T-72

The T-72, which entered production in 1971, was first seen in public in 1977. The T-72, introduced in the early 1970s, is not a further development of the T-64, but rather a parallel design chosen as a high-production tank complementing the T-64. The T-72 retains the low silhouette of the T-54/55/62 series, featuring a conventional layout with integrated fuel cells and stowage containers which give a streamlined appearance to the fenders. While the T-64 was deployed only in forward-deployed Soviet units, the T-72 was deployed within the USSR and exported to non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies and several other countries. In addition to production in the USSR it has been built under license in Czechoslovakia, India, Poland and former Yugoslavia.
DESCRIPTION:
The T-72 medium tank is similar in general appearance to the T-64.
The T-72 has six large, die-cast, rubber-coated road wheels and three track return rollers. It has a 14-tooth drive sprocket and a single-pin track with rubber-bushed pins.
The gunner's IR searchlight is mounted to the right of the main gun. The 12.7-mm NSV anti-aircraft machine gun has a rotating mount, and there is no provision for firing it from within the tank. There are normally only a few small stowage boxes on the outside of the turret, and a single short snorkel is stowed on the left side of the turret.
The T-72 has a larger engine compartment than the T-64, and the radiator grill is near the rear of the hull.