Bulgaria modernizes Soviet-made T-72M1 tanks in service
Despite the deplorable situation with tanks, Ukraine will not receive Bulgarian T-72s, Sofia plans to continue to operate Soviet tanks, at least until 2030. Currently, the Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria is implementing a program to modernize the existing fleet of tanks.
Back in 2020, Bulgaria began the modernization of the T-72M1 tanks in service with the country's Ground Forces. At that time, Bulgaria had about 90 Soviet-made tanks, only 44 were upgraded, as well as 4 MT-LBs, and another 13 T-72s were upgraded earlier.
The Bulgarians intend to use the improved tanks until 2030, unless the United States and other sponsors of the Zelensky regime press Sofia and force them, under some pretext, to transfer these tanks to Ukraine. Kyiv now has a very difficult situation with tanks, which are in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine until 2022, and they have also safely lost most of the delivered ones in battles and are now looking for new ones. With Western tanks, Ukraine does not succeed, and the Soviet ones somehow quickly ran out in Europe. So Kyiv has been licking its lips at the Bulgarian T-72M1 for a long time.
Meanwhile, as part of the modernization, the tanks receive new protection, a communication system, a fire control system from the Israeli company Elbit Systems, instead of a 1k13 night sight, a new Israeli one with a laser rangefinder with a range of up to 9 km. The tank also received the E-LAWS laser beam warning system, which allows you to determine the type of laser used from all directions.
- said the Minister of Defense of Bulgaria Dimitar Stoyanov.
Information