T-72 Ural

* Default
* Victory
* T-72M LWP

## Crew

* Commander
* Driver
* Gunner

The **T-72 Ural** is a Tier 5 progression Main Battle Tank under Marat Shishkin's dealership.

## History

Class: Medium Tank

Developed: 1967-1973

Service: 1973+

Vehicles Built: cca 5600-6200 (5677 for the Soviet Union, unclear if it includes export numbers)

Operators: Soviet Union, Libya, Syria

Of the three main Soviet MBTs simultaneously in service (T-64, T-72 and T-80), Uralvagonzavod's T-72 is by far the most recognizable one. In fact, much like its T-55 predecessor, it can be said that the T-72 became an icon of sorts, its sleek silhouette firmly connected to the Soviet Union. Whether it’s an image of a horde of these machines creeping through an East German forest or massive groups of them burning in the middle of an Iraqi desert, the T-72 is, without a doubt, one of the most widely recognized tanks in the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the T-72 was not really developed as a cheaper option to the T-64A. If anything, the initial vehicles were in fact more expensive. There were two reasons it actually came to be: issues with the T-64 program and politics. The latter argument was actually more important as Kharkov (where the T-64 series was developed) and Nizhny Tagil (home of Uralvagonzavod) had a long history of rivalry and both design bureaus were led by remarkable, powerful men (A.A.Morozov and L.N.Kartsev).

Its development history is quite convoluted but, long story short, due to the abovementioned T-64 program issues (engine reliability, difficulties with upgrades), alternative proposals were considered since the early 1960s and while those never got anywhere, they left UVZ with a number of interesting new components, most notably a new automatic loading mechanism for a 125mm gun and a new suspension. In 1967, Kartsev managed to convince the Soviet leadership to give him some early T-64A hulls to play with, replacing the original autoloader with his own and the rather unreliable 5TDF engine with a conventional diesel one from Chelyabinsk. These early tanks were referred to as Object 172 and were thoroughly tested between 1969 and 1971. In 1969, Kartsev retired and was replaced by V.N.Venediktov, who had the original T-64A suspension replaced with one developed earlier at UVZ.

The resulting tank was called Object 172M and, after some thorough 1972 testing, it was introduced under the designation T-72 Ural (in honor of the place of its birth, the Ural mountains). Compared to the T-64A, the hull armor was roughly the same but the turret was simplified and the early turrets were made from cast steel only. It, however, was powerfully armed with the 2A46 125mm smoothbore gun.

Between 1973 and 1979, 5677 T-72 tanks were built (although the number possibly includes some of the early T-72As) and most of them went straight to the Soviet army. However, between 1978 and 1980, approximately five hundred were built for in export specifications called Object 172M-E and M-E1. Contrary to popular belief about the export “monkey models”, there were almost no differences between the export version and the Soviet variant, although the Soviets were known to offer inferior ammunition for their export tanks. These T-72s were sold to, amongst other places, the Middle East, where they participated in a number of conflicts. An early Ural is not seen often these days, although and at least one was spotted in combat relatively recently in Syria.

## Vehicle Traits

* Armored: This vehicle's armor can withstand a lot of punishment, allowing it to survive even serious firefights.
* Heavy Weapon: This vehicle carries one of the largest weapons around with significantly increased damage per shot.
* Powerful HE Rounds: This vehicle can fire powerful HE rounds that deal tremendous damage.
* Smoke Generators: This vehicle generates smoke all around it and lays down smoke cover by driving forward.

## Upgrades

### Armor

T-72 Ural Stock Armor
 This MBT's front is protected by composite armor. Composite armor consists of combined layers of steel and other material and offers excellent protection against HEAT shells and ATGMs. Its steel sides and rear are considerably more vulnerable.

Rubber Side Skirts
 Additional rubber side skirts marginally improve the vehicle's side protection against HEAT rounds.

### Weapon

**Stats:**

* **Depression/Elevation**: -6.0° / 14.0°

## Footnotes

1. ↑ 515 mm at 150m;
387 mm at 500m
2. ↑ 545 mm at 150m;
409 mm at 500m
3. ↑ 240 for Partial Penetration;
60 for Non-Penetrating Hits
4. ↑ 18 mm at 100m;
9 mm at 1000m

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