Editing T-72 (section)

==IRL==
[[File:T-64 IRL.jpg|300px|right|thumb|A Soviet tank defending the tree which Stalin plucked an apple from as a child.]]
Like many Soviet tanks, the T-72 is among the most massively-produced post-WWII tanks out there, seeing service in many countries outside Soviet borders. Like all things Soviet, ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRAPmAeQl0k| except their cars]), its chief features are cost-effective design and simple but efficient lethality. Even while the modern Russian Army has replaced the venerable T-72 with newer tanks (namely the T-90, which is basically just a T-72 with more current weapon systems), the T-72 is still solid enough that it has been repurposed for a wide variety of combat roles that it wasn't originally designed for, including the [[wikipedia:BMPT_Terminator|BMPT Terminator]] used for urban pacification (and simultaneously sporting one of the most menacing names for a tank ever), or the [[TOS-1 Buratino]]. If your confused by that and remember T-72's getting [[rape|Roflstomped]] during the Gulf War, the answer is that those were [[T-72M]] which are the export version of the T-72 and were not as advanced as the ones used by the Russian army and eastern bloc nations proper, along with the reported inability of Middle Eastern armies in mastering the art of Soviet Doctrine (AKA. Attack-Move). Or any doctrine, really: read some books about the Arab-Israeli wars, they are so one-sided it's not even funny. (Well, the Republican Guard of Iraq did actually have sound defensive tactics but ultimately were overwhelmed by M1 Abrams tanks rushing over their defensive positions.)

There's a bit of an old wives' tale regarding the T-72's and other Russian tank's autoloaders: namely that the autoloader would every so often accidentally eat the gunner's arm. This is a myth likely originating from  Bryan Perrett's "Soviet armour since 1945" that haven't been true of the T-64's even when they were new as they simply wouldn't have been entered production otherwise. While yeah, T-64's were more complex and therefore less reliable compared to the T-72; a snapped thread, broken suspension system or failing engine is one thing. A dead or seriously injured gunner is on a complete another level, unacceptable even to the Red Army. Example: in 1941 the Red Army had a grenade named the RG-41, and it was more than a match for the more common RGD-33: weighting less while having the same amount of explosives. The only problem was its safety system: if the user fucked up the initiation sequence (and it was not as simple as "pull the pin") and it malfunctioned, that baby could blow in his hands right in the moment he was about to throw it. After less than ''a dozen'' recorded incidents (and mind it, not a word in press or anything!), Russian soldiers simply stopped using those grenades. They preferred using RGD-33's or nothing at all; which lead to the RG-41 quickly being replaced with the much safer to use RG-42. [[Chaos_Space_Marines|A tank that can bite your arm off is a very, very bad thing for morale, and no one in the right mind would sit in it, am I right?]] 

Incidentally: the T-72 was not the most modern tank in the Soviet Arsenal by the time of Team Yankee 1985's start date for World War Three. That title belongs to the [[T-80]], first introduced in 1976, well in time for this 'dust up'. 

The T-72B (which the incoming Warsaw Pact expansion will introduce), was just entering service in 1985. Among other upgrades it featured improved turret armor, ERA, and the ability to fire AT-11s (though that option is unlikely to be a wise use of points in the current meta). The T-72AV was also in service by 1985, and may make an appearance at some point in the future. Given that Battlefront Miniatures has already released vehicles [[Leopard 2#Leopard 2A5|that only entered service in the 1990s]], or that are entirely the product of [[M247 Sergeant York|alternate history]], it's possible other T-72 variants will appear in future expansions, if for no better reason than to part tabletop gamers from more of their hard-earned cash.

Since the end of the Cold War the number of variants has risen; as is to be expected, budgetary realities have made outright replacement with more modern AFVs impractical, so the various post-Communist and export users have continued to use their existing inventories, applying various upgrade packages as funds allow to suit their needs. Many of these vehicles have squared off against each other in the former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia, Ethiopia, and Ukraine.

The last of those has seen the appearance of nearly every variant in inventory on both sides, from the extensively upgraded (T-72AMT, T-72UA1, and more recently Czech-origin T-72M4 for the Ukrainians; T-72B2, B3, and B3M for the Russians) all the way on down to base model T-72As without any ERA, which have unsurprisingly fared poorly in the face of accurate long-range artillery, contemporary APFSDS, and top-attack ATGM spam. 

Despite it's growing age and the emergence of two new generations of armor since, the T-72 is set to remain in use for decades to come; quite the achievement for a vehicle that started its development as a design only intended for emergency war-time production. Though with the Ukrainans busy demonstrating anti-tank missile spam works just as well in real life as in Team Yankee, perhaps that life span is shortening even as we speak.

Today, they are heavily used as part of the clusterfuck that is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

{{Soviet Forces in Team Yankee}}
[[Category:Team Yankee]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]