Crew :3 men.
Weight :41 t.
Engine :V-12 Diesel developing 780 hp at 3,000 rpm.
Dimensions
length with barrel , 9.24m;
length (box), 6.95 m;
width (without skirts), 3.60 m;
height , 2.37 m.
Pperformance
maximum road speed , 60 km/h;
maximum range , 480 km;
pwading , 1.40 m;
slope , 60%;
vertical obstacle , 0.915 m;
clean cut , 2.90 m.
Armament
Main armament 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore gun (39 to 44 shells including 22 already preloaded)
Secondary armament 7.62 mm PKT coaxial machine gun
12.7 mm NVS anti-aircraft heavy machine gun on the commander's cupola
The T-72 tank was first shown to the public during a military parade in Moscow's Red Square in November 1977, although production began in 1971. In April 1978, an American report established that the manufacture of the T-64 and T-72 was about two thousand units per year, and that in 1987 it would reach a total of thirty thousand vehicles. New Western reports have since concluded that production of the T-64 has ceased in favor of that of the T-72 and that of the T-80, the assembly of the latter to be undertaken in the near future. The T-72 is also manufactured in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and will, in all likelihood, be soon in India.
The T-72 is in service with Algeria, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, India, Libya, Poland, Romania, Syria and, of course, the Soviet Union. It was first used in 1982, during the fighting in southern Lebanon.
The layout of the T-72 is conventional:the driver's compartment is at the front, the turret in the center, the engine and transmissions at the rear. A very elaborate type of armor could well be incorporated into the hull, particularly on the frontal arc, but specialists believe that the turret is made of conventional wrought steel armor. The tank commander is protected by a cupola that can rotate 360°. On this cupola is mounted a 12.7 mm DShK machine gun for anti-aircraft defense.
An automatic loader having been incorporated, in the lowest part of the hull, the crew was brought back to three men. The technical details of this magazine are not yet known, but it could look like a carousel where the projectiles would be placed in the upper part and the casing, probably combustible, in the lower part.
It seems that this autoloader would have proven to be unreliable. Forty shells can be carried in total, with a special loadout of twelve APFSDS, twenty-two HE and six HEAT. The APFSDS has a muzzle velocity of 1,615 m/s and can pierce 300 mm armor at a range of 1,000 m, while the HEAT-FS has a muzzle velocity of 1,615 m/s and can pierce 300 mm armor. 475 mm at the same distance.
A 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is paired with the main armament.
The fire control system includes an optical rangefinder, which is mounted on the front part of the turret, in front of the tank commander's cupola. The most recent vehicles have a laser rangefinder.
The suspension is torsion bar, with six large road wheels, the tension wheel at the front and the sprocket at the rear, and three support rollers, the latter supporting only the inside of the track. When the tank is in action, four spring-loaded skirts are fitted to the front part of the track and move forward to protect the tank as much as possible against an attack from HEAT or ATGW.
On all Soviet tanks, large fuel tanks can be placed in the rear of the fairing. The autonomy of the T-72 is, thanks to this technique, increased from 480 to 700 km. The standard equipment of the T-72 includes an NBC system, infrared night vision equipment and a snorkel for deep river crossings. An excavator blade can be mounted under the T-72's nose, allowing it to clear obstacles or prepare firing positions.
Although the T-72 represents a serious improvement over to earlier Soviet tanks — both in terms of firepower and armor — in direct combat this tank would not be superior to the British Challenger.