HD Iraqi ‘Lion of Babylon’ T72M1 Tank Walkaround

An Iraqi clone of the Soviet T72M variant, the ‘Asad Babil’ began limited production after the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988. A ‘downgraded’ variant of the widely used and well-respected Soviet T72 design, the T72M1 lacked many modern features and was made in limited quantity, about 100 in all, before U.N. embargo banned arms exports to Iraq. It saw limited combat in the invasion of Kuwait, the Gulf War, and again in 2003 when deployed around Baghdad as a last ditch defense against American forces.

The Asad Babil ‘Lion of Babylon’ MBT weighs in at 41.5 tons and was designed for a crew of four. It was powered by a V-12 Diesel engine which could move the tank at a top speed of 37 mph (60km/h) on good road conditions.
Armed with a 125 mm smoothbore main gun, the Lion of Babylon also carried a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun placed near the cupola and 2 rows of 6 grenade dischargers, seen on the front sides of the turret. Its armor thickness ranged from 300mm to 60mm and 45mm on the front, sides, and rear of the hull respectively.

This vehicle was captured by US forces and currently resides at the National Armor and Cavalry Collection at Ft. Benning, GA. See the NACC here:   / nationalarmorandcavalrymuseum  

Learn more about the T72M1 here: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/mod...