T-72B3

This page is about the Russian medium tank T-72B3. For other versions, see T-72 (Family).

T-72B3

Т-90А

T-90M

T-72B3

Т-90А

T-90M

USSR

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.7	11.7	11.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:350 000

Purchase:950 000

Description

The T-72B3 is a rank VII Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Raining Fire".

General info

Survivability and armour

ERA

Effective action against the cumulative ammunition

Composite armour

Balanced protection against all types of ammunition

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Self-entrenching equipment

Creation of ramparts and trenches in soft ground

Armourfront / side / back

Hull105 / 80 / 50

Turret180 / 160 / 65

Crew3 people

Visibility75 %

Vulnerable areas of the T-72B3's frontal profile. The gunner's sight is a risky shot as it has a chance of ricocheting.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	60 mm (69°) Front glacis	80 mm (0°) Front 70 mm (0°) Rear	40 mm (30°) Top 40 mm (30°) Center 20 mm (29°) Bottom	30 mm Front 20 mm Engine deck
Turret	585-660 mm Turret front 220-600 mm Gun mantlet	180-240 mm	75-150 mm	45 mm
Cupola	40 mm	40 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB67 / 5 km/h

RB and SB60 / 5 km/h

Number of gears7 forward

1 back

Weight46.0 t

Engine power

AB1 603 hp

RB and SB840 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB34.8 hp/t

RB and SB18.3 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)		Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse	Stock	AoA	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	67	5	46	1	1,302	1,603	28.3	34.11
Realistic	60	5			743	840	16.15	17.87

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 665 → 6 853

RB3 582 → 6 698

SB4 531 → 8 472

Total cost of modifications280 900

462 000

Talisman cost3 000

Crew training270 000

Experts950 000

Aces2 200

Research Aces1 210 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

150 / 190 / 210 %

244 / 244 / 244 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 330 Suspension Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 300 Brake System Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 300 Filters Research: 15 000 Cost: 23 000 420 Transmission Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440 Engine Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440	Improved Parts Research: 3 600 Cost: 19 000 330 Dozer Blade Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 330 Improved FPE Research: 3 300 Cost: 17 000 300 NVD Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 300 Crew Replenishment Research: 15 000 Cost: 23 000 420 Smoke grenade Research: 15 000 Cost: 23 000 420 ESS Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440 T-72B3 UBH Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440	Horizontal Drive Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 330 125mm_ussr_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 330 Adjustment of Fire Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 300 Laser rangefinder Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 300 Elevation Mechanism Research: 15 000 Cost: 23 000 420 125mm_ussr_ATGM_ammo_pack Research: 15 000 Cost: 23 000 420 Artillery Support Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440 125mm_ussr_3BM42_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Research: 16 000 Cost: 25 000 440

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

125 mm 2A46M-5 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition45 rounds

First-order22 rounds

Reload7.1 s

Vertical guidance-5° / 13°

Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.

125 mm 2A46M-5					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	45	-6°/+13°	±180°	Two-plane	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	7.10	7.10	7.10	7.10
Realistic					__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
3BK18M	HEATFS	550	550	550	550	550	550
3OF26	HE	42	42	42	42	42	42
3BM22	APFSDS	425	420	415	405	393	380
9M119M1	ATGM (tandem)	850	850	850	850	850	850
3BM42	APFSDS	479	477	470	462	453	445

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
3BK18M	HEATFS	905	19	0.05	0.1	2,790	65°	72°	77°
3OF26	HE	850	23	0	0.1	5,240	79°	80°	81°
3BM22	APFSDS	1,760	4.83	N/A	N/A	N/A	76°	77°	80°
9M119M1	ATGM (tandem)	350	17.2	0.2	0.01	4,720	80°	82°	90°
3BM42	APFSDS	1,700	4.85	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
45	23 (+22)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

12.7 mm 6P50 machine gun

Ammunition300 rounds

Belt capacity60 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Fire rate700 shots/min

Vertical guidance-4° / 75°

7.62 mm PKT machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate700 shots/min

12.7 mm 6P50
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	300 (150)	700	-4°/+75°	±180°

7.62 mm PKT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,000 (250)	700	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High resolution thermals
• Great frontal armour, the Relikt ERA is very effective against chemical rounds and can even stop the Italian CL3143 on many parts of the frontal hull
• Decent side armor with the UBH package, the 4S24 era can stop some HEAT-FS rounds from the side
• Good selection of shells, including APFSDS, HEAT-FS, HE, and Tandem ATGMs
• Tandem ATGMs have good penetration, effective against targets that your main shells can't penetrate, or for hullbreaking SPAA and other lightly armoured vehicles
• Turret armour is very thick, even from the side, due to the ERA
• Autoloader carrousel is located low on the hull, making it difficult to hit from distance
• Highly effective HE shell, able to destroy even hull down opponents

Cons:

• Slow reverse speed
• 7.1s reload
• No ammo rack protection, any round that penetrates and hits the ammo rack has a good chance at destroying the vehicle
• Slow gun handling compared to Western tanks
• 3 crew members
• Gun ring and mantlet are still the biggest weakspots
• Stock mobility is a huge disadvantage when facing other top tier tanks, speed tops at around 35 km/h in rough terrain, although it improves massively when fully upgraded
• Small size means crew is packed tightly together, an penetrating shell often takes it out in one shot
• Difficult stock grind, UBH, 3BM42 and engine/transmission upgrades are tier IV modifications.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the T-72B3 from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• T-72B3 Devblog Images
• 
• 
• 

• T-72B3 UBH (Modification) Devblog Images
• 
• 
• 

Videos

The Shooting Range #216 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the T-72B3.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] New T-72 modifications: here come the top-of-the-line Russians!