T-72 | |
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![]() 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 | |
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 | |
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.