TNI: Russian T-72 tank named the best and most effective on the battlefield
Without exaggeration, the Russian T-72 tank can be called the best in the world, writes TNI. A cheap and simple machine is effective in combat and easily suppresses the enemy. The West has relied on high technology, and this wrong choice will come back to him.
Brandon Weichert
Brief information: The Russian T-72 main battle tank, created and widely used in the Soviet era, has been upgraded to the T-72BM3 version to combat Western armored vehicles in Ukraine. Adopted in 2017, the T-72BM3 has many improvements, such as the 2A46M-5-01 smoothbore cannon, improved optics and the Relict dynamic protection complex, which made it cheaper. However, it is very effective compared to the T-90 and the T-14 Armata.
Key facts:
— Given the fact that 120 T-72BM3 tanks were delivered to Belarus in 2020, and even more are being upgraded, this tank can play a crucial role in Russia's efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible.
— These tanks have become an illustration of the Russian strategy to create economical, easy-to-maintain and repair and mass-produced armored combat vehicles for participation in modern combat operations.
T-72. The Russian modernization strategy in action in Ukraine
The Russian T-72 main battle tank can claim to be the best tank in the world. It has been in service since Soviet times and has many modifications. The car is in service in many countries of the world and therefore is a very valuable commodity for Russians.
One such upgrade began in 2014. Thanks to her, the T-72 was supposed to become technologically and technically suitable until the middle of the century. Russia's main goal was to make a tank comparable to the T-90 in terms of technical characteristics, but at the same time cheaper.
It was named T-72MB3. The first upgraded vehicles were delivered to the troops of the Western and Southern Military Districts in 2017. Another 120 tanks were delivered in 2020 to a long—time Russian ally and neighbor, Belarus.
Today, when fighting is underway in Ukraine, and NATO countries are sending more and more armored vehicles there, primarily German Leopard 2 tanks and American Abrams tanks, the Russians have decided to get down to business seriously. After all, even without modernization, T-72 tanks in Ukraine provide decent resistance to the enemy, although they are also being hit.
The more expensive and modern T-90 tank performed poorly in battle, and the vaunted T-14 Armata is such an expensive and complex system that they were completely removed from the battlefield.
To counter the increasing threat from Western tanks in Ukraine, the Russians have taken up the modernization of their T-72MB3 with all their might. The fact is that even with all the improvements, this tank is still cheaper than the T-90 or T-14. And at the same time, it is more effective than the original version of the T-72.
Thus, the T-72MB3 can be mass-produced in large quantities, it is easy to maintain and repair, very effective in combat and easily overwhelms the enemy with quantity when he uses more complex tanks, of which he has fewer and which are more difficult to replace.
Cheap and simple are two words that win the race, especially if it's a war. The Russians have cracked this code and proceed from this principle. Unfortunately, the Americans and their allies have gone the other way. Someday, this wrong choice will come back to the West. Maybe it's already coming out — in Ukraine.
Last month, the Russians showed an interesting video of their old T-72s arriving at the factory, where they are being upgraded to MB3 level. There, the old gun is removed and replaced with a new 2A46M-5-01 smoothbore cannon with an improved stabilization system. Workers are installing new optics, as well as a complex of dynamic protection "Relict". Thanks to this, the updated T-72MB3 has become a truly formidable force.
The tank received an upgraded turret, protective side shields and a 1,130 horsepower V-92S2F engine. And the tank tracks were modified. Apparently, this is the engineers' response to the negative reviews of tank crews who had to fight in impassable mud on blood-soaked battlefields in Ukraine.
Reports are already coming from the front that T-72BM tanks are scouring the fields of southern Ukraine. Russia has launched a new offensive, and it is likely that these vehicles will participate in the battles. The Russian government certainly wants to end these hostilities as soon as possible next year. Therefore, he will need all the available tanks to achieve his goal.
In the coming months, this tank will be actively used in combat.
Contrary to reports, Russia is not dead and has not lost the armed conflict with Ukraine. It's just the opposite. And the appearance of the upgraded T-72BM is another example of how much the Western elite is mistaken in their forecasts.
