The Soviet T-72 tank was originally designed as a less expensive version of the Soviet 'state of the art', Kharkov-designed, T-64 main battle tank. From the beginning of the T-64 program there had been jealousy from other tank designers/manufacturers over the decision to build the Kharkov tank, and the complicated T-64 tank had not been well received by everyone in the Soviet military. The T-64 was designed with an automatic loading system for the main gun, and when the announcement was made in 1964 to adopt the T-64 for production, the competing Vagonka design bureau in Nizhni Tagil began experiments to produce an automatic loader for their own T-62 design. Gradually, push came to shove, and the altered T-62 design with autoloader was accepted for production in 1967 as the T-72. The new design was accepted for full-scale production in 1971 after prototypes were built and tested, and the T-72 tank was born.
The Soviet's decision to simultaneously build both the T-64 and T-72 tanks was a compromise decision between those in the military demanding the most sophisticated tank possible to compete with NATO's best (the T-64 was complicated and expensive), and the Ground Forces who desired the greatest number of tanks (The T-72 was simpler and less expensive). The decision to build both vehicles produced a difficult situation for the Soviet Army because most of the two vehicle's parts were different, the primary common component being the ammunition for the 125mm gun. Production of the new T-72 tanks was first undertaken by the Ural Railcar Plant in Nizhni Tagil. Manufacturing was later extended to the Chelyabinsk Machinery Plant when it ceased production of the T-55 and T-62 tanks for export. The plants at Omsk and Kharkov were then used to produce the higher cost T-64 tank, and later the expensive T-80. The T-72 in this photo is a Finnish Army T-72M1, an export T-72 built by Poland under license. You can see Finland's identifying blue and white national roundel behind the turret smoke dischargers.
COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF T-72 AND T-72MP TANKS
T-72
(before modernization)
T-72MP
(after modernization)
Power-to-weight ratio, hp/t
21.7 (26.08 if 6TD-2 engine is installed)
16 (19.2 if 6TD-2 engine is installed)
Maintenance rate of the air cleaner
cassettes under extremely dusty conditions, km
Deep fording without preparation, m
Maximum ambient air temperature at which the engine operates without any degradation in performance, °C
Explosive reactive armour
Thermal protection of powepack top deck
Fire/explosion suppression system
only fire fighting equipment
- target detection range, m
- stabilization of the field of view
TPN-1-49 (with image intensifier)
SAVAN-15 (with thermal imager)
- target detection range, m
- stabilization of the field of view
Commander's observation device:
TKN-3 day/nightobservation device
VS580 panoramic sight and monitor for the thermal imager of the SAVAN-1 5
- stabilization of the field of view
- manual adjustment of automatic devices
digital computer with built-in test equipment
Anti-aircraft machine gun:
closed (can be loaded and fired from within the tank under complete armour protection)
only from a stationary position
both on the move and from a stationary position
MAIN TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL DATA
1. General specifications
Max. range of effective fire with TPD-K1 sight-rangefinder:
Coaxial machine-gun PKT 7.62mm
Max. range of fire with TPD-K1
Anti-aircraft machine-gun NSW 12.7 mm
Water crossing with underwater driving equipment and with water current speed up to 1.5 m sec:
CHARACTERISTICS OF T-72AG TANK
65 (75 if the increased-speed
side gearbox is installed)
Average speed on dry mud road, km/h
Power-to-weight ratio, kW/t
Specific fuel consumption, g/kWh
Air cleaner filter maintenance rate in extremely dusty conditions, km
Deep fording without preparation, m
-stabilization of the field of view
-target detection range, m
-stabilization of the field of view
horizontal and vertical stabilization
-target detection range, m
-armour-piercing projectile, m
- allowance of ammunition
42 (22 in automatic loader)
b) anti-aircraft machine gun
TPN-4E-1 or thermal imager
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