Main Agency of Automobiles and Tanks of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union

Main Automotive-Armoured Tank Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Soviet Union (Главное автобронетанковое управление МО РФ, Glavnoye Avtobronetankovoye Upravleniye MO RF, abbr. GABTU; another translation: Main Directorate of Armoured Forces) is a department of the Soviet/Russian Ministry of Defence which is subordinated to the Chief of Armaments and Munitions of the Armed Forces, vice-minister of defense (nachal’nik vooruzheniya VS RF – zamestitel’ Ministra oborony RF). Its director appears to currently be General Major Vladislav Polonskiy, as identified by Krasnaya Zvezda on September 14, 2004.

Object numbers
GABTU is responsible for assignment of object (Объект) numbers to almost all the tanks and other combat vehicles entering service in the Armed Forces of Soviet Union and Russian Federation. Объект is often transliterated as obyekt, ob'yekt, obyect, obiekt, etc. These names are sometimes referred to incorrectly as "industry designation" or "factory names".

The initial digit corresponds to the design bureau.
 * 0 Altai Tractor Plant
 * 1 Uralvagonzavod
 * 2 Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ)
 * 3 Uraltransmash
 * 4 Malyshev Factory, Kharkiv
 * 5 Omsk 172
 * 6 Omsktransmash
 * 7 Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant
 * 8 Various
 * 9 Volgograd Tractor Factory
 * 10 Kutaisi Automotive Plant (KAZ)