T-72 main battle tank

The third generation main battle tank equipped by the Soviet Union in 1971

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T-72 Main Battle Tank^[1] , Russian: T-72 ОСНОВНО^[2] ）It is a type of main battle tank designed and produced by the former Soviet Union in the early 1970s.

The design of T-72 main battle tank follows the Soviet army's consistent operational thinking, and the system configuration is easy to produce. It not only retains the characteristics of the Soviet made tank, such as its low profile and 125mm large caliber main gun, but also can launch gun launched missiles, and is equipped with a series of advanced equipment, such as an automatic loader. The tank is equipped with a turbocharged diesel engine with a total power of 780 hp and a three prevention device^[3] 。

The T-72 main battle tank was developed in 1967 and equipped with the former Soviet army in 1973. The T-72 tank made its debut in November 1977 at the Red Square Parade of the former Soviet Union commemorating the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. As the third generation main battle tank, T-72 tank is simple, reliable and durable, and can be called the successor of the former Soviet Union T-34 tank Another famous work of the later period not only served in the Soviet army in large numbers, but also exported and authorized Warsaw Treaty ally poland 、 Czechoslovakia Production has almost become the new signboard of tanks in the former Soviet Union^[4] 。 The production of the main battle tank is up to 25000^[3]^[5] 。

On February 24, 2022, the Russian army launched a large-scale attack on Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, in three routes. The Russian army used various equipment, including T-72 main battle tanks^[50] 。

Chinese name: T-72 main battle tank
Foreign name: T-72 main battle tank
Front type/stage: T-62 main battle tank
Subtype/Grade: T-80 main battle tank
Development time: 1967

Service time: 1971
Setting time: 1973
Type: Main battle tank
Equipment country: Soviet Union/Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Iran and other countries
Russian name: T-72 БОЕВОЙ ТАНК
Developing country: Soviet Union/Russia

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Development history

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historical background

T-62 tank officially put into service

The former Soviet Union is in mass production T-64 After the tanks, they began to develop another kind of tank with low cost and similar performance to equip a large number of Red Army tank troops and export Warsaw Pact Allies, replacing the old and outdated T-55 And T-62 tank. be located Lower Targil The factory of Uralvagonzavod (UVZ, Russian: Уралвагонавод) of Nizhny Tagil (Russian: НижнийТагил) has developed the prototype vehicle Object 172 since 1967. It is based on the design of T-64, but the turret is changed to cast homogeneous armor, and a 700 horsepower V-45 is installed Diesel engine To replace the original unreliable 5TDF engine.

T-72 main battle tank first appeared in Red Square

The weight of the prototype is 5 tons more than the original T-64, which causes additional load on the suspension system. So the design engineer replaced the suspension system of the 167 project (the new suspension T-62 prototype vehicle developed in 1961) with a 780 horsepower V-46 Diesel engine Therefore, it became a prototype 172M project. From 1971 to 1973, in Europe, Russia, China and Russia Siberia Field tests were carried out in such areas, and troops were allocated in 1973, officially named T-72 "Ural" tank^[6-9] 。

Development history

T-64A main battle tank

In 1953, the Molozov Design Bureau in Kharkov, the former Soviet Union, began to develop a new concept tank, the project code is "Project 430". The T-64 main battle tank, which was born in the future and feared by western armored forces for a long time in the Cold War, was also developed on its basis. At that time, however, few competitors mentioned the "430 Project". It was the "140 Project" of Kartsev Design Bureau. The performance and development potential of the "430 Project" prototype vehicle, combined with Molozov's own influence, finally made the former Soviet military choose it. As a result, competitors who also performed well were temporarily buried. But what is unexpected is that this rejected design has been "resurrected" twice, and the performance is better than once^[8]^[10] 。

140 Project

In 1954, Chief Designer of Lower Tagier Design Bureau Kartsev Under the leadership of the "140 Project", we began the development of a new type of tank test prototype. This is a tank with novel structure. It adopts a new designed walking mechanism and an improved Diesel engine The newly designed body and turret are equipped with a newly developed D-54TC rifled tank gun. A new planetary mechanical transmission is also installed. In addition, the newly developed hydraulic power assisted control system of "140 Project" also effectively reduces the workload of drivers. Later, many technical achievements of the "140 Project" test tank, including the walking mechanism, were tested by the "155 Project" test tank (later T-55 Main battle tank) and "167 Project" test tank.

430 Project

Because of the adoption of a large number of new technologies and new designs, the "140 Project" test tank, like the "430 Project" test tank, has poor reliability, and its performance is not far behind that of the T-54/55 main battle tank. In fact, "Project 140" is more conservative than "Project 430". After a detailed and strict comparison of the two design schemes and sample vehicles, the Soviet Army chose the "430 Project" with more advanced concepts and greater development potential as the basis for the development of a new generation of tanks in the future^[10] 。

165 Works

The failure of the "140 Project" competition did not discourage its designers. Kartsev decided to use the turret of the "140 Project" and the T-55 The chassis of the main battle tank is used to develop a new tank. The program code is "165 Project". However, when the whole design work was in full swing, the designers found that it was too difficult to install the turret of the "140 Project" on the T-55 chassis intact. The more reasonable plan is to modify the T-55 chassis. Its advantage is that it can not only install the new turret, but also modify some existing defects of the T-55 chassis. For this reason, the designer first increased the diameter of the base ring of the chassis turret, and appropriately extended the length of the chassis. Accordingly, the position between the load wheels has also been adjusted. The adoption of these two measures also brings a benefit - greatly increasing the space in the battle room. This measure is undoubtedly widely welcomed by tank soldiers who are accustomed to the narrow battle room of Soviet style tanks. The newly developed automatic cartridge case discarding device was also installed on the 165 Project. After the gun is fired, the device can automatically throw the cartridge case out of the vehicle through a small window at the rear of the turret. By using this device, the harmful gas produced by the gun in the battle chamber during firing is greatly reduced.

By November 1958, the former Soviet Union had produced three "165 Project" prototype vehicles. Strict tests show that the design of this type of tank is successful. Although the "165 Project" still failed to attract the attention of the General Administration of Armored Forces of the former Soviet Union at that time, its basic design was recognized, and the sample tank vehicle was also shown to the senior government.

166 Project

T-62 tank officially put into production

In 1958, the Strategic Rocket Corps Headquarters showed the newly developed T-12 towed 100mm smooth bore anti tank gun to the senior government officials, which was fully recognized. The relevant departments asked the General Administration of Armored Forces to develop a tank equipped with this type of gun. To this end, the General Administration of Armored Forces specially convened experts to hold a special meeting. At the meeting, the chief designers led by Kartsev argued with each other and finally made a compromise decision - not to develop a tank equipped with T-12 gun, but to develop a new type of smooth bore gun suitable for tank equipment on the basis of T-12 gun. After the meeting, Kartsev carefully summarized the contents of the meeting, immediately modified the "165 Project" scheme, and renamed the whole project "166 Project". The most important improvement of the "166 Project" is that the original 100mm rifled gun was replaced by a larger 115mm tank gun. The development of the gun is based on the relevant contents and opinions submitted by the military to the meeting, including the supporting gun stabilizer and other related equipment. In 1959, several prototype vehicles of the "166 Project" were manufactured successively. In the subsequent test conducted in 1960, the performance of "Project 166" was satisfactory. This problem was not solved until the "166 Project" was officially finalized as the T-62 main battle tank and put into mass production for a long time.

432 Project

However, the "166 Project" still did not attract attention, because this issue was also debated within the Soviet army. But when the information that the main battle tanks equipped with 105mm main guns in western countries had been in service was sent back to the former Soviet Union, the Soviet army found that there was no tank on hand that could compete with them. The "432 Project" (formerly known as the "430 Project", with the result of T-64 tanks) is far from being mature and perfect. The "166 Project" is a mature model that can be put into production immediately and can compete with new western tanks. The General Administration of Armored Forces quickly finalized the "166 Project" and put it into production, which is the T-62 main battle tank. However, the General Administration of Armored Forces still regards this model as a transitional model, because T-62 still cannot gain an overwhelming advantage over the West in performance, but it can buy time for the service of the "432 Project" - later "King" T-64. Because of this mentality, the T-62 tank officially put into production by the military of the former Soviet Union did not follow the design of six pairs of center diameter load wheels of the 166 Project and the previous 140 and 165 Projects, but changed it to directly follow the design of five pairs of large diameter load wheels of T-54/55, except that the spacing between load wheels is different from T-54/55, It is completely universal with T-54/55 (even the layout of suspension wheel in T-62's operation manual is directly copied from the layout of T-55 tank's operation manual), which saves money production costs It also improves the off-road obstacle passing performance, but it sacrifices a certain degree of driving stability.

As the large caliber smooth bore gun is used for the first time, its performance is questionable. As a substitute, the "165 Project" has also been finalized and put into production, military code T-62A. However, the T-62A at this time has made many improvements compared with the original, such as replacing the D-54TC tank gun with a 100mm rifled gun with better performance and stronger power. The number of T-62A production equipment is very small, because the General Administration of Armored Forces found that its concern about the 115mm smooth bore gun was superfluous, so it applied to the government to stop production of T-62A and was approved. T-62A existed for a short time in the huge tank equipment system of the former Soviet Union. In 1961, T-62 main battle tank was qualified for mass production.

167 Project

T-72 main battle tank

When the future of the "166 Project" was uncertain, the developer decided to develop a new type of tank on the basis of the "166 Project". The project code was "167 Project". In the summer of 1961, two prototype vehicles were manufactured successively, and T-62 was qualified for batch production.

The chassis design scheme of "Project 167" is further modified compared with that of "Project 166". The new suspension system and travel mechanism are derived from "Project 140". There are also 6 load wheels and 3 belt supporting wheels on both sides. Parts such as torsion bar and shock absorber have been improved. The four stroke water-cooled diesel engine was replaced with a more powerful 700 horsepower model. The mobility of "Project 167" was improved thanks to the above two measures: the maximum highway speed increased from 50 km/h of T-62 to 64 km/h. The maximum road travel increased to 550 km. The turret follows the mature design of the "166 Project", which even includes the 115mm main gun and the automatic shell throwing system. In the later stage of development, the designers installed an anti tank missile launcher behind the turret as an auxiliary weapon. And the fire control system has been modified accordingly. Later, Kartsev Design Bureau developed a new type of test vehicle using gas turbines on the basis of the "167 Project", with the project code of "167T Project". The difference between the "167T Project" and the "167 Project" lies in its power system.^[3]

Finally, after discussion, it was decided to develop a new type of automatic ammunition loader to load sub loaded 115mm ammunition. After strict testing of this type of automatic ammunition loader, the fact proves that this automatic ammunition loader with cartridge clip structure is not only relatively simple in structure, but also very reliable. The automatic cartridge case discarding system used on the original T-62 was organically integrated into the automatic loading system. Later Ural On the basis of this automatic loading system, the tank manufacturer has developed an improved model for loading 125mm ammunition. Later, the Lower Ural Tank Factory developed an improved test prototype T-62 main battle tank equipped with a 125mm smooth bore gun and the automatic loading system. The sample vehicle attracted the attention of the senior management of the General Administration of Armored Forces, especially its reliable automatic ammunition loader. However, this does not mean that they want to produce and equip tanks that are already "backward" in design^[11] 。

172 Project

T-72 main battle tank

The General Administration of Armored Forces, which was overwhelmed by the reliability of the T-64 main battle tank, assigned an important task to Kartsev - "developing a T-64 simplified tank with reliable performance". Relevant personnel also brought six sample T-64A main battle tanks (from this we can also see the military's eagerness. You should know that the "434 Project" in 1967, that is, the prototype T-64A vehicle has just completed its design and produced only small batch of sample vehicles.) for designers to understand its structure and carry out relevant tests. The first proposed program code is Project 172. The "172 Project" is actually replacing the B-45 on the basis of the T-64 main battle tank

The engine and the autoloader mentioned above. However, after full and strict tests, the actual situation of the "172 Project" was not as smooth as originally thought. At this time, Kartsev resolutely decided to abandon the plan of developing new tanks on the basis of T-64. Especially after a lot of tests on the T-64 main battle tank and the "172 Project", Kartsev not only fully understood the design of the T-64, but also realized that many of the technology of the T-64 is quite immature. These reasons not only increased Kartsev's aversion to many designs of T-64, but also made him, as the chief designer, understand that the "172 Project" scheme was actually a failure. It may take more time to develop a tank based on T-64 that has satisfactory performance and reliability than to design a new tank. There is only one way to complete the tasks assigned above - starting from scratch^[11] 。

172M project

T-72 main battle tank

Kartsev decided to develop a new tank on the basis of the "167 Project" designed by him, combined with some technologies proven to be mature through tests on the "172 Project". The project code was "172M Project". But the good comprehensive performance of the new tank finally made everyone happy. The test prototype of the "172M Project" is the real prototype of the T-72 main battle tank later^[11] 。

The chassis design of the "172M Project" is basically derived from the "167 Project", but there are many modification measures. The tilt angle of the armor on the front of the vehicle, the driver's center and bilateral transmission gearbox are absorbed from the T-64. The fire control system is developed on the basis of the fire control system of the T-64A main battle tank, and the layout of the power cabin is also different from the "167 Project". The engine of "172M Project" adopts the improved B-46 with increased horsepower of B-45. The traveling device is mostly the same as the "167 Project", with 6 person diameter load wheels and 3 carrier pulleys on each side. However, the torsion bar and hydraulic shock absorber are replaced with new models. This is because the total combat weight of the "172M Project" is 5 tons heavier than that of the "167 Project". In terms of firepower, after the former Soviet Union obtained the M-60A1 main battle tank in the early 1960s, the Soviet army found that the 115mm tank gun could not compete with the western L-7 (105mm) series tank gun through the real vehicle inspection. After that, the former Soviet Union decided to develop a 125mm tank gun to compete with western tanks and set this caliber as the standard caliber. Therefore, the "172 Project" and "172M Project", as new models, must be equipped with new large caliber guns, which does not inherit the design of the T-64 main battle tank.

In addition, the turret of the "172M Project" is a newly designed streamline oval turret. Although it is similar to the T-64A in the longitudinal section, its actual shape is different from that of the T-64 main battle tank and the turret with rhombus of the "172 Project". It is easy to distinguish the two from the turret when viewed from the front or above.

The 172M fire control system uses a mechanical ballistic computer. Although compared with the electromechanical ballistic simulation computer of T-64, its function is single and its performance is relatively backward, but its cost is low. The turret armor adopts steel steel composite structure, and quartz sand is filled between the two armor plates. The structure is simpler than the composite armor on the front of the turret of the T-64A main battle tank. Similarly, the structure and composition of the bow armor is simpler than that of the T-64A.

T-72 main battle tank (4 sheets)

When the whole development work came to an end and the "172M Project" prototype vehicle was manufactured, it withstood various tests and showed good reliability. Later, under the arrangement of the General Administration of Armored Forces, the "172M Project" was compared with the T-64A main battle tank, and the results showed that the reliability of the T-64A was still not as good as the "172M Project", although it had greatly improved.

Although the overall performance of the "172MT Project" is inferior to the T-64A, its various designs are more mature and reliable than the T-64A tank, and its structure is relatively simple. As a result, the "172MT Project" is easier to produce than the T-64A tank. Therefore, the General Administration of Armored Forces is in a dilemma - whether to choose performance or reliability. The final compromise is to mount two types of tanks at the same time. The "172M Project" was approved to be finalized and put into mass production, military number T-72. A generation of famous T-72 main battle tank was born^[12] 。

Research and development significance

The design of the T-72 main battle tank can be said to be successful. In addition to the Soviet Union/Russia's own equipment, T-72 main battle tanks are also exported to foreign countries in large quantities, and foreign countries are allowed to produce according to the license. Following the T-54/55 main battle tank, another type of T-group tank has spread all over the world^[12] 。

In April 2006, Russia officially closed T-72 production line^[13-14] 。 The total output of T-72 main battle tanks of all types is 25000^[5] 。

Technical characteristics

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General layout

T-72 tank

The body of T-72 tank is welded with steel plates. The interior of the tank is divided into three parts: the front cockpit, the middle battle cabin and the rear power cabin. The driver's seat is in the center of the front of the car body. The driver has a hatch cover on the armor plate on the top of the car body, which can be opened and closed from inside the car. When the driver opens the window to drive, he must first turn the gun to one side at a certain angle and fix it. When driving with the window closed, he can observe with the aid of periscope in the daytime and infrared or low light periscope at night.

There is one "V" type wave plate on the front upper armor plate of the car body, and the front lamp is installed, with the model of ФГ - 125. The headroom on both sides of the driver stores bulletproof fuel tanks. The front and lower decks of the car body are equipped with bulldozers, which are usually used for protection. There are fuel tanks and tool boxes on the fenders at both sides of the car body, and two additional fuel tanks of 200L diesel can be installed at the rear of the car body.

The turret is a cast structure, which is hemispherical and is located above the middle of the car body. There are two crew members in the turret, the car commander and the gun commander. The captain is on the right side of the turret, and the captain is on the left side. Each of them has a turret hatch cover. The commander's command tower adopts a double-layer movable seat ring structure, which can rotate synchronously and reversely with respect to the turret. The battle chamber is equipped with a turntable automatic loader, which eliminates the loader. The arrangement of the battle chamber is arranged around the automatic loader. The whole battle part, together with the top deck of the car body, inclines forward by 1 ° 30 ', thus increasing the depression angle of the gun when it is moving forward, up to - 6 °, and the depression angle automatically rises by 3 ° when the gun turns to the rear to avoid collision with the rear protrusion^[15-16] 。

Protection system

T-72 main battle tank fires during military exercises

1. Armor protection

T-72 tank body adopts composite armor in front of the upper part of the body, in addition to homogeneous armor in non key parts.

The front upper armor is 200 mm thick and consists of three layers. The outer and inner layers are 80 mm and 20 mm thick homogeneous steel plates, respectively. The middle layer is 100 mm thick non-metallic materials, and the included angle with the horizontal plane is 22 °.

The turret is made of cast steel, and the thickness of each part is different. The front of the turret is the thickest.

2. Open shield

In the early T-72 tank, four open shield plates were installed on the outer edge of the front side fender of the body. The first one was smaller, and the other three were slightly larger. They were composed of thicker metal plates and rubber plates, which were hinged on the fender. There are springs on the hinge, which can open the shield plate outward and form an included angle of 70~80 ° with the longitudinal axis of the car body. When the tank passes, the barrier beside the vehicle can press the shield plate parallel to the vehicle body, which will not affect the passing ability of the tank; At ordinary times, the shield plate is fixed parallel to the car body with a chain with hooks.

Later T-72 tanks were equipped with integral side panels. Both the open shield plate and the integral side skirt plate have the shielding effect of anti armour piercing projectile.

3. Anti radiation lining

The four walls of the cockpit and battle cabin of the tank are equipped with linings made of lead containing organic materials with a thickness of 20~30mm, which have the ability to prevent radiation and neutron flow, and can also reduce the secondary killing effect caused by the splashing of inner armor fragments.

4. Three prevention device

The three prevention device is a collective protection type, which consists of detection device, control device, booster fan, canister, closing mechanism and other components. It can filter the air entering the vehicle body, and the on-board canister can sterilize the radioactive dust and chemical poison in the vehicle.

5. Other measures

The front and lower decks of the car body are homogeneous armor, with an included angle of 30 ° to the horizontal plane. They are equipped with bulldozers. The driver can operate the bulldozers from inside the car to construct fortifications. When not in use, stow the bulldozer and place it outside the front and lower decks to increase the protective force of the front and lower decks.

There are also bolt holes for installing kilometer T-4G mine sweeper on the front and lower deck of the car body, and the bulldozer needs to be put away before installation. The Soviet army equipped each tank company with three kilometer T-4 minesweepers.

6. Additional armor

The tank can be equipped with reactive explosive armor similar to T-80 and T-64 tanks.

7. Smoke screen device

The early T-72 tank was equipped with the same hot smoke release device as the T-62 tank. When releasing, the driver opens the instrument switch to connect the oil circuit. Diesel fuel is injected into the exhaust gas flow of the engine exhaust pipe through the fuel injection atomizer. The steam generated by the heated evaporation of diesel fuel is mixed with the exhaust gas and then discharged out of the vehicle. The supersaturated diesel steam quickly condenses when cooled to form white particulate smoke.

In addition to the hot smoke release device, the T-72 tank produced in the later stage is also equipped with smoke projectile launchers. The number of launchers varies with different models. For example, the T-72M1 tank is equipped with 12 smoke projectile launchers, 5 on the right and 7 on the left of the turret; The 1986 T-72M1 tank is equipped with 8 smoke grenade launchers.

8. Fire extinguishing device

The tank is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing device, which can automatically control the fire extinguisher to spray extinguishing agent when the detector senses a fire signal^[16] 。

The main protection of T-72 is to use Composite armor It places interlayer of heterogeneous materials between cast steel or rolled steel plate. The original T-72 only had a turret made of homogeneous cast steel, and the front of the car body was sandwiched with a layer of glass fiber like material in the middle of the homogeneous rolled steel plate. The turret thickness of T-72A is slightly increased, in which a layer of quartz particles is put; The turret thickness of T-72B is greatly increased. Sandwich made of multilayer aluminum plates and rubber is placed in the cavity on both sides of the main gun. In addition, steel plates with higher hardness are added to the front of the body. However, the cartridge loader's cartridge disk for storing shells does not have much protective armor, which makes it happen after being hit by enemy tanks Secondary explosion ， turret Be blown away. The former Soviet military tested the 105 mm captured by Syria after the 1982 Middle East War M111 The shell found that the body could be penetrated at a distance of 1.5km, so all T-72 and T-80 were added with 20mm additional armor. However, during the Gulf War, the T-72M1 (monkey version) exported by the former Soviet Union to Iraq without reinforced armor was still M-60 Barton's improved M833 and M774 tail fin stable shelling penetrator penetrates the vehicle body, and the turret is blown off.

In order to deal with anti tank missiles and rockets Shaped charge The former Soviet Union, based on the experience of the war between Syria and Israel, began to develop weapons in the 1980s Explosive reactive armor The appearance of a large number of reaction armor became a major feature of the Soviet main battle tanks. The initial reactive armor, such as Contact-1 (Kontakt-1), uses asymmetric explosive layers, which can greatly improve the protection against shaped warheads. But the outer layer contacting Type I is easy to be penetrated and detonated by small caliber weapons, and each reactive armor can only be used once. The first time in the winter of 1994 Chechnya During the war, some Russian tanks were attacking the capital Grozny Many tanks lost their ability to resist anti tank weapons because there were no explosives in the reaction armor. Newer Contact-5 (Kontakt-5^[17-18] ）With different designs, the outermost steel plate, because of its thickness, will not be blown open by the detonation of the inner layer of explosives, and will not be easily damaged by small caliber weapons. It contains multi-layer steel plates and explosives, which can be stably shelled by the tail fin or Armour piercing grenade When hit, these interlayers will be swelled by the explosion of the explosives below, dissipating part of the energy of the armour piercing projectile or high-speed jet.

T-72 in progress

In addition to composite armor and reactive armor, T-72 also has a rubber side skirt covered with steel plate to protect the side of the body from anti tank weapons. T-72 after T-72A is also equipped with 902 "Tucha" Smoke bomb The launcher can launch smoke bombs to form a barrier to cover the tank's shifting position; The new smoke bomb can block infrared or laser, reducing the ability of the enemy to observe with a thermal imager or use laser guided missiles to attack. In addition, in 2006, Russia publicly displayed the T-72BM using Nakidka camouflage kit, which can reduce the heat signal and radar Wave reflection makes tank more difficult to be detected in thermal imager or radar. When working. When not in use, stow the bulldozer and place it outside the front and lower decks to increase the protective force of the front and lower decks. There are also bolt holes for installing KMT-4G mine sweeper on the front lower deck of the car body. Before installation, the bulldozer needs to be put away. The Soviet army equipped each tank company with three KMT-4 minesweepers^[9] 。

weapons system

T-72B3 main battle tank

1. Main weapons

The main weapon of T-72 tank is a 125mm smooth bore tank gun of 2A46 type with short recoil distance. The barrel length is 48 times of the caliber, and it is composed of barrel, gun tail, cradle, parking machine, recoil machine, thermal sheath, smoking device and other components.

The pitching angle of the gun relative to the turret is - 4.5 °~+14.5 °. Since the turret seat is tilted forward by 1.5 °, the actual pitching angle of the gun when moving forward is - 6 °~+13 °, and the actual pitching angle of the gun when moving backward is - 3 °~+16 °. The thermal protective sleeve is made of light alloy sheet, with a total of 4 sections. The air extraction device is located in the middle of the gun barrel and deviates from the muzzle^[19] 。

2. Ammunition

T-72 is mainly equipped with 125mm smooth bore gun, the main model is 2A46 series, including 2A46M and 2A46M1.

БР 11 type or БМ 12 type tail fin stable shelling penetrator. The maximum effective range of the armour piercing projectile is 2120 meters, and its initial velocity is 1800 meters/second. The armour piercing thickness of the two armour piercing projectiles is 300 mm/1000 meters and 400 mm/1000 meters respectively.

3 БМ 42 tungsten alloy tail fin stable shelling penetrator, with an effective range of 2500 meters, a penetration depth of 420 mm at 2000 meters, and a penetration depth of 500 mm at 1500 meters.

3 БМ 32 type depleted uranium alloy tail fin stable shelling armor piercing projectile, effective range 2500m, 2000m penetration depth 550mm, 1500m penetration depth 610mm.

ЗБК 14 М type tail fin stable armor piercing projectile, with initial velocity of 900m/s, maximum direct firing distance of 4000m, and armor piercing thickness of 475mm/1000m;

The initial velocity of the ОФ 19 type tail fin stabilized grenade is 850 m/s, and the maximum effective range is 9400 m.

T-72 tank carries 39 shells, and the ratio is generally 12 tail fin stabilized armor piercing shells, 21 tail fin stabilized grenades and 6 tail fin stabilized armor piercing shells. The rotary ammunition feeder of the automatic ammunition loader stores 22 rounds of ammunition, the upper layer is a cartridge case, and the lower layer is a projectile; The middle ammunition rack behind the turret basket stores 9 shells; The compartment on the right of the driver in the front of the car body stores four shells, three shells are placed vertically on the rotating floor, and one shell is placed horizontally^[19-20] 。

3. Autoloader

T-72 main battle tank

The ammunition loader of T-72 tank is composed of rotary ammunition feeder, chain elevator, chain pusher, gun lock, automatic shell throwing machine, control box, console and other components. The shells in the rotary ammunition transporter are stored in the lower and upper layers of the ammunition transporter respectively according to the pellets and charges, in a circular radial shape. The drive motor turns the required ammunition seeds to the lifting position of the elevator, the elevator lifts the pellets and charges in the magazine to the right rear position of the gun, the ammunition pusher pushes the pellets and charges into the chamber respectively, and the memory box memorizes the stored ammunition seeds.

Before loading, the gun locking device fixes the gun at an elevation of 4 ° 30 'for accurate loading. The automatic shell throwing machine can automatically throw the bottom shell of non combustible short cylindrical metal cartridge case out of the turret. The firing rate of the gun is 8 rounds/minute. In case of failure of the automatic ammunition loader, semi-automatic loading can be adopted, and the process includes manual ammunition selection, manual lifting and manual ammunition feeding^[16] 。

Installed in 2006 T-90 In addition to being able to load longer shells and rotate in both directions, the new automatic loader on other new T-72 also has a continuous loading mode: after the main gun is fired, the automatic loader can load the same kind of shells by itself. These improvements have shortened the loading procedure of the autoloader, which can fire three shells in 13 seconds, with an average cost of 4.3 seconds per round. The autoloader on the Type 99 main battle tank was copied from here^[21] 。

4. Auxiliary weapon

On the right side of T-72 tank gun, a 7.62mm ПКТ machine gun is installed in parallel, equipped with 250 rounds of waiting ammunition. The commander's command tower is equipped with a newly designed HCBT 12.7mm machine gun, which can only be operated by the commander with his upper body exposed from the turret. The maximum aiming distance for ground target shooting is 2000 meters, and the maximum aiming distance for air shooting is 1500 meters^[16] 。

dynamic system

1. Engine

V-type B-46 supercharged diesel engine for T-72

T-72 tank is equipped with a B-46 type four stroke 12V60 ° water-cooled multi fuel supercharged engine. The structure is basically the same as that of B-54 engine, and the overall dimensions have little change. As the engine is supercharged, its rated power is 50% higher than that of B-54 engine, reaching 574 kW (780 hp). In order to install the supercharger, the eighth main bearing of the original engine crankshaft was canceled, making the engine length basically the same as that of the B-54 engine.

The engine is arranged horizontally in the vehicle, and can burn diesel oil, kerosene, gasoline with octane number of 68-78 and a mixture of the above fuels. The fuel supply quantity varies with different fuel types, and is controlled by rotating the runner and adjusting the fuel supply rod. The runner is marked with three letters Д, К and Б, which respectively represent the supply position of diesel, kerosene and gasoline. When mixed fuel is used, the runner needs to be turned to the position where heavy oil is used.

T-72 main battle tank

2. Drive

The tank adopts planetary mechanical transmission device, which is composed of transmission box, bilateral gearbox, side transmission device and manual hydraulic control device.

The transmission box is connected with the engine, gearbox, fan, starter motor, compressor and other devices.

On both sides of the car body, there is a three degree of freedom planetary mechanical gearbox with the same structure and manual hydraulic control. It has four planetary rows, six controls, seven forward gears, and one reverse gear. In addition to speed change, it also has the functions of steering, braking, and cutting off power.

When driving in a straight line, the gearboxes on both sides shift into the same gear at the same time, and the synchronous operation of the gearboxes on both sides is ensured through the left and right control valve cores of the rigid linkage shaft.

When steering in the first or reverse gear, the transmission on the steering side is braked, and the high-speed side is shifted to the first or reverse gear; During the second to seventh gear steering, the transmission gear on the steering side is one gear lower than the transmission gear on the high-speed side, and the outer track maintains the original speed.

There is no main clutch in the transmission device, but it has the main clutch function. When the power needs to be cut off, just operate the oil circuit to connect the shift brake and clutch cylinder with the oil return passage.

The side transmission device is a single-stage coaxial planetary reducer, with the sun gear as the input part, the gear ring fixed and the frame output.

3. Cooling system

The cooling system is composed of centrifugal cooling fan, oil radiator, water radiator and other components, and adopts high-temperature cooling technology. In order to eliminate the adverse effect of water vapor on heat dissipation, an expansion water tank is added to the system to collect the steam in the cylinder bank and water radiator, condense it, return it to the water pump, and part of the water vapor is discharged from the water tank through the pressure regulating valve.

4. Mobile device

The tank adopts a high-strength torsion bar suspension device. Each side of the vehicle body is equipped with 6 double rim rubber hanging load wheels, 3 belt supporting wheels, 1 front inducer and 1 rear driving wheel. Hydraulic shock absorbers are installed at the first, second and sixth load wheels.

The track is single pin type, with rubber hanging on the pin ear, 580mm wide and 137mm pitch.

The service life of the action device has been improved due to the use of ∨НЗ - 2 grease which is insoluble in water.

5. Submersible equipment

The submersible equipment is composed of intake pipe, sealing cover, exhaust valve, navigator, drainage pump, etc.

The air inlet pipe is divided into three sections, which are packaged together according to the diameter. It is usually installed at the rear or right rear part of the turret. When used, the cover can prevent a large amount of water from entering the vehicle; The exhaust valve can smoothly discharge the engine exhaust gas out of the vehicle; The drainage pump can discharge the accumulated water entering the vehicle body; The navigator ensures that the course will not be lost during submarine crossing^[16] 。

Fire control electronics

T-72 main battle tank

In front of the T-72 tank commander's command tower, there is a TKH-3 binocular day and night integrated sight, and its infrared searchlight is installed on the command tower. There is one periscope on both sides of the commander's sight, and two observation mirrors facing left and right rear on the command tower hatch cover.

The gunner's hatch cover is equipped with a snorkel of the diving vessel and two observation periscopes. At the left front of the hatch cover, there is a perimeter sight that integrates day and night. The infrared searchlight is at the left front of the sight. The artillery commander's sight is synchronized with the artillery through four connecting rods, and the model is ТПН - 2. On the left side is the ТПД 1-49-23 infrared sight used at night, and its eyepiece height is flush with ТПД - 2.

The early T-72 tank was equipped with a combined optical range finder. The baseline length was 1.5 meters, the magnification was 8 ×, and the range was 1000~4000 meters. The right eyepiece of ТПД - 2 sight is the eyepiece of the optical range finder. When measuring the distance, the gunner's main sight is used to roughly aim at the target, so that the target is located in the central area of the field of view. The target image is located below the image separation line. If the distance is inconsistent, the vertical contour line of the target is misaligned on the left and right. Turn the console to align the vertical line on the image separation line. At this time, the number that the distance indicator line points to represents the actual distance of the target.

The improved T-72 tank is equipped with a laser range finder under the front of the gunner's hatch. 125mm gun with two-way stabilizer^[16] 。

performance data

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Reference data of T-72 main battle tank:

model	T-72
crew	3 persons
Full combat weight	41000 kg
Unit power	14 kW/t
Unit pressure	81.4 kPa
Vehicle commander
Gun forward		9.445m
Cannon backward		9.275m
Car body length	6.410m
Vehicle width
With skirt		3.520m
Without skirt		3.380m
Vehicle height (to the top of gun tower)	2.190m
Firewire height	1.645m
Ground Clearance	0.470m
Track width	580mm
Crawler landing length	4.250m
Maximum highway speed	60 km/h
Average off-road speed	35-45 km/h
Fuel reserve	1600 liters
Maximum road travel	460km
Wading depth (unprepared)	1.2m
Diving depth	5m
Gradient	60%
Roll slope	40%
Height of climbing vertical wall	0.8m
Trench width crossing	2.7m
Minimum turning radius	1.76m
engine
model		B-46
type		12V water cooled multi fuel supercharged engine
Power/speed		574 kW (780 HP)/2000 rpm
transmission
type		Planetary mechanical double side gearbox
Number of forward/reverse gears		7/1
Steering device type	Clutch and brake (1st or reverse gear)
Low speed side gearbox downshift (2~7 gears)
Hitch type	Torsion bar
Tank gun caliber/model/type	125mm/2A46/smooth bore gun
Parallel machine gun caliber/model/type/quantity	7.62mm/ПКТ/machine gun/1 piece
Diameter/model/type/quantity of anti-aircraft machine gun	12.7mm/HCBT/machine gun/1 piece
Total number of smoke bomb launchers	5+7
Hot smoke screen	yes
Ammunition base
125 mm smooth bore artillery shell		39 rounds
7.62mm machine gun cartridge		3000 rounds
12.7mm machine gun cartridge		500 rounds
Initial velocity of armour piercing projectile	1800 m/s
Rate of fire	8 rounds/minute
Turret drive mode	Electric/manual
Turret rotation range	360°
Car length override control	yes
Artillery pitch range
Gun forward		-6°～+13°
Cannon backward		-3°～+16°
Gun stabilizer
Horizontal		yes
High low direction		yes
Car commander's daytime sight model	ТКН-3
Gun commander daytime sight model	ТПД-2
Night sight model	ТПН1-49-23
Armor structure type/thickness
Horizontal inclination/material
car body
Front upper		Composite/204mm/22 °/steel, non-metallic materials.
Front lower		Homogeneous/80mm/30 °/steel
Lateral part		Homogeneous/front 80mm/90 °/steel
Lateral part		Rear 70mm/90 °/steel
Top		Homogeneous/front 30mm/1 ° 30 '/steel
Top		Rear 20mm/1 ° 30 '/steel
bottom		Homogeneous/20mm/0 °/steel
turret
positive		Homogeneous/approx. 400mm/60 °/steel
Top		Homogeneous/80mm/30 °/steel
Fire extinguishing device	yes
Photoelectric alarm or countermeasure equipment	nothing
Generator voltage/power/model	28V/10kW/СГ - 10-1
Number/voltage/capacity/model of storage battery	4/12V/140Ah/6-CT-140P^[16]^[22-23]

Derivative model

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Various modifications

T-72 main battle tank^[24]

T-72 Ural: initial T-72 (172M project), equipped with tools Optical ranging The functional TPD-2-49 sight and the 2A26M2 125mm main gun.

T-72 Ural-1: T-72 improved type (172M1 project), with thickened turret and corundum interlayer.

T-72A ： Equipped with TPD-K1 sight including laser range finder, the thickened cast turret contains 130 mm thick quartz particle interlayer, which is nicknamed Dolly Button by the US Army. In addition, a rubber side skirt covering steel plate is added. In 1980, the 902 "Tucha" was added to the front of the turret Smoke bomb launcher.

T-72AG main battle tank^[25]

T-72AV ： T-72A equipped with contact - 1 explosive reaction armor^[24] 。

T-72B ： The turret is thickened. There are 435mm thick multi-layer aluminum plates and rubber composite interlayer in the front, and its position can be identified from the groove on the top of the turret. The top of the turret is covered with a 25mm thick neutron protection layer, nicknamed "Super Dolly Parton" by the US Army. The collimator is replaced by 1A40 collimator with the function of calculating the lead quantity, which can launch 9K120 reed flute "Svir" laser guided anti tank missile^[24]^[26-27] 。 T-72B is the second important improved model series of T-72, which can launch missiles and strengthen the protection system^[28] 。

T-72B1: T-72B without missile launching capability.

T-72B3 main battle tank^[29]

T-72BV: T-72B equipped with contact - 1 explosive reaction armor. T-72BV uses a 1000 horsepower B92C2 diesel engine with a thrust weight ratio of 21.7hp/t. Another argument is that T-72B3M is equipped with a stronger diesel engine, 1130 horsepower, and the thrust weight ratio is close to 25hp/t^[30] 。

T-72B (M): T-72B equipped with contact - 5 explosive reaction armor.

T-72B3: T-72B3 tank is upgraded from the aging T-72B tank in Russia. The upgraded T-72B3 tank is equipped with new engine, new gunner sight finder, new fire control system and other improvements. The T-72B3 tank was delivered to the Russian army in 2013. In 2016, at least 600 tanks were upgraded to this standard^[29]^[31] 。

T-72B3M main battle tank^[32]

T-72B3M/T-72B4: T-72B3M (also called T-72B4) is a new upgraded T-72B tank model in Russia. The tank was replaced with a new tank gun, improved fire control system and panoramic commander's sight, improved protection system and new engine. The tank was first released in 2014 and entered into small batch production. In 2016, Russia announced plans to upgrade 150 T-72B tanks to the T-72B3M standard. T-72MB3M tank is regarded as a low-cost large upgrade model of T-72B tank^[32-33] 。 The performance of T-72B3M is close to that of Russian T-90 series tanks. In addition to great differences in appearance, T-72B3M mainly improves the fire control system^[28] 。

T72BZ main battle tank^[34]

T-72BZ: T-72BZ (also called T-72S, 2013) tank is an upgraded T-72 tank used for export market in Russia. The total weight of the tank is 46 tons, equipped with a VS-92s2 diesel engine, which has a power of 1000 horsepower, making the maximum speed of T-72BZ tank reach 65 kilometers per hour and the off-road speed 35-45 kilometers per hour. The tank driver is equipped with a Tpdk-1 night vision device, and the captain is equipped with a Pnk-4 day/night mirror and a thermal imager for gunners. The tank is also equipped with Gpk-59 GLONASS satellite navigation system, Pkuz-1a collective nuclear, chemical and biological protection system, laser rangefinder and Shtora-1 smoke grenade launching system as standard. The tank gun system is a 2A46M 125mm two axis stable gun, which is also equipped with anti tank missiles, a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. T-72BZ tank made its debut at the Russian Weapons Expo (RAE) in September 2013^[34] 。

T-72M: for export, Poland is also authorized to Czechoslovakia Production, specification is similar to T-72A, but full cast turret is used^[35] 。

T-72M1: export type, also authorized to be produced in Poland and Czechoslovakia, with specifications similar to T-72A.

T-72M2： Bulgaria The M1 upgrade of has new night vision goggles.

T-72S: export type, specification is similar to T-72BV, Fire control system Get performance improvements. The main user is Iran.

M-84 main battle tank^[25]

T-72BM: improved T-72B, equipped with a new collimator with thermal image channel, a new 2A46M5 125mm main gun with muzzle reference system, a 1000 horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine and a new explosive reaction armor Russia land force Major upgrade of T-72.

TR-125: Romanian T-72M1 modified^[16] 。

M-84： Yugoslavia Improved, also exported Kuwait^[36] 。

T-72AG: The 1G46 fire control system of T-84 is adopted. After the turret is equipped with additional armor, it is very similar to T-84^[25] 。 Ukraine The lifting scheme proposed by KMDB includes arms, fire control system, diesel engine and explosive reaction armor^[37] 。

T-72MP main battle tank^[25]

T-72MP: the upgrading scheme proposed by KMDB of Ukraine, including weapons, fire control system, new commander's command tower, diesel engine and explosive reaction armor^[38] 。 Equipped with the fire control system produced in France, it has a huge and conspicuous commander's command tower. This is an important symbol to distinguish T-72MP and T-72AG, two tanks with extremely similar shapes^[25] 。

PT-91

PT-91 main battle tank^[25]

PT-91 (PT-91M) tank, yes poland Of T-72M1, sold to Malaysia^[39] 。 PT-91 main battle tank is a big country in Eastern Europe, Poland, whose T-72 transformation plan is also a quite comprehensive plan. However, unlike Russia and Ukraine, their retrofit plans are more to transform T-72 by introducing foreign technology and cooperative development technology. PT-91 main battle tank is developed by Poland on the basis of T-72M I main battle tank by using western technology.

In order to improve the survivability of the tank, PT-91 main battle tank is equipped with ERAWA-1 additional reactive armor developed by Poland, which enhances the tank's defense against armor piercing and armor piercing projectiles. After the addition of additional armor, compared with T-72, the total combat weight of PT-91 also increased from 43 tons to 45.3 tons. The tank is also equipped with four laser warning receivers, which can alarm the crew in time when the enemy laser rangefinder or laser illuminator irradiates the tank. In addition, the external surface of the tank is coated with "1K2KS" absorbing paint, which can effectively reduce the probability of the tank being found by radar. As T-72 main battle tank is prone to "secondary effect" after being shot, PT-91 is equipped with a new automatic fire suppression system.

PT-91M main battle tank^[25]

The performance of T-72 fire control system is poor, especially in night combat. As an improved version of T-72, Poland replaced PT-91 with a self-developed "Drawa-T" digital fire control system. This type of fire control system uses a large number of European and American components. For example, the artillery commander thermal imaging sight integrated in the system is produced by Israel El Op Company. In addition, the captain and driver are equipped with a new low light level night vision device improved by Poland. The improvement of fire control system and significant improvement of performance have greatly improved the strike capability and night combat capability of PT-91 main battle tank.

In addition, Poland has also jointly developed new high-power engines with Slovakia. These new engines have several models, which are improved on the V-46 engine. PT-91 main battle tank adopts S-850 four stroke multi fuel engine, with the maximum output power of 625 kW. The PT-91 MBT also changed the single pin track of the prototype T-72 into a double pin rubber track. Although the new engine and new track are installed, the maneuverability of PT-91 MBT is only slightly enhanced compared with T-72^[25] 。

T-72MⅠA

T-72MIA main battle tank^[25]

T-72M Ⅰ A main battle tank is Slovakia ZTS is also one of the companies in Eastern Europe that carried out the T-72 improvement plan earlier. Knowing that its technical strength is weak, ZTS Factory has contacted with foreign manufacturers for a long time to develop its own T-72 modification scheme through cooperation with foreign manufacturers. The first modification plan launched by ZTS is T-72M Ⅰ A.

The tank introduced Slovenia's EFCS3-72A fire control system. The electro-hydraulic gun two-way stabilizer in the original T-72 fire control system, the laser rangefinder integrated in the gunner's sight and the automatic loader control equipment were retained. The gunner's sight in EFCS3-72A fire control system is integrated with a thermal imager. In addition, a CRT display is added to the commander to facilitate him to observe what the gunner's sight sees. The ballistic computer was replaced by a digital ballistic computer produced in Slovenia. The commander's day and night observation mirror above the commander's command tower is replaced with a new TKN-3M day and night observation mirror. The driver is equipped with a PNK-72 low light night vision mirror, which ensures that he can drive the T-72MIA in various complicated environments of the tank under various low visibility conditions. In terms of weapon system, the original 2A46 tank gun was replaced by the ZA46MS tank gun developed by Slovakia itself, while the original parallel machine gun and NSV anti-aircraft machine gun were retained.

The T-72M Ⅰ A engine was replaced with S-12U (S-850) engine jointly developed by Slovakia and Poland. Unlike similar models in Poland, S-12U is equipped with a set of DSM-16 computer controlled engine automatic control and monitoring system. As for how to improve the protection capability, ZTS, like other manufacturers, also installed a set of "DYNAS" series reaction armor with a total weight of 1.4 tons in the front of T-72M Ⅰ A car body and turret^[25] 。

T-72M21

T-72M21 main battle tank^[25]

The T-72M21 main battle tank, like the PT-91 tank, has not been completely transformed and its overall performance has not improved much, so ZTS decided to continue to improve its own scheme on the basis of the T-72M Ⅰ A, and finally developed into the T-72M21.

T-72M21 is a transitional model developed on the basis of T-72M Ⅰ A. The main improvement is to replace the EFCS3-72A fire control system with the "Vega" fire control system developed and assembled by Slovakia. The main technology of the fire control system is derived from the fire control system developed and produced by Belgium for its own "Panther" 1 main battle tank, but Slovakia has modified it by replacing the artillery two-way stabilizer with a French product. T-72M21 is also equipped with "DYNAS" series reaction armor. The appearance of the whole set of reaction armor is basically the same as that of T-72M Ⅰ A, but the total weight is increased to 1.5 tons. Different from T-72M Ⅰ A, T-72M21 cancels anti-aircraft machine guns and instead equips KAA-200AA 20 mm machine guns on both sides of the rear half of the turret to carry out air defense missions, which can also attack ground targets when necessary. The whole system adopts modular design, mainly using powerful machine guns against armed helicopters^[25] 。

T-72M2Ⅱ

T-72 tanks destroyed in the Lebanon War

The T-72M2II main battle tank was launched after the T-72M21 was launched. ZTS felt that the transformation of T-72 was not complete, and the overall performance of this type of tank could not be separated from that of T-72. ZTS decided to improve on the basis of T-72M Ⅰ A, so T-72M2 Ⅱ appeared.

The tank is equipped with a new type of automatic tracking fire control system, and the commander's perimeter sight is replaced by the "MVS 580" commander's perimeter sight on the commander's command tower. The weapon system is basically the same as T-72M21, but T-72M2II uses a 2A42 30mm machine gun installed on the right side of the rear of the turret as an air defense weapon. Like the former anti-aircraft gun, the gun can also attack ground targets when necessary. The improved fire control system can also enable the commander to remotely control the 2A42 machine gun in the vehicle, and shoot ground and air targets under day and night conditions, even under low visibility conditions caused by harsh environments.

T-72M2II is equipped with the second generation "DYNAS" reactive armor in the vehicle body and turret, which effectively improves the protection capability of the tank within the front arc shape. The shape of the second generation "DYNAS" reactive armor is quite different from that of the first generation. It is not as sharp as the first generation, but much smoother. T-72M2II is also equipped with automatic fire suppression and explosion suppression system, new additional armor and improved engine, which has good firepower, protection capability and mobility.

The transformation of T-72M2II is quite thorough. The defects of T-72 are basically overcome. The performance during the test also proves that it is a successful tank with strong combat capability. Most of its performance can absolutely meet the requirements of the most critical customers. Unfortunately, both M2 Ⅰ and M2 Ⅱ still use S-12U engines, and their mobility cannot meet the operational requirements. Even though M2 Ⅱ is successfully transformed, few people are interested in it because its mobility is still not greatly improved^[25] 。

T-72M4CZ

Czech T-7M4CZ main battle tank^[40]

Czech Republic T-72M1 modified type, using new engine Fire control system Armor with explosive reaction. The Czech military modified the T-72 tank of the former Soviet Union, greatly improving the capability of the T-72 tank. In the Czech Republic, this improved version is called T-72M4CZ. The improved version of the Czech T-72 was carried out by the 25th Military Factory of the Czech Republic, which improved the T-72 main battle tank to a considerable extent and adopted a large number of western systems. T-72M4CZ attaches great importance to the active protection performance. It also makes necessary improvements in the improvement of fire strike capability, and has replaced the western fire control system and night vision device to strengthen its night engagement capability^[41] 。 In the late 1990s, the Czech Ministry of National Defense formulated a plan to comprehensively modernize and upgrade its T-72 tanks. According to the plan, more than 300 of the more than 500 T-72 vehicles currently in service in the Czech Army will be upgraded. To this end, the Ministry of Defense of Czech Republic has planned to allocate 14 billion kroner (about 640 million US dollars). However, due to financial budget constraints, the number of tanks to be upgraded was first reduced to 140, and finally further reduced to 30^[40] 。 The upgrading plan of T-72 tank formulated by the Czech Ministry of Defense has been greatly assisted by Western companies. For example, Perkins of the UK provided the T-72M4CZ with a CV-12-1000 engine with a power of 736 kW, Alison of the United States produced the transmission for it, and the NPP 2000-1 power system used on the new tank came from Nimda of Israel. In addition, T-72M4CZ is also equipped with Italian fire control system and photoelectric integrated device^[42] 。 Czech military experts believe that after comprehensive modernization, the overall combat effectiveness of T-72M4CZ has reached the level of the third generation tank in the West.

Czech T72M4CZ main battle tank

Czech T72M4CZ main battle tank (3 sheets)

The improvement focus of T-72M4CZ scheme is mainly on the power system. The engine is replaced by the "Bald Eagle" CV12l000TCA turbocharged, multi fuel four stroke diesel engine with an output power of 735kW produced in the UK; The transmission system is American made "Alison" XCG4116 hydro mechanical transmission system, so M4 has better acceleration and handling than M3. In order to improve the reliability and maintainability of the power transmission system, the M4 scheme is equipped with a fault diagnosis system of the power transmission device, so that members can be more relaxed when maintaining and overhauling the engine and transmission system. In order to reduce standby and latent fuel consumption and enhance self concealment, M4 is equipped with NPP2000-1 auxiliary power system produced by Israel Nimda^[25] 。

T-72-120

T-72-120 main battle tank^[25]

T-72-120 is an improvement plan proposed by KMDB Company. It is equipped with a NATO 120mm tank gun, including a Autoloader The extended turret of NATO Standard 120 mm shells^[43-44] 。 Ironically, it does not come from Lower Targil, but from its former competitor, Kharkov. T-64 is not as vital as T-72 in this era dominated by hard currency because it has no export.

T-72-120 also adopts 1G46 fire control system. However, it is equipped with a 120 mm smoothbore gun with a caliber of 50 times and capable of firing NATO standard ammunition. In addition, the T-72-120 is obviously different from the former two in appearance - a rectangular tail bin is added at the rear of the turret, and an automatic loader is arranged in the bin. So from the side, the length of T-72-120 turret is obviously longer than that of MP and AG. This is an important mark to distinguish T-72-120 from the other two basic models^[25] 。

The Fallen

"Fallen" main battle tank^[25]

Croatia The "Fallen" main battle tank is a new type of main battle tank developed on the basis of the M-84 main battle tank to meet the operational needs of the national army. It belongs to a T-72 derivative model. The chassis of the Fallen basically inherits the structure and technical performance of the M-84 chassis, but the former has a square turret with a newly designed welded structure. So we can distinguish the "degenerate" from the T-72M at a glance.

The Fallen retained the complete weapon system of the original T-72M1 (M-84), that is, a 125 mm smooth bore gun equipped with an automatic loader. A 7.62mm machine gun is installed side by side with the tank main gun. A 12.7mm antiaircraft machine gun is also installed on the top of the turret. The captain can shoot remotely in the car, instead of the T-72, which can only be shot by the captain leaning out to operate the machine gun, improving safety. The fire control system of the "Fallen" was replaced by the OMEGA-D digital fire control system with better performance. The night vision channel of the artillery commander's day/night sight was equipped with a low light night vision device instead of a thermal imager. Customers can also choose to replace the low light level night vision device with a thermal imager. The commander is equipped with a COMTOS day/night sight, and the night vision channel is also equipped with a low light level night vision device. The driver has a CODRIS-E day/night periscope system, and its night vision periscope is also equipped with a low light level night vision instrument. The main gun control device is electric hydraulic type, but can be replaced with an all electric gun control system. Even if it is not equipped with a thermal imager and an all electric gun control system, the shooting accuracy of the "Fallen" is much higher than that of the T-72, especially the first round hit rate, which is also better than that of the M-84, and the night combat ability is also higher than that of the T-72. If equipped with thermal imager and all electric gun control system, shooting accuracy and night combat capability will be improved qualitatively.

T-72 main battle tank^[2]

As the "Fallen" adopts a new type of all welded square armored turret, the front armor thickness is increased, and the defense ability against armor piercing shells and armor piercing shells is enhanced. In addition, the turret can be equipped with two kinds of additional armor: one is the additional armor developed by Croatia; The other is the "RRAK" explosive reaction armor newly developed by Israel and provided to Croatia. These two kinds of additional armor also cover the part from the front arc of the chassis to the front end of the tank and the side skirt, greatly improving the battlefield survivability of the "Fallen" main battle tank. The Fallen is equipped with Croatian made fire detection and suppression systems. The system is composed of the LIRD laser threat detection and warning system made in Croatia, and the grenade launchers installed on both sides of the turret (2 rows on each side, 3 in each row), which are used in combination. In addition to Croatia's domestic nuclear, chemical and biological protection system, the survivability of the "Fallen" main battle tank has been further improved.

The "Fallen" main battle tank uses a 735kW V-12 high-power diesel engine (it should be an improved B-46 engine), and the transmission system retains the original M-84 transmission system. In this way, the maximum road speed of the "Fallen" main battle tank with a total combat weight of 44.5 tons will reach 70 km/h. In addition, there is a new set of power components including an 882kW diesel engine for customers to choose from. The driver control panel is computerized. The computerized control panel integrates the driving training monitoring system with the navigation system, as well as other functions. This generation of improvements has enhanced the mobility of the Fallen MBT^[25] 。

TANK-EX

TANK-EX main battle tank^[25]

TANK-EX tank is India An improved T-72 is developed on the basis of its T-72M "Agea" main battle tank, and is widely used Arjun MBT Technology. The total combat weight of TANK-EX is 47 tons. Since the main gun is manually loaded, a loader is added, and the vehicle group is changed from a three person vehicle group to a four person vehicle group. "TANK-EX is actually the turret of Aqiong's upper battle tank grafted on the chassis of T-72M main battle tank."

Since the turret was replaced with the turret of the "Arjun" main battle tank, it was also equipped with the same full set of weapon systems and fire control systems as the "Arjun" main battle tank. The weapon system includes a 120mm high bore pressure line tank gun with manual loading and 55 times caliber barrel length. The elevation angle of the gun is+16.5 °～ - 10 °, the ammunition carrying capacity is 32 rounds, and the maximum firing rate is 4 rounds/minute. The gun is equipped with ammunition types including armour piercing shells, armour piercing shells, shrapnels and armour crushing shells. In the future, it may also be equipped with anti helicopter intelligent shells developed by India itself. When the tank launches the tail fin stable shelling armor piercing projectile, it can penetrate 560 mm homogeneous steel armor at a distance of 2000 meters, and its power has exceeded that of the 2A46 tank gun on the original T-72 main battle tank. Auxiliary weapons include a parallel machine gun and an anti-aircraft machine gun. The parallel machine gun is a Belgian FNMAG 7.62mm machine gun produced in India. The anti-aircraft machine gun, installed at the door of the loader, is a Russian "rock" NSV12 12.7mm machine gun that can be remotely fired in the turret.

The fire control system of TANK-EX also adopts AL-4421MK.1B digital fire control system of "Arjun" main battle tank. The gunner's sight is made in Germany and has a thermal imager sight with a maximum night sight distance of 3000 meters, but the rangefinder is a Nd/YAC laser side distance meter made in Britain. The vehicle commander has an independent two-way stable peripheral sight, and is also equipped with a phase crossing shooting device, allowing the vehicle commander to exceed the artillery commander to fire. The rifled gun plus command ceremony fire control is much better than the T-72 main battle tank equipped by India in firepower, or even inferior to the T-90 main battle tank newly equipped by India.

Although India expanded the diameter of the turret seat ring of the chassis in order to install the turret of the "Arjun" main battle tank on the T-72M chassis, the basic structure of the chassis has not been changed. The original transmission system and suspension system of T-72M are retained. Thanks to the new turret and some new equipment, the combat weight of EX reached 47 tons. In order to ensure that the mobility of EX will not decrease due to the increase of weight (Indians hope to maintain the level of T-72 at least), it was originally planned to install an improved B-46 engine developed by India itself for EX, with a power of 735 kW. However, it was found through actual tests. This improved engine is not only difficult to install on the EX chassis (actually the T-72 chassis), but also unstable in performance. There are many problems to be solved. If EX really wants to mass produce and equip troops, it can only choose B-46. Since the power is only 735 kilowatts, the mobility of the tank is reduced. Although the crawler with larger grounding area is adopted, the ground pressure of the crawler is increased by 5%, which has a slight impact on the passing ability of the tank. In addition, due to the rise of the vehicle's center of gravity (up to 2.93m for EX vehicles), the maximum roll driving angle is lower than T-72M. However, the trench crossing ability of EX is stronger than that of T-72. In addition, the tank is also equipped with a GPS navigation system, but if a more powerful engine cannot be installed, the EX tank is difficult to exceed the original level of the T-72 tank.

The protection capacity of TANK-EX chassis is equivalent to that of T-72M. However, due to the use of the welded turret of "Arjun", the protection capability of the turret has been greatly enhanced, especially the protection capability of the front, which is at least equivalent to 650mm homogeneous steel armor. Some of the main gun ammunition of the tank is stored in the turret tail bin. The tail bin adopts a compartment design. When the ammunition is martyred, the pressure can be released through the pressure relief plate at the rear of the turret. The tank is also equipped with a fire suppression and explosion suppression system, which can effectively prevent the secondary effect caused by the explosive martyrdom of ammunition. Therefore, the protection capability of TANK-EX is improved compared with T-72^[25]^[45] 。

Service dynamics

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Export

Lithuanian T-72 tank

Algeria - 295

Angola - 50

Amelia - 102

Azerbaijan - 150

Belarus-1225

Bulgaria - 433

Transcaucasia - purchase from the former Soviet Union

Croatia - 5

Czech - 278

East Germany and Germany are merged and resold to Finland and Poland

Finland - 162 (some from the former East Germany)

Georgia - 150 (T-72B1, T-72M, T-72AM, T-72SIM1).

Hungary - 238

India - 2800, India also proposed an improvement program called EX tank.

Iran - 522, 422 of which are T-72S and others are T-72M1.

There are more than 1000 Iraqi regular troops equipped with Saddam Hussein (only 125 in 2006), mainly T-72M M1, which was used by the United States in the Iraq War Abrams MBT 875 destroyed.

Iraq's T-72 tank

Kazakhstan - 650 various improved models

Various improved models of Kyrgyzstan - 210

Libya - 260

Macedonia - 31

Malaysia - 48

Mongolia - 85

Myanmar-139

Morocco - 150

Poland - 772

Russia - 9700

Serbia - 60

Slovakia - 272

T-72 main battle tank

Syria - 1700, mainly T-72M1975, T-72G, T-72M, T-72M1 and a small number of T-72AV (T-72AV was purchased from Russia after the beginning of the Syrian conflict).

Tajikistan - 40

Turkmenistan - 570

Ukraine - 1260 (T-72, T-72A, T-72B, T-72UA, T-72AG and T-72MP).

Uzbekistan

Yemeni-39 (T-72S)

Yugoslavia - 500 (refer to M-84)

other

China-1 (exchange a plasma spraying machine from Romania)

United States (for exhibition and testing)

Related developments

Iran's T-72 main battle tank

1982 Lebanon War During this period, T-72 tanks that participated in the battle were destroyed by tail fin stable shelling penetrators launched by Israel's standard 105mm tank guns, ceramic anti tank missiles launched by helicopters, improved conventional shells launched by 155mm and 203mm guns, and anti tank bullets from American made cluster bombs. However, T-72 showed absolute firepower advantage over second-generation tanks such as M60 in the battle. According to the Afghan side, T-72 destroyed at least 21 M60 and M48 "Magazines" and several Mekawa MK1 in the war. The battle damage ratio with Mekawa was about 6:4. Considering that T-72M had no laser range finder at that time, and the fire control computer data needed to be manually input, this battle result was ready^[46] 。

Iraqi T-72 tank destroyed in the Iran Iraq war

Iran Iraq War In China, T-72 is the most advanced main battle tank of both sides in the war. It has a great advantage when facing the M48 and sheikh tanks of the Iranian army. Saddam was very satisfied with it. By 1990, the Iraqi army had imported about 900 T-72M/M1 (say 500), mainly produced by Poland or Czechoslovakia. All or most T-72s are equipped with the Republic Guard. However, in the 1991 Gulf War, T-72 suffered heavy losses when facing the third generation of Western main battle tanks, such as M1A1HA and Challenger 1. The main reason was that the technology gap was too large, and T-72M/M1, as an export type, could not obtain better ammunition and fire control. In addition, Iraqi military tactics are also very problematic. In the Gulf War, T-72 destroyed about four M1A1, and the rest are unknown^[46] 。

Syria The situation can be described as a trend of instability and further deterioration, but T-72 tank has become a victim. The T-72 tank remains on the streets of Ereha, a town south of the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib. The reason for all this is the fierce war between the government army and the opposition. What remains after the war is really the remains of T-72 that was cut through and beheaded.

On June 29, 2024, the Indian military said on the same day that an accident occurred when a T-72 main battle tank of the Indian army was carrying out wading training in the border area between China and India, and it was trapped in the river due to the sudden rise of the water level. Although rescuers rushed to the scene quickly, the soldiers carried by this tank could not be rescued because of the rapid flow of water and the high water level. Five Indian soldiers died.^[52]

Introduced from China

In order to master the technology of the third generation main battle tank, China once introduced a Soviet made T-72 tank, named "64 type" tank. The whole work of "64 type" tank reassembly can be divided into four stages: reassembly test; Preparations for reassembly and mapping; Decomposition and mapping work; Reassembly and finishing work^[49] 。

Overall evaluation

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T-72 tank is a classic of the Soviet Union. It is not only equipped with a large number of Soviet troops, but also widely exported, becoming a world-renowned star equipment^[51] 。（ Guangming Online Review ）

Media Comments

Russian T-72 Main Battle Tank Monument

T-72 main battle tank is a powerful, simple and practical weapon platform. Although the performance of T-72 is far behind that of other third-generation tanks in the world today, it can catch up with the times and continue to compete with other third-generation tanks as long as it is properly modified and its potential is fully tapped. The firepower and protection capability of T-72 main battle tank is insufficient to deal with new threats; Mobility is far behind the times, information capability is seriously lacking, and it is seriously out of touch with the trend of networking and informatization in the world today; Insufficient fire and explosion suppression measures. These problems have seriously troubled T-72 and its users^[25] 。

The design of the T-72 main battle tank was successful. In addition to the former Soviet Union/Russia's own equipment, it is also exported to foreign countries in large quantities, and foreign countries are allowed to produce according to the license. Following the T-54/55 main battle tank, another T-group tank has flooded the world. When the T-64 main battle tank has been out of production for many years, and even the T-80 main battle tank is facing severe survival problems, the T-72 main battle tank is still in production^[47] 。

T-72 main battle tank is the main battle tank developed by the former Soviet Union in 1967. It is not only used in the Red Army in large numbers, but also exported. Originally designed to be used for large-scale rapid assault, several actual operations have proved that if this tank can not appear in the form of cluster, the use effect is poor, and a small amount of use is only suitable for low-intensity conflict operations^[48] 。（ Comments on "NetEase News", "Military Prosperity", "Tencent" and "People's Daily" ）。

Existing problems

T-72 main battle tank fires during military exercises

The most well-known defect of T-72 is that the shells of the autoloader are stored in the round turntable under the turret. When the ammunition inside is ignited and detonated, the turret is often blown away from the vehicle body. However, the design of T-72 is safer than that of T-64 and T-80. This is because its separated shells are placed in the rotary table in a horizontal way, and are covered with a layer of armor plate except for the elevator position. Therefore, most shells are not exposed in the battle room. At the same time, the position of these shells in the car body is close to the height of the road wheels, so in addition to the side armor of the car body, there is also additional protection for the load wheels; However, T-72 still has many additional shells stored in the shell rack on the inner wall of the turret, on the bottom plate of the turret pod, and in the shell rack between the battle room and the engine. These shells without additional protection are easy to be ignited by the high-temperature debris or metal jet flying in the turret after penetration, causing serious explosion and fire. In the Gulf War, a large number of T-72s were destroyed and detonated. Although some people said that Iraq had a fairly early export downgraded version of the "monkey" T-72M or T-72M1, in fact, the T-72B used by the Russian army itself at that time could not compete with the U.S. military, such as facing the protection of APFSDS, The values of T-72M, T-72B and M1A1HA are 380 mm, 530 mm and 680 mm, respectively. In terms of penetration using APFSDS, the 3BM-15 is only 340 mm, the main forces of the Russian army 3BM-32 and 3BM-42 are 500 mm, and the American army M829A1 is 610 to 660 mm. Another example is the thermal imaging device, an important symbol of the third-generation tank. The United States started with the M60A3 in 1979, while Russia used the "tequila" on the T-80UK for the first time until 1993. When exporting T-90 to India, the device was rejected by the Indian side and replaced with the French "Catherine".

The T-72 tank lacks a precise fire control system, which makes the shooting procedure not only lengthy and inefficient, but also has a lower hit rate than T-64 and T-80. Although most of the collimators TPD-K1 and its improved 1A40 equipped with T-72 are equipped with laser rangefinders, they can only perform simple trajectory correction calculations, and only 1A40 can calculate the lead for moving targets. These collimators must place the laser ranging point on the target for ranging, and the position of this ranging point is different from the center of the aiming scribe. After ranging, the aiming scribe will move to a new position according to the trajectory correction, and then the shooter must place the center of the aiming scribe on the target. In addition, T-72 has a function called Delta-D, which will continuously correct the target distance according to the movement of the body after ranging. This function is not reliable, especially in the export T-72, which often causes error correction, as well as in specific terrain such as slippery ground or hilly terrain.

In addition to the above problems, T-72 also lacks a spare optical sight, and can only use one time periscope above the shooter. The automatic ammunition loader is electrically driven. Once the power system fails, it can only be manually loaded with mechanical devices. Each loading takes 1 minute. The T-72 is equipped with an active infrared night vision collimator with an effective range of only 800 meters, and the resolution is not as good as that of the thermal imager. The automatic ammunition loader cannot automatically and continuously load the same kind of shells after each shooting. The loading procedure can only be started after the shooter presses the switch. The defects of T-72 have been continuously improved by Russia and other countries after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, including the introduction of new fire control systems and thermal imagers, the improvement of autoloaders, etc., and even the substantial modification of turret configuration, armor configuration and the design of autoloaders^[9] 。（ Comments on "Strategic Network" and "Military Prosperity" ）。

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