The Abrams can penetrate ANY point of the armor on ANY of the T-72 models (including the T-72B Super Dolly Parton…yes that’s really what we call it due to its strategically located armor enhancements on the turret front) out to WELL BEYOND 2000 meters. The Abrams can penetrate MORE THAN 1300 mm of RHAe at that 2000 meter distance (actual penetration numbers are classified, but I am an Abrams Master Gunner and have a security clearance and have the “need to know” and thus I have seen them) and the T-72 has BARELY 475 mm RHAe on the BEST/THICKEST version without ERA and barely 800 mm with ERA (for the T-72B Super Dolly with Kontakt 5, level 3 add-on ERA) according to the Russian propagandists.
Here is a link to the wiki page on the T-72 with a section on the Russian CLAIMED level of armor protection (these claims are highly exaggerated and this FACT has been tested multiple times by multiple NATO militaries and are confirmed. Any moronic dumbass who wants to attempt to “dispute” these FACTS will be deleted without rebuttal):
T-72 - Wikipedia
The T-72 CANNOT penetrate ANY of the frontal or side armor on the Abrams at ANY range with ANY of its main gun rounds, INCLUDING the ATGMs.
Here is a wiki page on the RUSSIAN CLAIMED levels of penetration of the 2A46 gun family that have been mounted on EVERY Russian built/designed tank since (and including) the T-64 AND T-14 Armata (which has the same gun slightly upgraded for full remote firing capability and with a new nomenclature [2A82]):
2A46 125 mm gun - Wikipedia
And another page with more info:
125 mm smoothbore ammunition - Wikipedia
Notice that the MAXIMUM CLAIMED penetration for their BEST sabot round is BARELY 300 mm RHAe at 2000 meters.
Notice that the MAXIMUM CLAIMED penetration for their BEST HEAT round is BARELY 350 mm RHAe at 2000 meters.
Notice that their BEST ATGM round is BARELY CLAIMED to be able to penetrate 900 mm RHAe at ANY range out to its maximum range of 5000 meters.
The Abrams has a PUBLICLY AVAILABLE (aka UN-classified) number of over 800 mm of RHAe protection against sabot and over 1300 mm of RHAe against HEAT/ATGM rounds. Note these are the UNCLASSIFIED and publicly released data. They are NOT the REAL and MUCH HIGHER classified numbers.
Here’s what that means: The Americans let the Russians THINK that their rounds are JUST BARELY able to penetrate American armor at ranges within the Russian vehicles severely limited and deficient engagement range capabilities (more on that later). This is called psychological warfare aka propaganda. The Americans are understating their capabilities in their publicly available information.
Now here are the FACTS on the ground and from real combat:
The Russian designed and built T-72 tanks that Iraq bought and used in the 1991 Gulf War…you remember those right? Well NOT ONE of their rounds did ANYTHING OTHER than bounce off ANY point of the armor on the OLDER and LESS HEAVILY ARMORED American Abrams of that era (the M1A1HA with the Gen 1 DU armor package). ALL American (aka non-export) Abrams tanks since that time have AT LEAST been upgraded even farther to the Gen 3 DU armor package. (Gen 4 DU armor is installed on the M1A2 SEP v3 that is already being fielded to replace M1A2 SEP v2 vehicles in current service).
Russian rounds have not really been updated. The newest top secret round SUPPOSEDLY can penetrate about 1000 mm RHAe according to Russian propaganda outlets. ALL Russian claims of the abilities of their military vehicles have CONTINUALLY been proven HIGHLY exaggerated and WAY over-hyped. Every time. The 1991 Gulf War was significant proof of this FACT. Russian rounds that should have been at least sort of successful in penetrating American tanks had a failure rate of 100% at ANY range and towards ANY point against American armor.
So what we know for a FACT is that Russia highly exaggerates its equipment capabilities and America significantly underrates theirs.
So what we can conclude from all of this is that the Abrams can kill the T-72 at ANY distance it can engage it at (out to 5000+ meters depending on model) and the T-72 MIGHT be able to MOBILITY kill (NOT catastrophic kill mind you) the Abrams IF it gets within 500 meters or so AND shoots it in the rear armor/exhaust ports.
FURTHER,
The Abrams has a higher real, and higher theoretical, rate of fire. SLOW human Abrams loaders HAVE to load in no less than 7 seconds. That reload time is good for more than 8.5 rounds per minute functional real world rate of fire. GOOD human Abrams loaders can load ANY round type on command in less than 3-4 seconds (I was a sub-3 second loader myself and highly sought after for hot-bed loading during multiple gunnery cycles in multiple units). That reload time is good enough for a theoretical fire rate of 15–20 rounds per minute up to a total of 16-17 rounds (the maximum number of rounds store-able in the Abrams ready rack depending on rack type). The FASTEST reload time on the T-72 is barely 11–12 seconds. NORMAL reload times are more like 19–20 seconds. These translate to a theoretical high fire rate of less than 5.5 rounds per minute to real world low of barely 3 rounds per minute. That means the Abrams can fire AT LEAST 2 rounds for EVERY round a T-72 can fire…if not even more.
Sights are more of the same. The Abrams can resolve and identify potential targets out beyond 8000 meters day or night. They can engage those targets at up to 5000 meters (and on the newer versions even farther) day or night.
Russian tanks cannot even resolve targets beyond 3500 meters (only the T-14 Armata can even resolve targets this far out) and the T-72 specifically cannot engage targets effectively at any more than 2500 meters. And that is during daylight ONLY. Night time their sights are even less capable. The T-72 can barely identify and engage targets past 1500 meters.
American tankers (and other combat MOSs) all brag that “We own the night.” And this statement is 100% true. We train to, and actually operate, at night. We use our “night” sights all the time, even during the day. We train in ways that make it so we don’t even really notice a change in tempo or operational capabilities between day ops and night ops. Abrams can kill T-72s 3500 meters before the T-72s even know the Abrams are there at night and 2500 meters before they know the Abrams are there in the day.
The Abrams top speed (governed) is 45 mph (70 km/h). The T-72 top speed ungoverned is 37 mph (67 km/h). Abrams is faster. Even with a governed engine.
To recap:
Abrams has:
Better/thicker/stronger armor
Better/more powerful gun
Better/more powerful anti-tank rounds
Better/faster/higher fire rate
Better sights/Longer range
Is faster.
An additional crewmember. (4 versus 3 for the T-72)
AND
Abrams’ crews can survive all but the very most catastrophic hits from ANY round type from ANY source at ANY distance.
T-72 has:
Lower unit cost (T-72 is $1–2 million US dollars compared to $3–6 million per Abrams)
Lighter weight (not necessarily an “advantage” since all of that weight difference is armor protection)
Requires 1 less crew member per vehicle (actually a disadvantage when it comes to vehicle maintenance, repair, and recovery operations).
AND
T-72 crew is 100% dead if the tank is hit by ANYTHING that can set it on fire or penetrate its armor unless they get EXTREMELY lucky at pretty much ANY distance.
You tell me which YOU think is the “better” vehicle for finding and killing enemy tanks.
