T-72M1 Main Battle Tank
In 1970 the prototype of the T-72 main battle tank was first seen and was described as a simplified version of the earlier T-64.
In 1995 production was estimated at around 25,000 tanks, although this included licence-built versions from India, Poland, Romania, the former Czechosolvakia and Yugoslavia. The vehicle above, seen in the new hall at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, UK, was in service with the former East German Army (Nationale Volksarmee); it is the T-72M model which was produced by the Soviets only for export. Tanks of this type were employed by the Iraqi Republican Guard during the 1991 Gulf War, by the Syrian Army in Lebanon, by various elements in the former Yugoslavia and in Chechnya.
The striking feature of T-72 is the low profile, achieved by careful design but in particular by the elimination of the standing loader. He is replaced by an auto-loader, which can feed the gun at any angle with a separate projectile and charge case.
An example of the 125mm main gun's APFSDS ammunition can be seen in the lower left of the frame. The limited ammunition stowage is arranged around the turret rather like the carousel of a slide projector. The rounds are unprotected so there is a high fire risk and the mechanical equipment is prone to break down; the mechanical auto-loader results in a rate of fire significantly slower than in a manually-loaded tank. Nevertheless, the T-72 is the most widely used MBT in the world.
It has been manufactured in six countries, is in service with the armies of 35 nations and has been used in all the major wars of the last 20 years including the 1979–89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (employed by the Soviet Union), the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War (Iraq and Iran), the 1982 Lebanon War (Syria), the 1986-89 South African border war (Cuba), the 1988–94 Nagorno-Karabakh War (Armenia and Azerbaijan), the 1987-90 Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war (India), the 1988–93 Georgian civil war, the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War (Iraq), the 1991-2001 Yugoslav Wars (Yugoslavia, Krajina Serbs, Croatia, Republika Sprska and Macedonia), the 1994 Rwandan civil War (Uganda), the 1994–96 First Chechen War (Russia, Chechnya (limited)), the 1999– Second Chechen War (Russia), the 2001 Western Sahara war (Morocco), the 2003 Invasion of Iraq (Iraq), and the 2008 Russia-Georgia War.
T-72M1 Main Battle Tank
In 1970 the prototype of the T-72 main battle tank was first seen and was described as a simplified version of the earlier T-64.
In 1995 production was estimated at around 25,000 tanks, although this included licence-built versions from India, Poland, Romania, the former Czechosolvakia and Yugoslavia. The vehicle above, seen in the new hall at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, UK, was in service with the former East German Army (Nationale Volksarmee); it is the T-72M model which was produced by the Soviets only for export. Tanks of this type were employed by the Iraqi Republican Guard during the 1991 Gulf War, by the Syrian Army in Lebanon, by various elements in the former Yugoslavia and in Chechnya.
The striking feature of T-72 is the low profile, achieved by careful design but in particular by the elimination of the standing loader. He is replaced by an auto-loader, which can feed the gun at any angle with a separate projectile and charge case.
An example of the 125mm main gun's APFSDS ammunition can be seen in the lower left of the frame. The limited ammunition stowage is arranged around the turret rather like the carousel of a slide projector. The rounds are unprotected so there is a high fire risk and the mechanical equipment is prone to break down; the mechanical auto-loader results in a rate of fire significantly slower than in a manually-loaded tank. Nevertheless, the T-72 is the most widely used MBT in the world.
It has been manufactured in six countries, is in service with the armies of 35 nations and has been used in all the major wars of the last 20 years including the 1979–89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (employed by the Soviet Union), the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War (Iraq and Iran), the 1982 Lebanon War (Syria), the 1986-89 South African border war (Cuba), the 1988–94 Nagorno-Karabakh War (Armenia and Azerbaijan), the 1987-90 Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war (India), the 1988–93 Georgian civil war, the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War (Iraq), the 1991-2001 Yugoslav Wars (Yugoslavia, Krajina Serbs, Croatia, Republika Sprska and Macedonia), the 1994 Rwandan civil War (Uganda), the 1994–96 First Chechen War (Russia, Chechnya (limited)), the 1999– Second Chechen War (Russia), the 2001 Western Sahara war (Morocco), the 2003 Invasion of Iraq (Iraq), and the 2008 Russia-Georgia War.