I remember preparing to face hordes of T-72's in M-60A1's with 105mm guns that couldn't penetrate the T-72's front slope. We practiced retrograde from one terrain feature to the one behind it until we reached the DIP position.
DIP stood for Die In Place.
Sounds like the T-72 is the B-52 of the tank world. Just keeps on keeping on, mostly because it is used against in situations where capable resistance is unlikely.
Our M1 Abrams Tanks own these things.
The newly designed A-10C “Warthog” made its first flight at Eglin Air Force Base Jan. 20.
Russian motto: Make it work, make it cheap, make a lot.
I recall that Russian tankers couldn't be more than 5' 6'' because of the cramped conditions in the T-whatever. Know if that's true of the T-72 and later models?
Thanks for the post. In 1983-5 my unit 3-12 Cav had M-60A3 Rise/Passive's and the M-1s were being fielded to the border Cav (2nd & 11th ACRs) first. In the mid-70s I was in an M-60A2 awaiting the hordes of Soviet T-62s and East German T-55s. and the T-64 was just being fielded.
Some T-72 observations (since I got to TC one for a while with an English speaking crew): Our variant had Czech and Austrian fire control systems as add-on's that worked pretty well.
The turret is very cramped for anyone over 5'10 (I am 5'9 and was wedged it the TC seat). It is fast as hell, and the silhouette makes it very difficult to detect if the crew uses terrain properly. The Hungarian crews were pretty good at maneuver and use of terrain...often I couldn't spot the other tanks in my "company" unless I saw the antenna.
The auto loader sucks. A trained M1 crew would dispatch 5 or 6 of them before they could get 2 or 2 shots off, which goes to the crew training piece of the article.
The T-72 fuel lines run around the turret ring, as does ammo storage. This is why the turrets pop off like soda bottle tops when hit. The Hungarian crews knew this. BTW, they treated me like a rock star when they found out I was trained on the M1...it's reputation is worldwide.
Bottom line: decent tank if it is used for certain purposes like scouting and patrolling against insurgents with light weapons, lethal against most targets with a trained crew. Easy to train and maintain. Will die in a heartbeat against the M1, and they know it. Regards,
Compared to the earlier T-62 and T-64, the T-72 was successful. It was reliable, or so it was thought. But in 1982, Syrian T-72s went up against Israeli Merkavas. The Syrians lost badly. In 1991
Wonder if the writer ever considered that it might be the crews as much as the tank.
You were in Weisbaden weren't you?
Sort of like Windows. It is always busted, so it always needs upgrades.
Geez.
Good to see you buddy. We're back to dial up at our new place so we're not on much. Thanks for the ping.
1/11 ACR, Graf, Hoensfeld, Fulda, OP Alpha bumps.
And that's the reason it's so popular with 3rd world shithole dictators.
DIP stood for Die In Place.
Likewise. But remember, we expected to not only be outnumbered 17 to one by the T-72s of the Eighth Guards Tank Army, but to be hit by followon units of called-up reservists and *fraternal socialist allies* in T-54s and T-62s. Our final battalion warplan included use of any US troops separated from their units, as well as pickup allies from any surviving NATO troops, most likely Bundeswehr or British Army of the Rhine forces in the areas we were likely to be operating in.
Last little surprises: the two engineer vehicle AVLB *scissors bridges* we had in the unit, once they'd dropped their bridges.
