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The T-72 is
a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1971
with an estimated 50,000 having been built.
It is a
parallel design with the T-64, and has been further developed as the
T-90. Chronologically and in design terms it belongs to the same
generation of tanks as the US M60, German Leopard 1 and British
Chieftain tank.
The tank is equipped with a V-84 liquid-cooled
four-stroke multi-fuel diesel engine which develops 618kW (840hp) and
has a road speed of 60km. The range with main fuel tanks is approx
450km. The tank can negotiate fording depths to 1.2m without
preparation.
The T-72 has been exported to: Algeria, Bulgaria,
Cuba, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Hungary, India, Iran,
Libya, Poland, Romania, Syria and Yugoslavia
The T-72
was deployed within the USSR and exported to non-Soviet Warsaw Pact
armies and several other countries. In addition to production in the
USSR it has been built under license in Czechoslovakia, India, Poland
and former Yugoslavia.
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T-72 Specifications |
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Type |
Main Battle Tank |
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Manufacturer |
Kharkiv
Morozov |
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Crew |
3 |
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Armament |
Main gun 125mm smoothbore, 12.7mm
machine gun, 7.62mm machine gun |
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Length |
7m |
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Height |
2.2m |
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Width |
3.5m |
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Weight |
44.5 tonnes |
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Powerplant |
780hp Diesel |
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Performance |
Road speed 75km/h, range 450km |
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Variants |
T-72AV- T-72A with added Kontakts early explosive
reactive armour, T-72B - Thicker armour, composite armour in
front of turret and front of hull. Early Kontakts explosive
reactive armour added. AT-11 "Svir" laser-guided antitank
missile capability, T-72BK - Command version of T-72B,
recognizable by having multiple radio antennas, T-72M - Soviet
export version, similar to T-72A (built also in Poland and
ex-Czechoslovakia), T-72M1 - Soviet export version, with thicker
armour (built also in Poland and ex-Czechoslovakia), PT-91
Twardy - a Polish tank based on T-72M1, TR-125 - Romanian tank
based on T-72 with extra armour modified suspension and more
powerful diesel engine, T-72MP - modernization package for the
T-72 by Ukrainian company KMDB, including improved engine,
armour, and fire control, T-72AG - KMDB modernization package,
including improved engine, armour, fire control, and main
armament, T-72-120 - KMDB modernization package, including an
auto-loaded main gun capable of firing NATO 120mm ammunition or ATGM |
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