@ohnoes3084 see first, shoot first, kill first. Having great thermal optics and fire control system are THE most important thing for modern tank battles.
@@Man-qr9by the thing is just because they can shoot first doesnt mean they can actually kill first, and judging by most T72 modernizations it most likely cant considering what vehicles it is facing, meanwhile modern Abrams and Leopards absolutely can penetrate the T72 frontally unlike the T72 can to them, also it should be noted most combat tanks are involved in is against infantry not other tanks, in which case infantry have a much easier time destroying a T72 as it has much lighter rear and side armor, along with it not having any APS whatsoever
@@ohnoes3084 I agree. Regardless of these good points, I think the biggest aspect holding back the T-72 in a modern setting is the autoloader (not the reason your thinking) and access to atgms with the main gun. Soviet (and still Russian) firing procedure is that you have a clear breach until you have identified the enemy and are ready to fire. This means that you are basically staring at the enemy for 7 seconds while you wait for the autoloader to load, whereas western doctrine with crew loaders allow a bit more flexibility, as it is possible (though rather difficult and annoying) to unload the gun on most western tanks, so they can have a round loaded before engagement, however it is virtually impossible to unload (in the field) on Russian tanks, hence why they are so hesitant with loading the gun. While I doubt that russian crews actually follow these rules so strictly, it still contributes to this. I believe the reason their hesitant use of preloaded rounds is, in combination with the inability to unload the gun, the danger that it would be required to expend a very expensive round (such as an atgm) on something like infantry to clear the breach for HE. To avoid this, they keep the breech clear
@Da Ga America has not faced a worthy adversary since korea....it's important we don't under estimate the Russians whom now have more conventional war fare experience then we do.
