Aured Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 I like building scale plastic kits and thought I might try my hand at a 1/35 T-72 modeled after the ones in Shock force; however, I'm finding it hard to research the exact details and differences between the variants, so I wanted to ask a couple of questions: 1. What is the difference between the T-72M1 (2001) and the TURMS-T? From what I can see, the T72M1 is pretty much the T-72BM, first revealed in 2006 according to Wikipedia. The best I am able to tell is that the M1 has a thermal sight, but that is all; the fire control system is not computerized, yet on the TURMS-T, it is. 2. What is the difference between the TURMS-T and the T-90? As far as I can tell, the T-90 can move faster and (I'm not sure) has better armor, but other than this, there is not much difference. What is the difference in armament and the fire control system? Is it superior? I am aware of that fancy new anti-ATGM laser thing the Russians have, but I'm not seeing it on the Syrian models, so I guess we can leave that out. 3. What is the deal with that spotlight on the side of the turret? Is it even a spotlight? A long time ago, I thought it was the gunners sight. It disappears from the 2001 variant up and I think it appears on lower model soviet tanks, such as the T-55. 4. Finally, what is the deal with that hinged armor that you see opened up on the sides of the lower model T-72s? What is it for? To protect infantry? Thanks in advance to all who reply. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agusto Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 1. What is the difference between the T-72M1 (2001) and the TURMS-T? From what I can see, the T72M1 is pretty much the T-72BM, first revealed in 2006 according to Wikipedia. The best I am able to tell is that the M1 has a thermal sight, but that is all; the fire control system is not computerized, yet on the TURMS-T, it is. The TURMS-T has better obersvation equipment and better protection against HEAT warheads IIRC. 2. What is the difference between the TURMS-T and the T-90? As far as I can tell, the T-90 can move faster and (I'm not sure) has better armor, but other than this, there is not much difference. What is the difference in armament and the fire control system? Is it superior? I am aware of that fancy new anti-ATGM laser thing the Russians have, but I'm not seeing it on the Syrian models, so I guess we can leave that out. The new fancy ATGM (IIRC it is the AT-11 sniper) that the T-90 is equipped with is fired from the barrel of the 125mm main gun of the tank, so you cant see anything on the Syrian models because there is nothing supposed to be there. In CMSF the T-90 also has a slightly better protection against HEAT warheads than the TURMS-T IIRC. 3. What is the deal with that spotlight on the side of the turret? Is it even a spotlight? A long time ago, I thought it was the gunners sight. It disappears from the 2001 variant up and I think it appears on lower model soviet tanks, such as the T-55. p I think it is an infrared spotlight. Early infra red night vision systems were all active, they needed the the target to be illuminated in order to function properly. One of the downbsides of such systems, while beeing invisible to the human eye, is that they are easily spotted by other IR capable systems. Modern NV systems are either passive IR systems or they are image intensifiers. 4. Finally, what is the deal with that hinged armor that you see opened up on the sides of the lower model T-72s? What is it for? To protect infantry? It is there to make HEAT warheads coming from the front-left or front-right side explode prematurely, thus decreasing their armour piercing effect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikkypixie Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I like building scale plastic kits and thought I might try my hand at a 1/35 T-72 modeled after the ones in Shock force; however, I'm finding it hard to research the exact details and differences between the variants, so I wanted to ask a couple of questions: 1. What is the difference between the T-72M1 (2001) and the TURMS-T? From what I can see, the T72M1 is pretty much the T-72BM, first revealed in 2006 according to Wikipedia. The best I am able to tell is that the M1 has a thermal sight, but that is all; the fire control system is not computerized, yet on the TURMS-T, it is. 2. What is the difference between the TURMS-T and the T-90? As far as I can tell, the T-90 can move faster and (I'm not sure) has better armor, but other than this, there is not much difference. What is the difference in armament and the fire control system? Is it superior? I am aware of that fancy new anti-ATGM laser thing the Russians have, but I'm not seeing it on the Syrian models, so I guess we can leave that out. 3. What is the deal with that spotlight on the side of the turret? Is it even a spotlight? A long time ago, I thought it was the gunners sight. It disappears from the 2001 variant up and I think it appears on lower model soviet tanks, such as the T-55. 4. Finally, what is the deal with that hinged armor that you see opened up on the sides of the lower model T-72s? What is it for? To protect infantry? Thanks in advance to all who reply. The manual has actually got quite a lot of information as well 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aured Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 Thanks for the reply all. It was an infrared spotlight by the way - it was installed in the T-55 and the Wikipedia article made reference to it. I wonder how they could see it - maybe there's a specific sight for it somewhere on the tank? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agusto Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Thanks for the reply all. It was an infrared spotlight by the way - it was installed in the T-55 and the Wikipedia article made reference to it. I wonder how they could see it - maybe there's a specific sight for it somewhere on the tank? Yes, there is a specific sight on the tank for it. The tank vs. tank simulation Steel Armor - Blaze Of War simulates the advantages and disadvantages of such early night vision devices very well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Aured, The active IR searchlight is called Luna, and that story is here. http://www.tank-net.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32336 The U.S. used to fit its tanks with combined white light/active IR lights mounted atop the main gun. This is shown here (M48 in Vietnam). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M48-marines-vietnam.gif Image intensifiers were the next step, then came FLIR/thermal sights. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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