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T-72 (Ural)

1972 COLD WAR GULF WAR MAIN BATTLE TANK MODERN SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR

History

Ever since the Soviet/Russia introduced the victorious T-34 medium tank in WWII, they have maintained their preference for successful (and globally popular) tank designs. The T-34 kicked off a long history of high-performance, low-cost combat machines designed to match or in some cases surpass existing Western offerings.

The Cold War-era T-72 was no exception, with the speed of its class and the inherent reliability that the modern battlefield always demands. Perhaps most importantly for the procuring authority, the T-72 is a budget-conscious end product that could produce tens of thousands of units while doing everything possible to stay ahead of the U.S. and Europe in similar developments.

As such, the T-72 has a long lifespan in many foreign inventories and has certainly proved a blow to exports. Over 25,000 T-72s were delivered, second only to the most successful post-war tank - the T-54/T-55 (up to 100,000 built). By comparison, 84,000 wartime T-34s were produced.

The T-72 appeared to counter the expensive nature of the technologically advanced T-64 in 1963. The T-64 was the main spearhead of the Soviet main battle tank and introduced the D-81T 125mm smoothbore main gun. Until now, Western products have relied on the 105mm rifled system and have since adopted the 120mm smoothbore design.

The T-64 also paired a 125mm main gun with an autoloader, reducing the crew size to three and keeping the total combat weight manageable while promoting a reduced profile on the horizon. The T-64B was the first Soviet tank series to support firing anti-tank missiles from the main barrel, greatly expanding its tactical value.

However, procurement costs proved limited, and from 1951 to 1962, only 13,000 T-64 tanks were produced from factories in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The T-72 prototype was born as the "Object 172", which later evolved into the modified "Object 172M". This new vehicle was reviewed in 1971 and it was concluded that the tank was so powerful and capable that it was adopted by the Red Army as the "T-72". Serial production began in the same year and quickly replaced the T-55 and T-62 in production, with official deliveries as follows.

The T-72 made its public debut at the 1977 May Day parade, and surprisingly, it remained on the front lines until the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991.

Externally, the T-72 follows the well-established doctrine of decades of Soviet tank design. Great attention was paid to the very low profile from any angle, and the addition of an automatic loading mechanism reduced the turret crew to two, with the driver located in the front center of the hull (Western tanks usually use manual loading, which required a fourth crew member, third person in the tower). The autoloader function is designed as a carousel-like arrangement, containing charges in the upper rung and projectiles in the lower rung, which converge at the breech.

The gunner can then prepare the main gun by electronically selecting the appropriate projectile in response to the commander's order to load and fire. The commander's cupola was offset to the right of the top of the turret and was fitted with a scope.

An integrated dozer blade is mounted on the bottom of the bow for ploughing over anti-tank obstacles or filling anti-tank trenches with dirt or sand.

The T-72 uses the 125mm D-81TM (2A46M) smoothbore main gun, which fires a healthy dose of projectile types (up to 39 onboard), including HEAT-FS (High Explosive, Anti-Tank - Fin- Stabilized), HE-FRAG (FS) (High-Explosive-Fragmentation (Fin-Stabilized)) and APFSDS (Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot). Like other Soviet Russian tanks, the T-72 main gun can fire guided anti-tank missiles (later models) from the barrel. All Red Army T-72 tanks typically carry mixed projectiles in response to any potential armored/unarmored battlefield threat. A 12.7mm NSVT anti-aircraft machine gun can be mounted at the commander's cupola to counter low-flying threats such as helicopters and lightly armored ground vehicles.

The 7.62mm coaxial PKT series machine gun is standard equipment next to the main gun in the turret and is operated by the gunner. A self-generated smoke screen can be attached to the front of the tower via 12 smoke grenade launchers.

The landing gear of the T-72 consists of six twin tire wheels on one side of the track. The drive sprocket is at the rear and the chain idler is at the front. The upper track section is covered with side skirt armor for basic defense against enemy fire. The engine is located in the rear compartment next to the fighting compartment and consists of a 12-cylinder diesel with an output of 780 hp at 2,000 rpm. The engine is matched to a synchromesh hydraulic transmission with seven forward and one reverse gears.

The track support system works with a torsion bar suspension system that provides excellent off-road capability. On ideal road surfaces (less off-road), top speeds quoted on the road are between 37 and 40 mph, with a range of 250 to 290 miles on the road.

External fuel tanks can be attached to the rear fuselage to increase the range to 430 miles.

Local licensed production of the T-72 ended up in Czechoslovakia, India, Iran, Poland (production as PT-91 "Twardy") and the former Yugoslavia (production as "M-84", now morphing into the modernized Croatian M-95 "Degman"), which has only helped to expand the system's reach around the world, resulting in its deployment in the militaries of more than 40 countries. Total production has since exceeded 25,000 units and is continuing in some regions. In addition to local production, exports are also common, with the Romanian T-72 recognized as the "TR-125", along with Finland and Syria as some notable exporters (see the company list below for a full list). Of course, the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the design meant that the T-72 was also made illegally and without permission from certain parties.

Non-Warsaw Pact countries usually received smaller versions of genuine Soviet originals during early production. India has accumulated around 1,900 T-72Ms and T-72M1s, while Iran manages around 480 available T-72M1s and T-72Ss. Belarus has about 1,465 T-72B variants, while Kazakhstan has 980.

The first production models in 1973, simply referred to as "T-72" (sometimes giving them the "Ural" designation), were used with optical coincidence rangefinders. The brand was followed by the improved "T-72A" in 1979, which was equipped with a laser rangefinder and electronic fire control system to improve movement accuracy.

In addition, frontal protection is improved through the use of composite materials. The T-72A was designated "T-72M" ("modernized") in the Warsaw Pact inventory, and the export version became "T-72G". "T-72M1" is the T-72M with increased armor.

The "T-72AV" received Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) blocks for further point protection. The "T-72AK" turned out to be a command tank with added communications equipment.

The 1985 "T-72B" was fitted with a new main gun, support for firing anti-tank missiles, and increased front turret armor protection. The T-72B also supports the use of Enhanced Add-On Modules (ERA) to increase system survivability. The export version of the brand is called "T-72S". The "T-72BK" is a modified T-72 tank designed to be used as a command vehicle and equipped with advanced communications equipment. The "T-72B1" was a simplified T-72 that lacked the ability to fire laser-guided anti-tank missiles from the main gun.

The export version of the T-72B1 became "T-72S1". "T-72BM" has 2nd generation ERA protection.

"MTU-72" is a bridge conversion model using the T-72 chassis. Similarly, "BREM-1" is a form of armored recovery and repair vehicle, while IMR-2 is a combat engineering vehicle with a bulldozer and minesweeper (both noticeably lack the original combat T-72 tank).

The "BMR-3M" is a minesweeper, while the "BMPT" becomes a heavy escort/close tank support vehicle. "TOS-1" is a missile delivery system that uses the chassis of the T-72.

In addition to the listed production examples, several developmental T-72s exist. The 1995 modern Russian Army "T-90" (detailed elsewhere on this page) is the latest version of the T-72, essentially a significantly improved version of the original Cold War tank with some improvements that have been implemented by the T-72 Preliminary T-80 series.

The T-72 proved to be one of the most powerful armored systems in the world after World War II. It was used in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) through the ongoing Syrian Civil War (2012).

During this period, the tank made history through operations in Lebanon (1982), the Gulf War (1991), the Yugoslav War (1991-2001), Rwanda (1994), Chechnya (1994-2009) and in action Iraqi Freedom (2003), South Ossetia (2008) and Libyan Civil War (2011).

Unlike other tanks used in the 1991 Gulf War, the T-72 was able to fight on both sides of the conflict, as it was in the Iraqi and Kuwaiti armies' inventories (the latter in the form of the Yugoslav M-84). The Iraqi Army has around 200 At least 100 T-72s named "Asad Babil" ("Lions of Babylon") were deployed on the Kuwati M-84AB. Overall, the Soviet T-72 performed poorly compared to the advanced nature of the American M1 Abrams tank and the British Challenger 1, which had clear advantages on the battlefield. Many T-72s were knocked down by coalition tank guns, anti-tank missiles, attack helicopters and fighter jets (or simply abandoned during the retreat) - a testament to the legendary Iraqi Republican Guard's enduring legacy on the world stage.

Iraq ended up purchasing around 1,000 T-72 tanks (assembled locally due to the embargo). Kuwait still manages about 150 M-84s and 218 M1 Abrams.

The former Czechoslovakia, East Germany (discontinued), Finland, Germany (de facto), Romania, Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia have all become former operators of the T-72 series of tanks. Turkey evaluated the T-72 but never formally acquired the tank. Various T-72 manufacturers have since released upgrade packages to make the T-72 a viable player on the modern battlefield.

This will only expand its overall usefulness and value over the next few years - especially as modern MBT solutions are unaffordable for most people.

April 2018 The T-72B1, an upgraded version of the T-72B MBT, was released to Lao military officials.

December 2018 - The first T-72B1 MBT, dubbed "White Eagle", was delivered to the Lao army. One of the most notable improvements is the "Rapid Fire" weapon pack.