T-72A (Object 172M-1)

The T-72A (Object 172M-1 / Ob'yekt 172M-1) is a late Cold War era main battle tank of Soviet origin.
Introduced in 1979, the T-72A is the first major production variant.

Whereas the early T-72 Ural had only 600 production vehicles, there were over 10.000 T-72A produced.
The T-72A cemented the iconic image of the T-72 tank.

Searchlight has been placed on the right-hand side of turret, blanking off the TPD-2-49 coincidence optical rangefinder and replaced by the TPD-K1 laser rangefinder, added plastic armour track skirts covering the upper part of the suspension with separate panels protecting the sides of the fuel and stowage panniers instead of the flipper-type armor panels used on the T-72 "Ural", the turret front and top being heavily reinforced with composite armour better known by its US codename – "Dolly Parton", an electronic fire control system, MB smoke grenade launchers, flipper armour mount on front mudguards, internal changes, and a slight weight increase.",