Russia’s Soviet-era T-72 Main Battle Tank (MBT) has proven to be a key asset in the Ukraine War, outperforming even newer tank models like the Russian T-14 Armata and NATO-supplied systems like the U.S. Abrams and German Leopard-2.
So, to be clear, the T-72, a decades-old platform, is performing much better than the faulty systems that NATO has lavished upon Ukraine. In fact, in many cases, as with the U.S.-provided Abrams MBTs, the Ukrainians have had to pull them entirely from the front as they were not serving the Ukrainian military well. For a fraction of the cost of these other, newer systems, the Russians are simply amping up the old T-72 with defenses like reactive armor and greater countermeasures against mines and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
They also throw their turrets much better when hit.