T-72 Ajeya : Lesser Known Facts

T-72 Tank

Introduction :

The Russians have always maintained a passion for a successful tank design ever since unveiling the war winning T-34 tank during World War 2.

The T-72 main battle tank proved no exception it was developed as a cheaper more reliable alternative to the T-64.

The T-72 had the excellent speed for its class and inherent reliability that's always required by the modern battlefield.

Some interesting facts Germans estimated that the Soviet T-72 could penetrate the frontal armour of the early leopard 2 tanks at a range of 1,500 meters and frontal Armor of leopard 1 tanks at more than 3000 meters.

When the Soviet T-72 tank would first be deployed Richard Nixon was president of the United States, the F4 phantom was America's primary fighter and the world's steel beasts had yet to discover a nemesis called the wire-guided anti-tank missile by Western standards.

This tank had no night vision capability which was a serious drawback when it comes to war.

Used In Wars :

The T-72 was never used in the Afghanistan war however it was employed by the Russian army during fighting in the 1st and 2nd Chechnya wars and the russell chargin war the T-72 has been used in other Wars like the Iran Iraq war, Lebanon War, Ethiopian Somali border war, the Georgian Civil War and more .

Specifications :

Of its design the T-72 is protected by composite armour at the time of its introduction the T-72 could withstand any 105mm ammunition at ranges greater than 500 meters.

The front armour of the T-72 could not be penetrated by a contemporary dragon or tow anti-tank guided missiles and side armour provided protection against the Infantry Fighting Vehicles (OR IFV) and from the helicopter cannons. 

Later production models would be fitted with side skirts.

The T-72 has an NBC protection system its interior is lined with an anti-radiation liner which also acts as a spall liner there's also an automatic fire extinguishing system and the main battle tank was completed with a 125 mm smoothbore gun.

This gun fires rounds at much higher muzzle velocity than the western 105 mm rifled guns and is fitted with a new carousel type.

Autoloaders if required the gun can be loaded manually, a total of 39 rounds are carried for the main gun with an effective range of fire with APFSDS rounds about 2,000 to 3,000 meters.

During the nighttime armour penetration is around 590 to 630 millimetres of rolled homogeneous armour equivalent at 2,000 meters of range.

The T-72 is also powered by a V 46 diesel engine which develops around 780 horsepower.

The T-72 features a crew of three a mass weight of 46,000 kilograms it features 1 V 84 or v12 air-cooled multi diesel engine developing 840 horsepower with a maximum speed of 42 miles per hour and a maximum range of 483 kilometres.