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| Russia Adds 98 T-72 Main Battle Tanks Equipped With Advanced Laser Reconnaissance |
Moscow - Russia has reportedly increased the delivery of 98 units of T-72 main battle tanks to the Ukrainian battlefield. Some tanks are equipped with laser rangefinders and electronic fire control to effectively destroy enemy targets. According to online media reports Oryx, 98 tanks in various modifications, such as the T-70A and T-72AÐ’, were immediately sent to the front lines in Ukraine. Part of the tanks came from the Belarusian reserves.
Belarusian T-72 tanks removed from the 969th tank reserve storage base at Urechcha, in the region of the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Local residents managed to record a video of the train, which was loaded with 24 Belarusian tanks.
According to eyewitnesses, the tanks were transported in two stages, first from Urechcha to the Uspenskaya station, which is located in the Rostov region, and then sent to Donetsk. Belarus is said to be quite active in supplying military equipment to Russia. According to various sources, in just a few weeks, the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has delivered 94 T-72A tanks.
It said it was the 6th shipment from Belarus to Russia in recent weeks. However, BulgarianMilitary.com is aware that in October, Russia received more than just the T-72 tank. It was reported that a train set at the end of October laden with T-90 tanks departed for Donetsk.
A train loaded with tanks is seen at a train station in Samara, Russia. So, in addition to the 98 T-72 tanks already mentioned by Oryx, Russia received the T-90 tanks in October, which must have been a total of 100 units in one month.
The T-72 is a Soviet-era Russian main battle tank developed in the late 70s and entered service in 1973. It weighs nearly 45 tons and is operated by a crew of three. The tank's armor consists of armor and composite armor with ERA. The tank's main gun is a 125 mm 2A46M/2A46M-5 smoothbore gun, and in addition, there are two guns in the 7.62 mm PKT coax turret. There is also a 12.7mm NSVT or DShK machine gun and anti-aircraft machine gun. Both machine guns are designed for close combat defense.
The tank is powered by a B-shaped diesel engine that develops up to 1,130 horsepower. Nearly 25,000 of this model of tank were produced, and it has taken part in nearly every military action from the 1970s to the present. In particular, the T-72A modification delivered from Belarus to Russia was a tank in which the incident rangefinder was replaced with a laser rangefinder and electronic fire control was added.
The turret front and upper section were reinforced with composite armor (nicknamed Dolly Parton by US intelligence). The tank also features reactive armor, smoke grenade launchers, fin armor mounts on the front fenders, and internal alterations. This tank is the backbone of Russia on the battlefield against Ukraine.