MAIN BATTLE TANKS

T-72

 

T-72M1 Finnish Defence Force

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.

 

T-72 Specifications
Type Main Battle Tank
Manufacturer Kharkiv Morozov
Crew 3
Armament Main gun 125mm smoothbore, 12.7mm machine gun, 7.62mm machine gun
Length 7m
Height 2.2m
Width 3.5m
Weight 44.5 tonnes
Powerplant 780hp Diesel
Performance Road speed 75km/h, range 450km
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