T- 72 Operators and Variants (Paperback)

The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1971. It replaced the T-54/55 series as the workhorse of Soviet tank forces (while the T-64 and T-80 served as the Soviet high-technology tanks). In front-line Russian service it is being replaced by the T-90, a modernized version of the T-72. It has been exported and produced in many countries.T-72 "Ural" (Ob'yekt 172M) (1973) - Original version, armed with 125 mm D-81TM smoothbore tank gun. Unlike the later versions it had the searchlight mounted on left. It also has flipper type armour panels. It had the TPD-2-49 coincidence optical rangefinder sight protruding from its turret.