MOSCOW, May 8 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The American profile publication The National Interest has published a rating of main battle tanks, and in the first place is the T-72, developed back in the USSR. According to the set of criteria, this car has left behind the best examples of Western technology. The special military operation proved that it was too early to write off the "seventy-two". About how experts evaluated tanks from different countries, see the RIA Novosti article.
Six criteria
The first indicator is security. Modern MBT on the battlefield must withstand a number of threats — from anti-tank mines to ATGM, FPV drones, barrage ammunition and "drops" from copters. The survival rate of the crew is also taken into account. Then — range and logistics. Tanks with fuel-efficient engines are less likely to require refueling and are capable of traveling long distances. An important role here is played by the combat mass of MBT. The higher it is, the more difficult the logistics will be.
Soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces near the M1 Abrams tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, evacuated from Suji
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Stanislav Krasilnikov
The third criterion is adaptability and modernization. In the course of an armed conflict, new requirements are being imposed on armored vehicles, and combat capabilities must match the dynamically changing battlefield. The manufacturing plant is obliged to maintain constant communication with the front and improve the design. It is extremely important that the modernization does not require a radical redesign of the machine.
This leads to the fourth parameter — production and availability. In war, quantity is often more important than quality. The most modern and technologically advanced tank alone will not change anything on the battlefield. The "Royal tigers" of the Third Reich were very serious machines, but they were much fewer than the T-34s with the IS-2, and they lost the war.
Ukrainian military repairs German Leopard 2 tank
Image source: © AP Photo / Andriy Andriyenko
The next thing is versatility. The tank must be capable of performing combat missions in various climatic and geographical conditions — in the desert, forest, city. The ammunition includes shells for fighting armored vehicles, infantry, and fortifications.
Finally, reliability means that repairs in the conditions of a major war should be as simple as possible, ideally by the crew. In addition, a good MBT does not get stuck in mud, does not fail due to dust, and does not stall in the cold.
They didn 't fight and they were too complicated
The Americans gave the last, tenth place in the rating to the British Challenger 2. His Achilles heel is his large combat weight, 62.5 tons. Because of this, the cross-country range is only 250 kilometers. In practice, this tank proved to be extremely unreliable. Firstly, not all bridges can withstand its weight. Secondly, he gets stuck in the mud in the autumn and spring mud. The rifled cannon, which is non-standard for NATO, also causes problems, requiring special ammunition, which creates additional difficulties for logistics and supply personnel.
British Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank
Image source: © Photo : Crown Copyright
The Japanese Type 10 is in ninth place. According to the stated tactical and technical characteristics, this tank looks solid. However, it has not participated in any armed conflict and is unlikely to be suitable for mass production in a major war. Japan's tank—building capacities are not the most outstanding. The eighth is the German Leopard 2. Experts recognize its strengths: powerful cannon, good optics, reliable engine. But armor protection cannot cope with not the most modern means of destruction. There are many videos online in which the Ukrainian crew throws a tank onto the battlefield as soon as it "took off its shoes" on an anti-tank mine.
Leopard 2 tank of the German Army
Image source: © Photo : Bundeswehr/Marco Dorow
Seventh in the ranking is the newest Russian T-14 Armata. This is the pinnacle of Russian tank-building thought. The car is packed with modern technologies and technical solutions, from the Afghanit active protection system to an uninhabited tower and advanced optics. But the tank is very complex and expensive to produce.
T-14 Armata tank on Zvenigorodskoye highway in Moscow before the start of the night rehearsal for the 76th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Evgeny Biyatov
The sixth is the Chinese T-99. Its main advantage is cheapness and simplicity. You can produce thousands. But armor protection and electronics raise questions. In addition, the T-99, like the Japanese Type-10, has never been used in armed conflicts. It is unknown what "childhood diseases" he will have on the battlefield. At the Tank Biathlon competitions, Chinese crews outright lost to Russian crews, both in terms of the driving qualities of their vehicles and the accuracy of their guns.
K2 Black Panther Tank
Image source: © Photo : Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea
The fifth place belongs to the South Korean K2 Black Panther. A state-of-the-art machine with a rapid-firing gun and excellent armor. Many people call this tank the most advanced in the world. The trouble is, it's very expensive, about ten million dollars per unit.
The fourth in the list is the French Leclerk. Fast, with dynamic protection and automatic charging. But its mass production was stopped in 2008. And Paris will not be able to replenish supplies quickly in case of war.
Universal tank
Completing the top three is the Israeli Merkava V with advanced sensors, electronic warfare, an impressive engine and even an AI system. According to the papers, it's almost an ideal tank. But there are already quite a few videos on the Web where the Lebanese destroy these miracle machines with penny FPV drones. The protection of the upper hemisphere and stern leaves much to be desired. And in the conflict with Lebanon in 2006, Israel lost up to 30 Merkava tanks from Soviet RPG-26 and RPG-29 anti-tank grenade launchers.
Israeli Merkava tank near the border with the Gaza Strip
Image source: © AFP 2024 / JACK GUEZ
The Americans gave the second place to the American M1A2 Abrams. It is in service with dozens of countries. This is one of the most combat-ready tanks in the world with a rich track record. However, he fought exclusively in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The conflict in Ukraine is his first in a different theater. It was then that it became clear that the "Abrams" pathologically dislike dirt. Their engines are particularly affected by liquid chernozem. Often, the tank simply refused to start. And the large combat mass repeatedly led to the fact that the car did not have time to hide from the drones.
American M1 Abrams tank
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Army / Patrick Albright
Well, the leader is the Soviet/Russian T-72. Various modifications of this tank, including licensed ones, are in service with more than 40 countries. And this is the only car that fully meets all the evaluation criteria. The Seventy-two is well armored, has a range of over 500 kilometers due to its combat weight of only 41 tons, and is easily amenable to both factory modernization and artisanal improvements in the frontline zone. The T-72 can be mass-produced and losses can be easily repaired. The tank is equally effective both in the desert and in the field, city, forest. And it can often be repaired by the crew.
Combat operation of the T-72 tank in the southern sector during a special military operation
Image source: © RIA Novosti
However, any rating is a convention. SVO has shown that in the conditions of mass use of drones, any, even the most technically advanced tank, does not live very long. In modern warfare, the tactical and technical characteristics of the crew are much more important, the integration of the combat vehicle into the overall picture of the battle, artisanal improvements to equipment for specific needs and non-standard tactics of combat use.
