T-72 tanks in Iraqi service

T-72
A captured Iraqi T-72 on display at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum, 2018
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Ba'athist Iraq
Service history
Wars	Iran-Iraq War Gulf War Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait 2003 invasion of Iraq War in Iraq (2013–2017)
Production history
Designer	Kartsev–Venediktov
Produced	1989–1990
No. built	500-750
Specifications
Mass	41.5 tonnes (45.7 short tons)
Length	9.53 m (31 ft 3 in) gun forward 6.95 m (22 ft 10 in) hull
Width	3.59 m (11 ft 9 in)
Height	2.23 m (7 ft 4 in)
Crew	3
Armor	Mild steel,[citation needed] 45-300mm[citation needed]
Main armament	125 mm 2A46M
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKT coax machine gun 12.7 mm NSVT antiaircraft machine gun or 12.7 mm DShK AA machine gun
Engine	V-12 diesel 780 hp (582 kw)
Power/weight	18.8 hp/t
Suspension	Torsion bar Some dampers removed to suit desert conditions[1]
Operational range	425 km 600 km with fuel barrels
Maximum speed	60 km/h (road) 45 km/h (off-road)

During the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein imported a number of T-72 tanks from the Soviet Union and Poland. The tanks saw service in both the Gulf War and the Iraq War. In the 1980s, Iraq also established a factory to retrofit and repair T-72s, and started the Lion of Babylon project with the intent to assemble T-72s locally.