T-72 Main Battle Tank

James Kinnear, Stephen Sewell

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781472871770
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: 21st Century History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

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

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Concept of ‘Wartime Mobilization’
• Chapter 2: Development of the T-72 Main Battle Tank
• Chapter 3: Description of the T-72 Tank and its Variants
• Chapter 4: Derivative Vehicles
• Chapter 5: Combat Use
• Chapter 6: Manual Extracts
• Chapter 7: Walkarounds
• Chapter 8: Foreign Production and Service
• Chapter 9: Ukrainian Post-Soviet Service and Variants
• Chapter 10: T-72 Tanks Preserved in Museums
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• Artwork
• Bibliography
• About the Authors
• eCopyright