Dozens, if not hundreds more have been captured as Russian tank crews have abandoned their tanks.
The Secret T-72
Losses like these certainly werent expected when the T-72 was introduced in 1973.
A New York business had attempted that same year to smuggle two T-72 tanks out of Poland without luck.
These T-72B3 tanks take part in a Victory Day parade practice in April 2017. Reactive armor upgrades are prominent on the tank. Image: ©Vitaly V. Kuzmin/CC BY-SA 4.0
That effort didnt get very far, however.
Another time, U.S. officials managed to convince a Romanian connection to sell a T-72.
In addition, it used an autoloader to increase the rate of fire for its 2A46 125mm main gun.
This Defense Intelligence Agency spy photo from the 1980s shows a T-72A tank. The West knew so little about the tanks, this was briefly classified as a T-74 tank. Image: NARA
That autoloader also presented some serious problems, something well get to in a minute.
The MBT was also developed to cross rivers and in theory, the system is sound.
Unsurprisingly, the whole tactic of fording rivers was quite unpopular with Russian soldiers.
This Cold War-era spy photograph from Czechoslovakia shows the left side of a Soviet T-72 M main battle tank fitted with reactive armor brackets. Image: NARA
But weve seen that Russia is increasingly unable to replace what it is losing on the battlefield.
The ammunition for the main gun sits in a carousel-style automatic loader with multiple shells within the turret.
The flaw was first detected during the U.S.-led invasion of Kuwait to liberate the country from Iraq in 1991.
This spy photo of a Soviet T-72 was originally published in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency’s magazineSoviet Military Power. Image: NARA
However, the Russian military never bothered to resolve or even address the issue.
This is true of not only the tanks but of their aircraft and even infantry equipment.
Thus, the problem of the autoloader hasnt been addressed, even with the most modernized models.
A Georgian Armed Forces T-72 tank fires during a combined arms live fire demonstration at the Vaziani training area in the country of Georgia on Sept. 9, 2022. Image: DoD
It is seen as just as vulnerable due to its autoloader.
The shells are retrieved from a sealed and protected compartment and transferred to the gun for firing.
Russias forces didnt do too well.
A Bulgarian Army tank crew maneuvers a T-72 tank during a combined situational training exercise with U.S. Soldiers from 1st Cavalry Division in 2018. Image: Sgt. Jamar Marcel Pugh/U.S. Army National Guard
Were seeing that Igor is home on Tuesday, on the frontlines on Thursday, and dead on Friday.
It is especially hard to stay in a tank that has earned a reputation that it is a deathtrap.
One factor is that its military has better coordination and leadership.
A pair of Russian T-72B tanks lead a column at the Chebarkul training ground in April 2017. Image: Ministry of Defense of Russia/CC BY 4.0
Another factor is that its tank crews are simply better.
Russia has increasingly relied on those unreliable conscripts, whereas Ukraine has experienced professional tank crews.
Another factor is that the Ukrainian tanks are increasingly better maintained.
U.S. Marines acting as an OPFOR add realism to a 1997 exercise by driving a former Soviet bloc T-72 main battle tank across the beachhead. Image: NARA
Many of its T-72s have come from former Warsaw Pact members including Poland and the Czech Republic.
Some of those MBTs have been steadily upgraded by firms such as the Czech-based Excalibur Army.
And it would appear they would need it with the T-72.
A destroyed Iraqi T-72 Main Battle Tank (MBT) lies along a road leading to Al Iskandariyah, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Image: NARA
An Iraqi T-72 tank sits where it was destroyed during Operation Desert Storm on March 27, 1991. Image: NARA
The U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank system has been exceptionally effective against Russian T-72 tanks in Ukraine. Shown is a British Army team in training with Eastern European allies. Image: UK MOD
This Iraqi-made T-72 Asad Babil tank was abandoned almost intact along the main resupply route of U.S. forces in 2003. Image: DoD
During Operation Desert Storm, this Iraqi T-72 main battle tank was destroyed near Ali Al Salem Air Base. Image: NARA
Prior to being abandoned by Russian troops, this T-72 was damaged by Ukrainian forces near Mariupol. Image: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine/CC BY 4.0
This Russian T-72 was destroyed along a highway by soldiers in Ukraine. Note the “jack-in-the-box” turret. Image: Enno Lenze/CC BY 2.0
The reactive armor fittings on the T-72 have not necessarily proven to be effective at protecting the tanks from attacks. Image: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/CC BY 4.0
