T-72 Main Battle Tank - Hardcover

by James Kinnear (Author), Stephen Sewell (Author)

A highly illustrated study of the T-72 main battle tank and variants, detailing its history from the Cold War Soviet Army though to the current War in Ukraine.

The T-72 is one of the most recognisable tanks in the world. Produced in large quantities, it has seen service in numerous Middle Eastern and African conflicts, as well as the War in Yugoslavia and the current conflict in Ukraine. In this new study, respected Russian armour experts James Kinnear and Stephen "Cookie" Sewell tell the full story behind this iconic tank using extensive primary source material from Russian archives, much of which is appearing in English for the first time.

The T-72 was originally developed in the late 1960s as a cheaper alternative to the recently introduced T-64 Main Battle Tank and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1974, becoming the most common tank used by the Warsaw Pact from the 1970s until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with over 22,000 built for both domestic use and export.

This new study contains over 300 photos detailing the history of the vehicle, as well as tables and data covering the weapons and systems used. It also covers related vehicles and systems such as artillery systems, engineer vehicles, bridge launchers, and recovery vehicles, as well as the unique heavy infantry support vehicles.

Author Biography

James Kinnear has researched the topic of Soviet and Russian military hardware since his first visit to the Soviet Union as a teenager. He has published books on Soviet military technology with Barbarossa, Darlington, Osprey and Tankograd.

Stephen L. "Cookie" Sewell is a retired US Army Chief Warrant Officer and Department of the Army intelligence analyst. He has written extensively on American and Soviet armour and lives in Aberdeen, Maryland.