Insider has named its version of the reason why the T-72 is still the main tank in the Russian army.
By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet defense industry had produced about 18 thousand tanks T-72. Two thousand tanks are still in service with the Russian army. Since 2014, the Russian army has been using an updated version of the T-72B3M tank, which took part in the hostilities in Syria.
At one time, writes Insider, Soviet military leaders planned that T-72 tanks would break into West Germany and deliver a decisive blow to the ground forces of NATO countries if the Cold War escalated into a major military conflict. However, the war with NATO never happened, but the tank remained in Russian military service. The mentioned edition tells about the reasons, adding that more than 30 countries of the world have purchased such tanks for their armies.
Among the main advantages of the T-72 tank, Insider calls the new 125-mm smoothbore gun 2A46M5, thanks to which the tank is compared with many of the best main battle tanks in the world. In addition, the tank is equipped with a Kalina fire control system with automatic tracking of enemy armored vehicles, a laser rangefinder with a thermal imaging sight. The T-72 can fire the latest armor-piercing and high-explosive shells, use the AT-11 anti-tank missiles (talking about Reflex-M).
Another plus of the tank is the modern Kontakt-5 reactive armor, which is also found on the T-90A. It can protect the vehicle from enemy anti-tank missiles. The low profile of the turret also provides more effective protection against enemy shells. The control system has been updated in the tank, providing better mobility of the combat vehicle.
But the T-72B3 also has a weak point - this, according to Insider, is the armor at the top of the tower, vulnerable to American Javelin anti-tank missiles. Frankly, the vulnerability of foreign tanks in the upper projection is at least no less.
Since, according to Insider, there are more than 7 thousand T-72 tanks in storage, there is no doubt, the newspaper writes, that Russia can upgrade almost all of these tanks to the state of T-72B3. Consequently, the T-72 will continue to be the "workhorse" of the Russian ground forces, including due to its virtually unlimited modernization potential.
- P P 'SЊSЏ RџRѕR "RѕRЅSЃRєRёR№
- Twitter / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
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