE-9 Cascavel, weighing 13400 kg and armed with a 90-mm cannon. It has been adopted in more than two dozen countries.
Almost simultaneously, the production of the EE-11 Urutu armored personnel carrier, which also had success in the global arms market, began. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Brazilians decided to try themselves in the development of heavier tracked vehicles. So, since the mid-80s, the local company Engesa has started building prototypes of Osorio main battle tanks.
The EE-T1 version with a 105 mm rifled English L7A3 cannon was intended for its own armed forces, and the EE-T2 with the French smoothbore GIAT G1 was supposed to be exported.
The first modification weighed 40900 kg, the second was heavier - 43700 kg. They were also equipped with 12.7 mm anti-aircraft and 7.62 mm machine guns. The tanks had quite advanced fire control systems at that time and multi-layered anti-shell armor.
The engine power is 1040 hp. The maximum speed on the highway is 70 km/h. The fuel reserve is 550 km. The crew is 4 people.
Also, for foreign buyers, such as Iraq and Libya, who purchased a large number of Brazilian weapons, they designed a variant with a 125-mm Soviet 2A46, although they could not bring it to the stage of a real prototype.
Despite the successful tests of the manufactured T1 and T2, no one bought these tanks. As a result, the developer company became bankrupt and ceased to exist.
A few days ago, a video shot in October of this year appeared on the Network with a single sample of EE-T2. It turns out that the car remained on the move, but the equipment in the tower does not work at all.
Alexey Moiseev
