T 72
Soviet tank developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Cross-section of the tank built for crew training and repair purposes. All mechanical components are installed inside the tank. Thanks to the lack of armor, it’s possible to discern the structure and layout of mechanical components in such a complex vehicle as a tank.
The tank’s hull is made by welding armor plates. The front of the hull features layered armor. The tank’s turret is cast.
Three compartments can be distinguished in the vehicle’s hull: the driver’s compartment at the front, the combat compartment behind it, covered by a rotating turret, and the final driving compartment. The tank’s crew consists of three: driver, commander, and gunner. The driver’s station is centered on the vehicle in the control compartment. Fuel tanks are located on either side of the driver’s station. A hatch that lifts and rotates to the right is used for access. The driver has a single periscope designated TNPO 168 W for observation, which can be replaced with a TWNE 4 E active night vision device at night. The remaining crew members are located in the rotating turret: the commander on the right, the gunner on the left. The commander uses a TKN 3 day/night sight attached to the rotating commander’s cupola and two periscopes for observation. The gunner’s station is equipped with a TPD 2 day sight, a TPN 1 49 23 night sight, and a stereoscopic rangefinder. For night observation, the crew uses devices based on active night vision.
The T 72 tank’s armament is a 125 mm 2 A 26 M2 smoothbore gun equipped with a thermal shroud and a barrel vent. The gun is loaded by a mechanized feed system with a rate of fire of 7-10 rounds per minute. The ammunition magazine (22 rounds) is located under the turret floor. From there, a special mechanism retrieves the rounds and feeds them into the chamber. The spent cartridge cases are automatically ejected from the vehicle through a special hatch. In the event of a failure of the gun’s feed system, the crew can manually reload the shells. The T 72’s ammunition capacity is 39 rounds. Additional armament includes a 7.62 mm machine gun coupled to the main gun with 300 rounds, 12 smoke grenade launchers, and a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The anti-aircraft machine gun is mounted on the commander’s hatch and operated by him from outside the vehicle. The ammunition capacity is 500 rounds. The vehicle’s main armament is stabilized in two planes.
The T 72 tank is powered by a W 46 engine located in the rear of the hull in the engine compartment. This is a twelve-cylinder, V-shaped, compression-ignition engine, supercharged by a mechanical supercharger, and liquid-cooled. It develops 574 kW (763 hp) at 200 rpm. The power to weight ratio is 14.0 kW/tonne. The upper plate of the engine compartment features louvers beneath which the engine and oil coolers are located. The drivetrain consists of a primary gear (which increases engine speed), two planetary gearboxes, and final drives. The driver has seven forward gears and one reverse gear. The tank steers by shifting to a lower gear in the gearbox on the remaining side. The gearboxes are controlled hydraulically.
The T 72 tank’s running gear consists of twelve road wheels with rubber tires. The wheels are suspended on torsion shafts. Hydraulic shock absorbers interact with the suspension arms of the first, second, and last road wheels. The drive wheels are located at the rear of the hull, and the idler wheels are located at the front. Track tension is adjusted externally via mechanical gears. Three rollers are located on each side of the vehicle to support the upper track arms.
The T 72 tank is equipped with a protection system against weapons of mass destruction and a fire suppression system. The car was adapted to overcome deep water obstacles on the bottom. For this purpose, a special air supply pipe is installed on the commander’s hatch and the armored partition between the fighting and engine compartments is opened to supply air to the drive system. When crossing a water obstacle, the driver uses a gyroscope to maintain the appropriate driving direction.
During the production period of the T 72 tank, many versions of this vehicle were created:
T 72A: a new TPD K1 gunner’s sight with a laser rangefinder, a new 2 A 46 gun, side skirts and modernized night observation devices based on active night vision were used. Tanks with reactive armor were designated T 72AW, command version T 72AK.
T 72M: with reinforced armor of the front part of the turret. It was a version intended for sale to other countries and for license production.
T 72B: the tank’s armor has been strengthened: a 16 mm thick steel plate has been added to the front of the hull and a new cast turret with armor with a sand core inside the cast, an anti-radiation lining has been added, new smoke grenades of the TUCZA complex, a new W 84 engine with a power of 618 kW (825 HP), the suspension has been strengthened. A command version marked T 72BK was also built.
T 72S: (also marked T 72MS or T 72M 1M) a new 2 A 46 M1 cannon was used, a system of anti-tank guided missiles of the 9 K 120 SWIR complex fired from the cannon was used (ATG range 5000 m, penetration of 750 mm of homogeneous armor plate, two cumulative warheads, time of arrival at the maximum distance of 8 s, weight 17.2 kg projectile), a new gun stabilization system, new gunner observation and aiming devices, and reinforced suspension were installed.
Auxiliary vehicles were developed based on elements of the T 72 tank:
MTU 72: self-propelled bridge, allows vehicles weighing up to 60 tons to cross obstacles 20 m wide.
BREM 1, BREM 2: technical support vehicles.
IMR armored sapper vehicle.
T 72 tanks were produced under license in Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and India. The vehicle was also modernized in these countries. In Yugoslavia, already in 1982-83, the M 84 vehicle was developed, later the M 84A, in Poland the PT 91 was created, in Slovakia the T 72 MODERNA, and in Ukraine the T 72 BANAN was created.
T 72 vehicles are used in many countries (number of units in 1996): Algeria (300), Bulgaria (300), Czech Republic (550), Finland (170), India (1,400), Iraq (300), Iran (150), Libya (150), Poland, Russia (9,000), Romania, Slovakia (270), Slovenia, Syria (1,500), Hungary (125). The Polish Army adopted the tank in 1978. Initially, these were vehicles imported from the USSR, and later license production was undertaken. Polish design offices developed a modernization of the T 72 marked PT 91 TWARDY. Currently, there are 762 pieces of T 72M and 230 (data from the beginning of 2003) PT 91 in stock.
The T 72 tank in the USSR army replaced the T 64. The vehicle repeats the design concepts of its predecessor. Work on the T 72 began almost in parallel with the introduction of the T 64 into combat units. This was due to problems with the production and use of the T 64, which contained many innovative and complex components (e.g. engine). The T 72 took over many of the flaws of its predecessor. It is very sensitive to the explosions of anti-bottom mines (in the event of a mine explosion, the ammunition magazine in the floor may explode, completely destroying the tank), the driver has poor visibility from his position, which makes driving difficult (he only has one periscope with a narrow field of view for observation). The tank’s major drawback was its outdated drive system (the engine came from the drive unit of the T 34 tank). Initially, the T 72 was to be an interim vehicle until a new design was developed. However, this did not happen and the T 72 became the main tank of the Russian tank forces and the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries.
TECHNICAL DATA T 72
Country: Russia
Crew: 3
Combat weight (kg): 41,000
Power factor (kW/t): 14.0
Unit pressure on the soil (MPa): 0.082
Length with gun (mm): 9530
Hull length(mm): 6670
Width(mm): 3460
Height(mm): 2190
Ground clearance front/rear (mm): 470/470
Speed(km/h): 60
Fuel supply (litres): 1400
Range (km): 500
Uphill(%): 60
Lateral tilt(%): 40
Vertical wall(m): 0.8
Ford without preparation(m): 1.2
Trench width(m): 2.8
Engine: in the initial versions of the W 46, twelve-cylinder, V-type, compression-ignition, charged with a mechanical compressor and liquid-cooled, with a power of 574 kW (763 HP) at 200 rpm, in the T 72B and later versions, the W 84 engine with a power of 618 kW (825 HP).
Drive system: mechanical, seven forward gears and one reverse gear.
Suspension: torsion shafts, twelve load wheels, drive wheels at the rear, idler wheels at the front.
Armament (ammunition): 2 A 26 M2 smoothbore gun, 125 mm caliber (39 pieces), later versions were equipped with 2 A 46 and 2 A 46 M1 guns, a 7.62 mm coupled machine gun (3,000 pieces), a 12.7 mm NSWT anti-aircraft machine gun (500 pieces), in the T 72S version anti-tank guided missiles fired from the cannon of the 9 K 120 SWIR complex (6 pieces).
Other
EX-526
Other
EX-531
Other
EX-557
Other
EX-562