CDI Fact Sheet: T-72 MBT

Iraq procured and modified various Chinese and Soviet armored vehicles to meet its combat needs throughout eight years of conflict with Iran. During the 1991 Gulf War, most of the Iraqi Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) encountered by Allied Forces during Operation Desert Storm were non-upgraded T-54/55, T-62, T-72 and Type 59/69s. Only a handful of those encountered were upgraded, typically with additional passive armor over their frontal arc to enhance protection against High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) projectiles.

BACKGROUND

The T-72 was first produced in the Soviet Union in 1971 as a high-production parallel version of the T-64. The tank was deployed within the U.S.S.R. and exported to non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies and several other countries. The T-72 was produced under license in the former Czechoslovakia, India, Poland and former Yugoslavia, and was used against the Israelis in Lebanon in 1982.

In 1989, Iraq admitted that it was assembling Soviet T-72M1 (1982) MBTs with locally manufactured 125 mm ordnance, breech mechanisms, ammunition and electronics under the Iraqi name of Assad Babyle (Babylon Lion). A few Iraqi T-72M1 MBTs were fitted with an Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (ATGW) decoy system mounted on the turret roof forward of the gunner's hatch. This was designed to decoy Western type Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided (TOW), light infantry anti-tank (MILAN- Missile d'Infantrie Leger Antichar) and High-subsonic Optically Tele-guided (HOT) ATGWs. Since the Iraqi T-72M1 was of higher quality than most of Iraq's other tanks, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made sure that many T-72M1s survived the Gulf War by allocating the tanks to his Republican Guard and evacuating them before the allies launched their main offensive in Kuwait in February 1991. Following the Gulf War, it is understood that there has been no further local production/assembly of the Iraqi T-72M1 in Iraq. However, in 1996 sources reported that a factory in Iraq was producing spare parts to keep Iraq's estimated 500 T-72M1 tanks operational.

CAPABILITIES

The T-72 and its variants are most effectively used for the destruction of tanks, other armored targets and enemy manpower. As with any tank, the three main factors in gauging effectiveness are: armor, firepower and mobility.

Armor & General Battlefield Survivability:

	Due to layered armor and other features, the T-72 has better armor protection than the T-62.
	The turret has conventional cast armor that can measure up to 280 mm, the nose is about 80 mm thick and the glacis is 200mm thick laminate armor.
	Later T-72Ms and T-72M1s models are mounted with laser rangefinders that ensure high hit probabilities at ranges of 2,000 meters and below.
	The T-72 has a Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ) radiation detection system, an anti-radiation liner (except on export models, such as those imported by Iraq) and a collective NBC filtration and overpressure system.

Fire Power:

	The low-rounded turret mounts a 125mm smooth bore gun with a carousel automatic loader mounted on the floor and rear wall of the turret.
	The 125 mm gun common to all the T-72 models is capable of penetrating the M1 Abrams armor at a range of up to 1,000 meters.
	More recent BK-27 HEAT rounds have a triple-shaped charge warhead and increased penetration against conventional reactive armor and Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA).
	The BK-29 round has a hard penetrator in the nose designed for use against reactive armor, and as a multi-purpose (MP) round has fragmentation effects.
	The 1K13-49 sight can be used for both night sight and Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) launch sight, but not simultaneously. (Thermal gunner night sights that permit night launch of ATGMs are available.)

Mobility:

	The T-72 has greater mobility than the T-62.
	The T-72 has high cross-country maneuverability.
	The V-12 diesel engine with 780 hp output is surprisingly smoke-free and runs very smoothly; it does not produce the excessive vibration that was said to cause high crew fatigue in the T-62.
	Although the engine is larger in the T-72, it has approximately the same road speed as the T-64.
	The T-72 can be fitted with a snorkel for deep fording in about 20 minutes of preparation time.

Key:

	= advantage
	= disadvantage
	= both advantage and disadvantage.

SPECIFICATIONS
Crew	3
Max Road Speed	60km/h
Max Range (road)	480km
Max Range (long-range fuel tanks)	550km
Armament (main)	1*125mm 2A46 smoothbore gun
Armament (coaxial)	1*7.62mm PKT MG
Armament (anti-aircraft)	1*12.7mm NSVT MG
Ammunition (main)	45 (incl. 6 ATGW)
Ammunition (7.62mm)	2,000
Ammunition (12.7mm)	300
Gun Stabilizer (vertical)	Yes
Gun Stabilizer (horizontal)	Yes
*Range Finder Type	Laser Range Finder
NBC System	Yes
Night Vision Equipment	Yes

*Laser ranging is a method for estimating target range that was introduced in the 1970's. It is more accurate than stadiametric ranging and is used by almost all major armies today. The laser rangefinder is an electro-optical instrument that operates by firing a laser beam from the gunsight. When the beam hits a target, a small fraction of the transmitted light is reflected directly back along the path it was sent toward the tank, where it passes through an optical system to a receiver that is sensitive to the laser's frequency. The device then determines the time elapsed from the transmission of the original laser beam to the return of the reflected fraction - or "echo" - from the target, and uses this figure to estimate the target range.

 
Sources

International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2001-2002, Brassey's, London, 2002

"AFV Design Tanks - Creation & Development," SimHQ.com

Boyne, Sean. "Saddam Rebuilt," Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's Information Group, Nov. 1996, p.507.

"Jane's Armour and Artillery, Twenty-first Edition 2000-2001," Ed. Christopher F. Foss. Coulsdon, Surrey, Jane's Information Group, 2000.

"Laser Range Finder," aselsan.com

"Laser Rangefinder," msss.com

"T-72 Medium Tank," GlobalSecurity.org

"T72 Tank," fas.org

 

Compiled by Noriyuki Katagiri CDI Research Assistant nkatagiri@cdi.org

View Standard Version

BACK TO THE TOP    TERRORISM PROJECT HOME    LINKS    CDI HOME