M47/M47M Patton, USA

M-84 Series

Former Yugoslavia

In the late seventies Yugoslavia decided to license manufacture an indigenous MET based on the Soviet T-72 design, Known as the M-84 it is essentially similar with the same fully stabilised main 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore gun/22-round carousel type autoloader arrangement and a locally designed SUV-84 fire-control system. The latter resulted in the replacement of the gunner's TPN-1-49 and commander's TKN-3 original Soviet model sights and deletion of the separate TPD-2-49 laser rangefmder and its port on the front left side of the turret.

The TPD-2-49 is no longer required because the locally developed and produced gunner's sight, the DNNS-2, has its own integral laser rangefmder module, This sight and the replacement commander's sight, the DKNS-2, also have passive night-vision image intensifier channels.

These facilities together with a pylon mounted meteorological sensor unit on the centre-front of the turret and a ballistic computer allow the M-84 to effectively acquire, track and engage targets between 200-4000 metres, in both day and night conditions, using full solution fire-control computations with APFSDS and HE-FRAG rounds. With HEAT-FS ammunition the maximum effective engagement range is increased to 6000 metres.

Beneath the vehicle front is the dozer blade device for digging itself into a firing position whilst attachments are available for KMT type mine-clearing equipment,

The latest version built is the M-84A, which has a 1 OOP hp diesel engine and a number of internal improvements. M-84 command tank (with additional communications equipment) and ARV versions have also been produced.

Kuwait ordered 170 M-84, 15 M-84 ARV and 15 M-84 command tanks in mid-1989 as replacements for elderly British equipment but supplies were interrupted because of the Iraqi invasion. Approximately 80 were subsequently delivered to the Kuwaiti Army in Saudi Arabia to re-equip an Armoured unit and were used during the 1991 Gulf War, The M-84 has also seen extensive combat use in the various internal wars within Yugoslavia: namely the Slovenian, Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovian theatres of operation. Used mainly by the Serbians and the closely allied former Yugoslavian

National Army, significant numbers have been destroyed in tank-versus-tank battles and in bitter urban close-combat, with both regular infantry and militia, Shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons, ATGWs, 76 mm mountain guns, antitank guns and field artillery have all been used successfully against the M-84.

Former Yugoslavian Army M-84 MET, the M-84 has proved to be particularly vulnerable to turret hits when in combat as these cause a catastrophic ammunition explosion that instantaneously kills the crew and blows the turret completely off the vehicle. Specification:

First prototype: 1982 First production: 1983-current (over 700 built to date) Current users: Croatia, Kuwait, Libya, Serbia, Slovenia, Syria

Crew: 3

Combat weight: M-84 41 000 kg; M-84A 42 000 kg Ground pressure:0 81 kg/cm2

Length, gun forwards: 9.53 m Width (without skirts): 3.37 m

Height (without AA gun): 2.19m

Ground clearance: 0.47 m

Max. road speed: 60 km/h

Maximum range (with external tanks):

700km Fording: unprepared 1.2m unprepared 5.5m

Gradient: 60% Side slope: 40% Trench: 2.8m

Powerpack: multi-fuel V-46 V-12 diesel developing 780 hp and coupled to a manual transmission Armament: (main) 1 x 125 mm gun (42 rounds); (coaxial) 1 x 7.62 mm MG; (anti-aircraft) 1x12.7 mm MG; (smoke dischargers) 12 single