The Russian military has received the first batches of modernized T-72B3 tanks in the 2024 version with better armor protection.

Armor researcher Andriy Tarasenko reported that the invaders have a new model of armored vehicles on the front line.

The Russian armor manufacturer Uralvagonzavod has made changes to the modernization strategy for old Soviet T-72B tanks, which are being returned to service from “tank cemeteries” after major repairs and technical upgrades of components.

The designers have further unified the remanufactured vehicles with the T-90Ms produced from scratch by installing a more powerful “Relict” analog instead of the built-in Kontakt-5 dynamite protection modules, which can be seen in the changes to the upper frontal part of the hull.

In addition to simplifying logistics, the transition to Relict makes it possible to quickly replace a damaged frontal module, which is attached to the main armor with several massive bolts. At the same time, the Kontakt-5 vehicles needed to be shipped to a tank repair facility to repair the damaged area.

In addition, dynamic protection elements have already begun to be mass-produced and installed on the tank’s aft shields, similar to the way they were used on the T-90M.

The upper hemisphere of the vehicle is covered by a standard factory-made anti-drone superstructure on the roof, which also carries elements of DZ. They are also joined by soft protection made of rubber burdocks.

Compared to previous iterations of improvements, the new vehicle’s dynamic protection overlap has increased in the area, which should improve protection primarily against high-precision FPV drone strikes at vulnerable points in the tank.

Prospects for Russian T-72s

It is worth mentioning that in a February report by Russian propagandists from Uralvagonzavod, one could see experiments by Russian designers to install turrets from T-72B3 on the T-90M chassis.

There are no structural obstacles to this, but it may indicate that they are testing the turret electronics with the chassis auxiliary power plant. This, in turn, may mean that work will continue on the vehicle’s production model with the rather energy-dependent Arena active defense system.

Practical attempts to install a system capable of intercepting anti-tank missiles in flight have been underway since 2019 and have become relevant again during the full-scale Russian invasion. More information about the development and capabilities of this system can be found in the article “Can Arena Protect Russian Tanks?”.

Work in this direction is also actively underway on the development of T-90M tanks. In early February, the company showed the first manufactured sample of this vehicle with the Arena-M system.