During the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein imported a number of T-72 tanks from the Soviet Union and Poland. The tanks saw service in both the Gulf War and the Iraq War. In the 1980s, Iraq also established a factory to retrofit and repair T-72s, and started the Lion of Babylon project with the intent to assemble T-72s locally.
History
In the 1970s and 80s, Iraq purchased a hundred T-72 from the Soviet Union. Iraq utilized these tanks during the Iran-Iraq War, which temporarily put T-72 exports to Iraq to a halt. However, Poland started delivering T-72s in January of 1982, and in September of the same year, Soviet exports resumed as well. Overall, Iraq received about 1,038 T-72 tanks, primarily produced in Poland. Some of these were destroyed during the Iran–Iraq War, or captured by the Iranians. As of 1996, Iraq had 776 T-72 tanks in service.
Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi Government acquired dozens of refitted T-72M1s from Hungary, in order to equip an armored brigade. The headquarters of this new Iraqi Army unit is located in Taji, where Iraq had attempted to assemble T-72s locally in the late 1980s. Some surviving T-72s are used for training, and the experience of Iraqi Army officers and crews with the T-72 was one of the reasons behind the choice of Hungarian T-72M1s.
Combat history and performance
T-72 tanks saw service in the 1991 Persian Gulf War as well as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like other tanks in the Iraqi inventory, T-72s were mainly employed as armored self-propelled artillery, rather than in maneuver warfare roles. In operations, it fared poorly against American main battle tanks and armored fighting vehicles. For example, a 120 mm depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round from an M1 Abrams could knock out a T-72 tank well beyond 3,000 m, while the effective range of the APFSDS 125 mm shell used by Iraq was 1,800 m. The Iraqi T-72s used 3BM9 APFSDS shells (removed from Soviet service in 1973), with a penetration only 245 mm at a distance of up to .
The Iraqi T-72s, like most T-72 export versions, lacked then-modern night vision systems, though they did have some night fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or floodlights - just not the latest starlight scopes and passive infrared scopes as on the Abrams.
Within closer ranges, the T-72 was more effective, especially while within prepared positions. However, even in such conditions, the T-72 did not fare well against M1s—as proven in the Battle of Norfolk during Desert Storm, although the tank also participated in the Battle of Phase Line Bullet, where Bradley IFVs from the 4th squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment were driven back by dug-in Iraqi armoured vehicles at heavy cost.
Despite the relative thinness, a retrofitted reinforced armor plate present both at the turret and the front upper hull seems to have been relatively effective against some shaped-charge ordnance, like the TOWs and Hellfire missiles. There are reports of Iraqi T-72s surviving near-misses from these weapons, although the reinforced armor generally did not prevent a mobility kill. However, it is also possible that the unexpected survival rate was due to the electro-optical countermeasures mounted on most of the tanks rather than the added armor. There is evidence of at least one T-72 surviving a direct hit from an Abrams main gun in Mahmoudiyah in 2003. A 120 mm HEAT round from an Abrams impacted on the front of an Asad Babil turret at point blank range without producing a catastrophic kill. Some T-72 tanks may have featured explosive reactive armor, possibly obtained from Polish T-72M1 spare parts.
Another improvised armor upgrade may have also been added at the Taji complex. An additional 30 mm armor plate was welded on the front areas of the hull and turret, leaving an air gap matching the size of the armor, so that the power of a HEAT jet could be dissipated in the hollow space. This technique follows the principle of spaced armor. The Iraqi engineers tested this reinforcement against captured Iranian 120 mm Chieftain tank guns in 1989, apparently with some success.
