T-72 Ops in 2nd Chechen War Past As Prologue?

[John Kettler]

Here is a most interesting article from Armor describing, in considerable detail, the nits and grits of operating and fighting T-72s in combat. The article talks about crew quality, autoloader issues, morale, operating procedures, tank survivability and mobility, why the T-72s were supplanted at times by T-62s and even T-55s. Also discussed is some tank combat executed in a very atypical fashion whose nearest equivalent would be a roving gun.

http://www.ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.2001.ja/4chechen01.pdf

Regards,

John Kettler

[vincere]

Here is a most interesting article from Armor describing, in considerable detail, the nits and grits of operating and fighting T-72s in combat. The article talks about crew quality, autoloader issues, morale, operating procedures, tank survivability and mobility, why the T-72s were supplanted at times by T-62s and even T-55s. Also discussed is some tank combat executed in a very atypical fashion whose nearest equivalent would be a roving gun.

http://www.ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.2001.ja/4chechen01.pdf

Regards,

John Kettler

A rare thing happened with that page. My security software blocked the site opening.

[Na Vaske]

Here is a most interesting article from Armor describing, in considerable detail, the nits and grits of operating and fighting T-72s in combat. The article talks about crew quality, autoloader issues, morale, operating procedures, tank survivability and mobility, why the T-72s were supplanted at times by T-62s and even T-55s. Also discussed is some tank combat executed in a very atypical fashion whose nearest equivalent would be a roving gun.

http://www.ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.2001.ja/4chechen01.pdf

Regards,

John Kettler

As a veteran of this conflict, I'd wouldn't disagree with what is written: only that it was a quite broad and general overview. We used tanks as mobile direct fire support, though admittedly my experience was mostly limited to blockpost duty and patrolling with little to no contact. Though I don't see the 2nd Chechen War having much in common with a war between the Russian Federation and NATO in 2017. Different forces, different objectives, different eras.

[John Kettler]

vincere,

That's odd, seeing as how my security software is easily spooked, yet has no issues with the site.

Na Vaske,

You may be our first Russian combat veteran on the Forums. I was not so much interested in the 2nd Chechen War as I was in specific issues with the T-72: autoloader problems (never expected a winter operating problem, given historical Russian ability for Russian gear to function in extreme cold); crew ability to effectively use the installed tech, vulnerability, survivability (the getting through four RPG hits sure got my attention), the T-62 with eyebrows (never had much data on that; Jane's Defense Reviews that I saw gave the impression it was a horseshoe of solid armor steel) and the somewhat shocking stealing of well past Semtex plastic explosive from ERA boxes, with the associated impact on the tank's ability to survive hits. These are the sorts of things seldom encountered in English language defense pubs.

Regards,

John Kettler

[vincere]

JK- Just tried it again, Bitdefender is saying unsafe due to Malware.

Agreed, would be very interested to hear Chechen experiences.