Image source: Photo: vpk. gov. bs vsr.mil.by
At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus received a significant number of T-72 tanks. By the beginning of the second decade of the new century, more than 450 T-72B remained in service, another 700 vehicles were in storage.
If at the beginning of the 90s, the "beshki" were considered quite modern tanks, although they were somewhat inferior to the" Abrams "and" Leopards-2 " in terms of the perfection of night vision systems: thermal imagers were not yet used on them.
However, over time, the gap in technical characteristics became even larger, and it is not surprising that in Belarus they began to think about upgrading the existing equipment. So about 5 years ago, the T-72B "Vityaz" project appeared.
On the new version of the "seventy-second", they finally decided to install good multi-channel tank sights "Sosna-U", which were mainly exported. The commander of the vehicle was to receive a sighting and observation complex PNK-4S-01, which allows working with the main armament in the "double" mode.
Image source: Photo: vpk. gov. bs vsr.mil.by
The tank was equipped with the latest radio station R-181-50VU "Rhapsody" and satellite navigation. The engine remained the same type - the 840-horsepower B-84. The anti-discharge resistance was supposed to be strengthened due to the dynamic protection "Knife", which was going to be purchased in Ukraine. There were also plans to install an active Zaslon system capable of shooting down rocket-propelled grenades and guided missiles flying up to the tank.
If the modernization points were approved by military experts, then the appeal to the military-industrial complex Nezalezhnaya caused bewilderment, Ukrainian partners aspiring to NATO are too unreliable, ready to interrupt cooperation at the first demand from Western capitals, which has been observed more than once.
Realizing this, the Belarusian military refused to cooperate with Kiev, focusing on Russia and carrying out the modernization of the T-72 with the help of Russian enterprises.
Dmitry Lemeshko