Tank t-72

Tank t-72

The National InterestOpen Menu

Meet the T-72MJ: A Tank with Russian and Western polymer

A good tank?

The T-72MJ could be a inheritance of Yugoslavia's plan to balance NATO and also the capital of Poland written agreement.

Russia features a stealth aircraft drawback

Russia's Military Has One Key Feature that produces It A Force to concern

Russia's Military Has One Key Feature that produces It A Force…

In 2003, a Chinese Navy Submarine Sank. however the Crew Died is actually frightful.

In 2003, a Chinese Navy Submarine Sank. however the Crew…

One of the strongest industries of the Socialist Federal Republic of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was its defense trade. throughout the conflict, the SFRY flirted with each the West and also the East, procuring and developing autochthonous weapons supported technology from either side. maybe one in all the additional fascinating success stories was the success of the SFRY’s armor trade and its final product, the M-91 Vihor Main Battle Tank.

The story of the Yugoslavian tank trade begins within the late Nineteen Forties, following Tito’s spat with Joseph Stalin.

Due to the Soviet Union interference exports of it’s then-current tanks to the SFRY, whereas conjointly threatening to invade, statesman himself asked staff at the Petar Drapšin manufactory if they may build a tank. The staff in agreement, and also the manufactory was ready to manufacture a number of tanks (around 0.5 a dozen) supported a changed T-34/85 style, known as Tip (Type) A.

However these weren't enough, therefore the Yugoslavians affected a upset the u. s. for military aid. They nonheritable variety of M4A3E4 Shermans, M47 Pattons, M18 Hellcats, and M36/M36B1 Jacksons. statesman then created amends with the country within the Nineteen Fifties. This allowed the SFR to amass T-55s, T-54As, SU-100s, and T-34 Obr. 1960s. These were replaced by the newer T-55As that were given by the Soviet Union to switch the sooner models that the SFRY shipped to Egypt throughout the 1973 Day of Atonement War.

This deal ordered the foundations of excellent relations with the country for the acquisition of the T-72, however this deal didn’t go swimmingly. geographical region and European nation received licenses to supply the T-72 before Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and within the finish, the license granted restricted them to 10 years of production or one thousand tanks, whichever came 1st and fast them into a procurement of a collection range of T-72M and T-72MKs.

Factories from each Yugoslav republic contributed to the assembly of the Yugoslavian T-72, known as the T-72MJ. the primary T-72MJ rolled off the assembly line in 1983 and differed from alternative T-72Ms therein it featured a completely digital readying system.

At now, Yugoslavian engineers had devised several upgrades on the far side the first T-72M. Accuracy was the first space of improvement. A tall air current sensing element was else like a shot behind the most gun, the stabilization mechanism was improved with extra gyroscopes and a cant sensing element and also the all digital banking system was refined more. This resulted within the M-84, the Yugoslavian version of the T-72.

Then in 1987, the M-84A came out, and updated the armor layout to the T-72M1 normal whereas adding a 1 thousand brake H.P. V-46TK engine, dramatically increasing the speed and military science quality of the tank. but production of the M-84 and M-84A, despite the new names, was still ruled by the one thousand tank cap set within the original T-72 license.

In order to avoid this cover, in 1987 the govt. began a brand new project known as Novi Domaći Tenk (New Domestic Tank). It later received the designation M-91, changing into the M-91 Vihor (translated: Whirlwind). The Military Technical Institute at capital of Yugoslavia spearheaded this effort. The timeline was to end drivetrain testing in 1991, to supply a epitome series of 10 tanks by 1993, and to enter serial production by 1994.

Due to the breakup of the SFRY in 1991, solely 3 hulls and 3 turrets were completed (two solid, one welded). Croatia, being the destination at that final assembly was completed, mated one in all these turrets to a hull to make a whole Vihor.

In many ways, the Vihor are often seen as a branching development of the M-84 series. whereas supported identical philosophy of a three-man, autoloaded, low profile tank, the Vihor’s recent style diverged from the T-72 in many ways. the guts of the M-91 Vihor was the upgraded powerplant. whereas the one thousand V-46TK brake H.P. engine place within the M-84A was already Associate in Nursing upgrade from the stock T-72’s V-46-6 780hp engine, the Vihor used a 1200 brake H.P. turbocharged multifuel diesel known as the V-46TK1. This gave the Vihor superlative performance, with a gamma hydroxybutyrate speed of around seventy five kilometers/h Associate in Nursingd an acceleration of 0–32 kilometers/h in but seven seconds, rivaling and even surpassing the performance of some turbine tanks of identical era.

The performance was conjointly achieved inside atiny low area, only 3.4 solid meters (to compare, the 1500 brake H.P. engine of a Leopard two takes up seven solid meters). Overall, this gave the Vihor a awfully sensible hp/ton quantitative relation of thirty. The Vihor’s suspension was conjointly improved to handle this performance. The road wheels got a brand new style, and also the vertical travel of the suspension was accrued to 350 millimeters from 280mm on the T-72, allowing improved offroad performance (up to fifty kilometers/h offroad). this whole drivetrain was extensively tested, the epitome hull (mated with Associate in Nursing M-84 turret) was driven over fifteen thousand kilometers throughout testing.

Armament wise, the Vihor’s armament was Associate in Nursing evolution of the 2A46M gun that armed the T-72. a brand new thermal sleeve was developed, and a muzzle reference sensing element to live muzzle droop when thermal changes (as found on western tanks). a fast amendment mechanism was conjointly enforced. The piece was conjointly improved from the T-72’s AZ-72 piece, permitting duplex movement almost like the T-64 piece to enhance loading potency and times (up to 10 rounds per minute). Accuracy was conjointly improved by a lookout and a set of sensors that measured properties of the ammunition like temperature and actual weight of propellant charge. These extra parameters are often seen on the management boxes for the Vihor’s banking system. The turret drive was upgraded from the hydraulic horizontal turret drive to all-electric, with a traverse speed of fifty degrees per second, over doubly quicker than a basic T-72. The ammunition was no slouch either, with 554 millimeters of RHAe penetration at 2500 meters, enough to upset most of its up to date threats.

An innovation here was the employment of a Bakelite prosthetic device (a ring of fabric that seals a spherical against the barrel) on the round’s sabot rather than a copper prosthetic device to cut back fouling. The Soviets transitioned to Associate in Nursing metallic element prosthetic device soon, rather than Bakelite.

The observance systems were on par with Western observance systems, that includes digital zoom, last measuring system, third-generation scotopic vision, and thermal sights. However, the commander solely had a day/night sight while not thermals, though he had a screen that allowed him to check the gunner’s thermal read and also the ability to rotate the turret to interact a target he was following through his sight. A laser-warning receiver (LIRD) was conjointly put in on the turret. The LIRD system possessed a degree of soppy APS practicality, it might mechanically rotate the turret towards a threat and deploy smoke. The LIRD system was conjointly exported with success to alternative countries. miscalculation out the commander’s systems, the Vihor was equipped with Associate in Nursing encrypted, frequency hopping radio, almost like the yankee SINCGARS system.

The armor of the Vihor follows identical style philosophy of its Soviet contemporaries. It used composite armor arrays on the solid turret and hull, comprised of a combination of silicium inorganic compound, aluminum, rubber, Associate in Nursingd an alloy honeycomb stuffed with quartz sand mixed with epoxy. This new armor was three.5 tons heavier than the armor on the M-84A, that was analogous to it on the T-72M1. KAO M-99 ERA was conjointly planned to be hooked up to the Vihor, but this program was solely completed in 1998 therefore most photos of the Vihor area unit missing the age. This ERA was calculable to be between the Soviet Kontakt-1 and Kontakt-5 in effectiveness, with restricted protection against mechanical energy rounds.

Due to the breakup of the SFRY, the Vihor ne'er entered production. thanks to the disparate nature of its production across all of the republics of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, several countries used elements from the Vihor program to upgrade their fleets of M-84s throughout the Yugoslavian war. Republic of Croatia even assembled one welded turret and a hull into a whole Vihor, finishing it up with some M-84 components.

It’s reported that this tank took half in Associate in Nursing operation to capture a JNA outpost in Degman. There lies the Vihor’s final inheritance. Following the top of the war, Republic of Croatia developed the Vihor into the M-95 “Degman” tank. Republic of Croatia else extra composite armor and new natural philosophy to modernize the Vihor for the 21st century. 2 M-95 Degmans were engineered and presently reside somewhere in Republic of Croatia.

The primary supply for Vihor and M-84 development was Modernization and Intervention: Yugoslav armored units 1945–2006, by Bojan B. Dimitrijević”

The author would really like to give thanks Luka Puzigaća, MD for help with analysis.

Charlie authority studied political and technology at Grinnell faculty and could be a frequent commentator on defense and national-security problems. This 1st appeared earlier in 2019.