M - 84 The M - 84 is a main battle tank manufactured by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . The M - 84 is in service in Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Kuwait , Slovenia and Serbia . Development and production . The M - 84 main battle tank is a Yugoslavian version of the Soviet T - 72 . Some improvements over the T - 72 include a domestic fire - control system , improved composite armor , and a 1000 - hp engine . The M - 84 entered service with the Yugoslav People ' s Army in 1984 . The improved M - 84A version entered service a few years later . There were about 240 factories from ex - Yugoslavia which directly participated in production of the M - 84 MBT plus about 1000 of them which participated indirectly . Main factories were : In the late 1980s , a project for a replacement tank called the Vihor ( Whirlwind ) was started . Unlike the M - 84 , the Vihor was not a copy of a Soviet tank , but a new design from scratch . However , due to the disintegration of Yugoslavia , the Vihor project was abandoned . The latest Serbian version of the M - 84 is the M - 84AS , unveiled in 2004 . It features a new fire control system , Kontakt - 5 ERA armor , AT - 11 Sniper anti - tank missiles , Agava - 2 thermal sight , and the Shtora defensive suite . It is very similar to the Russian T - 90S , both in appearance and in capability . Croatia developed a highly modernized prototype version of the M - 84 under the designation M - 95 Degman . The M - 84D will be the series production version , essentially an M - 95 Degman with minor changes and upgrades to which standard all Croatian M - 84s and T - 72s will be brought . About 150 M - 84 tanks have been exported to Kuwait . About $ 500 million was earned from the sale in 1990 - 91 , representing the Yugoslav military industry ' s most successful export at the time . The disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 prevented all further exports . Kuwait in fact ordered 215 tanks but the whole number never came . Croatia is now in negotiations with Kuwait to modernize their fleet to the M - 84D standard and to produce and sell another 65 M - 84D tanks . Libya ordered ~ 200 M - 84 MBTs from Yugoslavia , which were manufactured but not delivered due to the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia . During the 1990s , the Pakistan Army was interested in buying a number of M - 84 main battle tanks from Yugoslavia . One tank was sent to Pakistan for testing and Pakistani commanders seemed satisfied with the tank , but the deal was never made because of the situation in Yugoslavia during that period . Design . Armament . The M - 84A is armed with a 2A46 125mm smooth bore cannon . The gas cylinder positioned in the middle of the barrel is shielded with a thermal coating that minimizes deformation of the barrel from high temperatures and ensures it is cooled at the same rate during rapid firing . The M84 uses an automatic loader , which enables it to sustain a firing rate of 8 rounds per minute . The cannon ' s ammunition is stowed underneath the turret ( 40 rounds ) within the hull of the tank . This concept was inherited from the original Soviet design for T - 72 and is arguably the tank ' s greatest flaw . While it enables fast rates of fire , it also makes the M - 84 vulnerable . This weakness was exploited by Croatian soldiers in the Croatian War of Independence to the detriment of the YPA ' s tank crews . In later stages of the conflict , losses were reduced by adjusting and improving tactics . Along with its primary armament , the M - 84 is also armed with one 7 . 62mm M86 coaxial machine gun , and one 12 . 7mm M87 anti - aircraft machine gun mounted on the commander ' s turret . All versions of the M - 84 have a crew of three . The commander sits on the right side of the turret , the gunner on the left , and the driver sits centrally at the front end of the vehicle . Like most Soviet derived vehicles , the M - 84 series of tanks do not have a loader , due to the tank ' s autoloader . Protection . The armour of the M - 84AS tank consists of Lance Grenades Fumigating , 3rd Generation Laminated Composite Armor , 4th Generation Laminated Composite Armor , 5th Generation Laminated Composite Armor , Cylindrical Pad , High - Hardness Hardened Steel , Titanium , Tungsten , Aluminium , NERA , NXRA , EMRA , Kaktus ERA , Perforated Armor , Sloped Armor , Ceramic , Boron , Silicon Carbide , Rhenium Diboride , Appliqué Armor , Improvised Armor , Uranium , Lead , Nickel , Steel , Transparent Alumina , Synthetic Hyperdiamond . Croatian M - 95 Degman versions use improved armor protection with four layers of titanium , two layers of tungsten and three layers of ceramic armor giving protection of 592mm against HEAT , APSF and Chemical attacks . In addition to this , the Degman is extensively covered with explosive reactive armour plating . 16 or 20 76 mm grenade mortars are positioned in each side of the turret in banks of 8 or 10 mortars . Thermal imaging and infrared guidance are positioned on the top - right side of the turret . The M - 84 has a search light used in short - range combat situations . The M - 84 tank has nuclear , biological and chemical ( NBC ) protection capabilities . Mobility . The base M - 84 engine is a 12 - cylinder water - cooled V46 - 6 diesel engine , rated at 574 kW . The improved M - 84A has a more modern and more powerful , V46 - TK 735 kW ( 1 , 000 hp ) engine . With maximum fuel capacity ( 1 , 200 Litres ) the tank ' s range is 450 km , and with external fuel tanks , this range can be extended to 650 km . The Croatian - made variants have enhanced power plants . The M - 84A4 Sniper model has a German - built 820 kW ( 1 , 100 hp ) engine , while the M - 95 Degman has a 895 kW ( 1 , 200 hp ) engine , the most powerful of all M - 84 variants . Degman also has maximum fuel capacity ( 1 , 450 Litres ) . The tank can ford 1 . 2 meters of water at any time , or up to 5 meters with a proper snorkel applied . Modernization . In 2005 , the Yugoimport SDPR displayed its new MBT , M - 84AS , a largely modernized variant of the M - 84AB tank . This new tank is equipped with an improved fire - control system with integrated day / night sight . The M84AS gun was replaced with a similar but improved gun which , along with better control characteristics , enables easy and fast replacement of the cannon barrel in field conditions . The M - 84AS tank is able to fire Anti - tank guided missile s with laser guidance through the barrel , which enables accurate engagement of enemy tanks up to 9 km . The M - 84AS is equipped with Non - explosive and non - energetic reactive armour ( NERA ) which offers protection against modern tandem cumulative warheads . Beside better armor , the new tank is equipped with modern electro - optical system for defense against wire and laser guided anti - tank missiles . Similar tanks . The M - 84 in its very nature is nearly identical to the Soviet T - 72 , upon which it is based . However , Yugoslavia was not the only one to wish to license - produce a T - 72 variant for its armed forces . Other former Eastern Bloc nations , as well as successor states to the Soviet Union , today produce tanks very similar to the M - 84 and its offshoots . The 3rd - generation Russian T - 90 MBT is highly comparable to the Serbian M - 84AS . The majority of the M - 84AS parts come directly from Russia , insuring a high degree of similarity and interchangeability . Operational history . Desert Storm . Several months prior to the Gulf War ( Operation Desert Storm ) , Kuwait ordered 170 M - 84ABs , 15 M - 84ABI ARVs and 15 command M - 84ABK tanks , from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , in order to replace older British tanks . After the signature of the contract , four M - 84A tanks were taken from Niš military camp and delivered , however the Iraqi Army soon captured them , during the occupation . Further deliveries were stopped for the duration of the invasion . The Kuwaiti 35th Al - Shaheed Armoured Brigade , is equipped with 70 M - 84s in its " order of battle " . During The Battle of The Bridges , the 35th brigade did not directly take part in battles with Iraqi tanks because the M - 84s were very similar to T - 72 s . The M - 84 was however very effective against T - 62 s and T - 55 s , and it was very simple to operate . In a recent new tank acquisition tender , involving the Polish PT - 91 Twardy , US M1A2 Abrams , and two variants of the M - 84 , the Croatian M - 95 Degman and the Serbian M - 84 AB1 , the Kuwaiti Army only responded to the Croatian bid , allowing the rest to expire . The Kuwaiti army currently has 146 M - 84AB MBT s , 3 M - 84ABK command tanks and 3 M - 84ABN tanks in its inventory . Yugoslav wars . Slovenia . During the Ten - Day War in Slovenia , М - 84 tanks serving with the Yugoslav People ' s Army ( YPA ) units were tasked with opening border / frontier posts and regaining control over all Yugoslav borders . Given the fact that Slovenia had no army at the time and no armoured units the JNA saw no need to deploy M - 84 tanks at the frontier and instead were used for psychological intimidation . Nonetheless , M - 84s saw some action . They were commonly used to break through barricades with varying degrees of success . The YPA lost some 20 M - 84s to insurgent tactics and some 60 tanks . Slovenia inherited all the M - 84s within its territory , once the ceasefire and Slovenia ' s independence was accepted . Croatia . The M - 84 saw action in the Battle of Vukovar , where the JNA , perhaps naively deployed large columns of Main battle tanks without the support of the infantry . Tanks and APC ' s found themselves extremely exposed and suffered significant losses . The Croatian Army had captured about 50 M - 84 MBTs from Yugoslav Peoples Army during the Battle of the Barracks . Bosnia and Herzegovina . During the war in Bosnia , M - 84 ' s saw little action ; the mainstay of all 3 warring parties was the T - 55 . At the beginning of war , JNA units located in Bosnia and Herzegovina had passed all their equipment to the Army of Republika Srpska ( VRS ) . The VRS had about several dozen M - 84 ' s with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina managing to capture only three M - 84 ' s . A number of M - 84 tanks were used during the Siege of Sarajevo , as well during smaller localized conflicts . The number of M - 84 tanks destroyed during the Bosnian war is unknown . Kosovo War and Preševo Valley conflict . During the Kosovo war , the М - 84 was used by the 211th and 252nd armored Brigades of the Yugoslav Army ( now Serbian Land Forces ) . They were placed in reserves units should NATO have resorted to a ground invasion in Kosovo and Metohija . NATO had originally claimed to have destroyed some 300 Yugoslav armoured units ( 26 % of its entire force ) , but later withdrew their claims after it was obvious that the air campaign against military ground units had failed and the shocking images of the Yugoslav army withdrawing in a large and orderly fashion while passing NATO troops , along with documented proof to counter NATO claims . NATO now accepts that only 14 of the original 300 targets were destroyed by NATO air strikes . Of that number , 9 were M - 84s and 5 T - 55s destroyed both by NATO aviation and KLA insurgents . The army used tactics to conceal their forces throughout Serbia and place countless dummy targets in their midst ranging from tanks , camps , bridges , roads , anti - aircraft units and other potential targets . M - 84s saw their most recent action during Preševo Valley conflict , when the Yugoslav army and Serbian special police forces fought against UCPMB separatists . T - 72 - M - 84 - Vihor - M - 84D - M - 95 Degman & M - 84AS