Vietnam's upgraded T-54/55 is superior to T-72B3
The additional armor integrated into the turret of the T-72B3 tank was complained to have too large a gap, which would become a weak point if a penetrating bullet was fired at it.
Currently, Russia is upgrading a large number of T-72B main battle tanks to the T-72B3 and T-72B3M standards as a temporary solution while waiting for the T-14 Armata to be mass produced.
The option of using the T-72B3 to fill the gap is considered to be a good solution to the problem of increasing attack power, however, its defensive capabilities are still in great question.
Unlike the upgraded T-80BVM main battle tank which has explosive reactive armor on the outside and a very tight inner layer of rough armor, without creating any gaps, the T-72B3 is completely opposite.
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| Kontakt 5 explosive reactive armor covering the turret of the T-72B3 tank |
The outside of the T-72B3 tank's turret is covered with 4C22 panels of Kontakt 5 explosive reactive armor, providing protection equivalent to 540 to 650 mm of rHA.
However, that is not enough to provide minimal protection against the US M829A1 and M829A2 armor-piercing rounds with penetration capabilities of 700 and 740 mm RHA respectively at a distance of 2,000 m and hitting an angle of 90 degrees.
But the main danger is the large gap between the 4C22 modules. If the armor-piercing shell core hits this position, the Kontakt 5 explosive reactive armor will not be able to fulfill its mission of reducing the bullet's penetration ability by 20%.
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| In contrast to the T-72B3, the T-80BVM's enhanced explosive reactive armor is very tight. |
Even comparing the armor protection of the T-72B3 with the upgraded T-54/55 of Vietnam, it can be seen that our main battle tank creates much more peace of mind for the crew.
The additional armor for the turret of the modernized T-54/55 is a combination of composite box armor on the outside with explosive reactive armor blocks manufactured using Israeli Blazer armor technology on the inside, creating very good protection.
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| The additional armor equipped for the upgraded Vietnamese T-54/55 turret is completely sealed. |
In addition, the additional armor modules integrated into the upgraded T-54/55's turret are completely sealed, ensuring even better resistance to armor-piercing bullets than the T-72B3 because there is no worry of the armor-piercing bar hitting the gap.
For the T-72B3 tank to truly become effective on the battlefield, it is thought that the above weakness should be overcome by Russia because the operation is very simple and not at all costly.