In Development: BMT-72-140

Commanders!

Today we’d like to tell you more about a vehicle that’s coming this summer – the Ukrainian BMT-72-140 Main Battle Tank.

As usual, a bit of history.

The BMT-72 was a Ukrainian attempt to convert a Main Battle Tank into an infantry carrier while retaining all its armor and firepower.

As the name suggests, a T-72 hull was used as the basis for the project. The hull was cut right behind the turret and a small troop compartment was inserted between the turret ring and the engine compartment, giving the vehicle its uncanny, long appearance. Five men could fit into the troop compartment that was accessible through several hatches behind the turret.

The engine was also changed to a domestic one as the Ukrainian 6TD series of engines were very compact. The turret was replaced with one belonging to T-80UD, likely for availability purposes in case of mass-production.

A single prototype was developed around 2002 and was offered primarily to the Ukrainian Army. There was unfortunately very little interest from Ukraine’s side, partially due to budgetary constraints and partially due to the experimental nature of the vehicle. Afterwards, the vehicle was offered for export for several years without success before it faded into obscurity for more than a decade. In 2018, a new version of this vehicle appeared – kind of. The hull of the old vehicle was combined with a turret from another unsuccessful prototype called T-72-120.

The T-72-120 tank was also offered for export. The main idea behind it was replacing the old Soviet 125mm gun with a NATO standard 120mm smoothbore cannon called KBM2. The cannon was automatically loaded from a large bustle that was added to the turret. At some point in the mid-2010s, the designers decided to combine both projects, albeit unsuccessfully.

In 2018, this vehicle appeared not as a working prototype, but as part of the BREM-84 ARV capability demonstration – it was simply towed around, and that was its final appearance. The entire concept suffered from a number of issues, from agility to the fact the troops couldn’t get out when the gun was facing forward because their hatches were covered by the turret.

Our version of the BMT-72 uses the T-72-120 turret with one major change. The 120mm KBM2 gun was replaced by another Ukrainian experimental weapon called Baghira. This 140mm smoothbore cannon was developed in the late 1990s to fit into standard 125mm mounts. In real life, this gun never appeared on the BMT-72 but we took this liberty to make sure the vehicle is appropriate for its Tier.

In Armored Warfare, the BMT-72-140 will be a Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank.

The main idea behind the BMT-72-140 gameplay is that you’ll have a Main Battle Tank that’s capable of deploying infantry. This is the vehicle’s unique feature although its gameplay will be interesting as well.

Armor-wise, we’re looking at something akin to the T-64BVs – a rather thin hull (roughly comparable to Tier 8 T-72B3) complemented by powerful Nizh ERA as well as two APS systems – the Varta soft-kill APS and the Zaslin hard-kill APS. The vehicle will have a lot of hitpoints as well but it will not be an armored behemoth but rather a relatively mobile and high hitting Main Battle Tank.

Its 1200hp engine is more than enough for its roughly 50 tons and the biggest advantage it’ll have will be its powerful 140mm gun capable of firing APFSDS, HE and regular HEAT rounds. And, of course, there’s the infantry deployment of all three usual types – anti-tank troops, mortar troops and sniper.

Overall, the vehicle will be an effective Main Battle Tank capable of dealing out a lot of damage but its relatively thin armor (as well as poor side protection) means that it will be more effective as a fire support vehicle than a classic frontline breakthrough tank.

We hope that you’ll enjoy the vehicle and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!