Morocco Indirectly Dragged Into Russia-Ukraine War Due To The T-72 MBT, Here's The Reason!

Morocco Indirectly Dragged Into Russia-Ukraine War Due To The T-72 MBT

International Military - The T-72 Ural main battle tank has indirectly dragged Morocco into the Russia-Ukraine war. At the request of the United States, Morocco will transfer spare parts for its T-72 tanks to Ukraine, which is involved in a war with Russia.

According to a report by Le Journal de l'Afrique, US diplomats managed to convince the Moroccan government to secretly transfer spare parts for the T-72 tank to Ukraine. If these reports are true, Morocco will become the first African country to officially support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Various military online media, such as 19fortyfive and Bulgarian Military, are busy reporting on this issue by quoting the Le Journal de I'Afrique report. Of course this news is quite surprising because the Kingdom of Morocco has had good relations with Russia.

“However, Morocco chose Ukraine. In secret diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Rabat, business and political trips in various sectors, Morocco agreed to supply spare parts for Ukraine's T-72 tank,” wrote Bulgarian Military, Wednesday (14/12/2022).

The T-72 tank, even though it is classified as an old war machine, is the most widely used tank in the Russian and Ukrainian wars. As a result, many T-72 tanks were damaged and could no longer be operated after being used in combat. Russia has the ability to repair a number of damaged tanks, and even produce new, more sophisticated tanks. In contrast to Ukraine, which needs the help of its allies to procure spare parts.

The New York Times indicated, on April 1, that Washington was negotiating with its NATO allies to supply T-72 tanks to Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelinski's request specifically to strengthen defenses in Donbass. "A few days later, we learned that Poland was in the process of delivering 200 T-72 tanks to Kiev," wrote the Bulgarian Military.

The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces have several dozen T-72B/BK tanks, which were acquired from Belarus between 1999 and 2001. Many of the T-72 tanks were actually purchased from Ukraine and Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In July 2015, the Ukraine-based company Ukroboronservice approached Morocco for parts for the T-72 tank, but the deal did not go smoothly.

Now, after some US pressure and lobbying, Rabat will help keep Kiev's T-72 tanks operational. “It is almost surprising that Moscow did not try to procure the parts (T-72 tanks from Morocco), even though many of its tanks were destroyed in the battle. Russia has turned to Iran for drones and North Korea for artillery weapons, and is turning to older T-62 tanks to increase its power,” wrote page 19fortyfive.

The T-72 Ural tank was developed as a cheaper and more reliable alternative on the battlefield, following the philosophy of the Soviet Union. Quoted from the Military Today page, the T-72 tank entered service with the Soviet Union military in 1973. A total of 17,831 T-72 series tanks were produced in the Soviet Union until 1990. In 2020, only 2,034 T-72 series tanks of all variants were issued. reportedly remains active in the service of the Russian Army.

The T-72 tank is protected by composite armor equivalent to 410 mm Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA) capable of withstanding any 105 mm round at a distance of over 500 m. The T-72's frontal armor was impenetrable by contemporary Dragon or TOW anti-tank guided missiles. The side armor provides protection against IFVs and helicopter cannons.

The T-72 tank has the NBC protection system. The interior is lined with an anti-radiation liner, which also acts as a spall liner. There is also an automatic fire extinguisher. The main battle tank is equipped with a 125 mm smoothbore gun which fires rounds at a higher rate than the Western 105 mm long gun. For loading the T-72 tank gun using an autoloader system with a maximum shot of up to 8 rounds per minute.