The T-72 was one of the most widely produced post-World War Two tanks, second only to the T-54 / 55 family, and the basic design has also been further developed as the T-90.

The T-72 shares many design features with other tank designs of Soviet origin.

The basic T-72 design has extremely small periscope viewports, even by the constrained standards of battle tanks and the driver's field of vision is significantly reduced when his hatch is closed.

They are the products of different design bureaus ; the T-80 is from the SKB-2 design bureau of the Kirov Factory ( LKZ ) in Leningrad while the T-72 is from the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.

They are similar in superficial appearance, but the T-80 is based on the earlier T-64, while incorporating features from the T-72, which was a complementary design.

The Leningrad design bureau improved upon the earlier T-64 design, introducing a gas turbine engine in the original model, and incorporating suspension components of the T-72.

Due to the use of a modified T-72 chassis the Indian Army is interested in this design.

After the adoption of the Type 74, the Japanese High Command was already looking for a superior, completely indigenous tank design to defeat the Soviet T-72.

One group argued for a design based on the Soviet T-72, with three crewmembers and a 125 mm autoloader cannon.

Russia has stopped production of the T-80 in favour of the diesel-powered T-90 ( based on the T-72 ), while Ukraine has developed the diesel-powered T-80UD and T-84 with nearly the power of the gas-turbine tank.

The T-72 hull has been used as the basis for other heavy vehicle designs, including the following:

The tracks run on large-diameter road wheels, which allows for easy identification of the T-72 and descendants ( the T-64 / 80 family has relatively small road wheels ).

The T-72 has a comprehensive nuclear, biological, and chemical ( NBC ) protection system.

The turret is marketed as the T6 which has already been fitted on the T-72.

It has also been fitted into a turret, named the T6, that can be placed on any suitable vehicle ; it has been fitted on the T-72 tank.

At least some technical documentation on the T-72 is known to have been passed to the CIA by the Polish Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski between 1971 and 1982.

Various versions of the T-72 have been in production for decades, and the specifications for its armour have changed considerably.

There have even been reports of kills against Iraqi T-72 tanks at close range.

Starting from July 1991 T-72 modernization programs were implemented by the Bumarcombine which had been producing T-72s under Soviet license.

Shortly after the ERC 90 F1 Lynx had been built for export, Panhard recognised the need for a cost effective light armoured vehicle that could defeat more modern main battle tanks ( MBT ), like the Russian T-72 which was being exported to many nations.

It is the location of the Kartsev-Venediktov Design Bureau ( OKB-520 ) where the T-54A and T-55 ( development of Morozov's T-54 ), T-62, T-72, and T-90 tanks have been designed, and was working on one possibility for a next generation main battle tank, rumored to be called the T-95, until this project was canceled in May 2010.

There are also T-64 and T-72 tanks which have been graffitied in a hippie manner at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Kiev.

A further 90-100 T-72 tanks were operated by the Special Republican Guard.

Subsequently this model, and the later T-72 and T-80 tanks introduced further innovations that influenced armoured warfare by introducing guided missiles into the tank ammunition mix, allowing ATGW fire from standard tank guns.

Yugoslavia developed the T-72 into the more advanced M-84, and sold hundreds of them around the world during the 1980s.

A T-72 Asad Babil abandoned after facing the final US thrust into Baghdad

Rifaat, suspecting that rebels were still hiding in tunnels under the old city, had diesel fuel pumped into them and set ablaze and stationed T-72 tanks at the tunnel entrances to shell people trying to escape from the tunnels.

By 6: 30, the first of several waves of Iraqi T-72 and T-55 tanks advanced into the wadi.

The following table shows the estimated protection level of different T-72 models in rolled homogeneous armour equivalency.

The following is a list of ammunition fired by the 125 mm smoothbore gun series used in the T-64, T-72, T-80, M-84, T-90 and other tanks derived from those designs, as well as the 2A45 Sprut Anti-Tank gun.

Field trials lasted from 1971 to 1973 and upon acceptance the Chelyabinsk Tank factory immediately ceased T-55 and T-62 production to retool for the new T-72 tank.

Defenders of the T-80 point out that the T-72 performed just as badly in urban fighting in Grozny as the T-80, and there were two mitigating factors: after the breakup of the Soviet Union poor funding meant no training for new Russian tank crews, and the tank force entering the city had no infantry support, which is considered to be suicidal by many major military strategists of armored warfare.

Although a development of the T-72, the T-90 uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore tank gun, 1G46 gunner sights, a new engine, and thermal sights.

This new antitank warhead could penetrate a Russian T-72 main battle tank armour from any attack angle.

Changes from the T-72 include a new dual-axis stabilized fire-control system, reactive armour, a more powerful engine, transmission and new automatic loader.

Unlike many other T-72 upgrades the Polish Army PT-91s are upgraded using elements created almost exclusively by domestic companies ( this includes new engine, fire control system and all communication system elements ).

Vehicles used by Polish Army were rebuilt from the few original T-72 Ural in polish inventory delivered from Soviet Union ; another vehicle was build new for Malaysian Army as a part of PT-91M order.

Despite the introduction of the T-62, in 1969 their T-64 tank was rearmed with a new tank gun, while in 1972 Nizhny Tagil began production of the T-72 tank, also armed with the gun.

Although 65 percent of these ground force divisions were only at 20 percent of full combat strength, they were provided with improved equipment, including T-72 tanks, and were reinforced by 2, 200 aircraft, including new generation aircraft such as the MiG-23 / 27 Flogger fighter.

By the late 1980s it consisted of a regimental headquarters in command of three Motorised Rifle Battalions, equipped with either the BMP or BTR series of armoured personnel carriers, and one Tank Battalion, typically consisting of T-64, T-72 or T-80 tanks, although older models were present in units outside the European Theater of Operations.

Main models of the T-72, built in the Soviet Union and Russia.

Several T-72 models featured explosive reactive armour ( ERA ), which increased protection primarily against HEAT type weapons.