T-72B

The tank most people mean when they say “Russian tank.”

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Specifications

Crew: 3
Combat weight: 44.5 t
Engine: 840 hp
hp / tonne: 18.9
Road speed: 60 km/h
Range: 460 km
Main gun: 125 mm 2A46M
In service: 1973–present

V-84 diesel, 840 hp

Armor: Cast turret with NERA inserts, Kontakt-1 or Kontakt-5 ERA

Secondary: PKT, NSVT

Briefing scores

Relative 1–10 for teaching, not a wargame rating.

Firepower: 8/10
Protection: 7/10
Mobility: 6/10
Awareness: 5/10
Logistics: 7/10

Ammunition natures

APFSDSHEATHE-Frag9M119 Svir ATGM

History

Uralvagonzavod’s answer to T-64 complexity. Early export T-72s were gutted in 1991 by Abrams and Challenger. The B model with thicker turret and ERA is a different animal — and still the most common tank on earth.

Doctrine

The mass MBT: cheaper than T-64, exportable, good enough for motor-rifle divisions and every allied army. Soviet planning figures assumed T-72s would attack in echelons under an artillery umbrella.

Strengths

Cost and numbers
ERA packages
125 mm flexibility

Limits

Carousel ammo fires
Optics on export models
Reverse speed

Related hulls

T-64

Soviet Union

T-90M

Russia

M1 Abrams

United States

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