T-72 Asad Babil

"Tank Singa Babilonia"
"Tank Singa Babilonia"
	; Tank Irak T-72 dimusium Fort Hood
Jenis	Tank Tempur Utama
Sejarah pemakaian
Pada perang	Perang Teluk Persia, Perang Irak
Sejarah produksi
Perancang	Uralvagonzavod
Diproduksi	1989–1990
Jumlah produksi	100 (klaim Uni Soviet)
Spesifikasi
Berat	415 ton ([convert: unit tak dikenal])
Panjang	953 m (3.126 ft 8 in) gun forward; 695 m (2.280 ft 2 in) hull
Lebar	359 m (1.177 ft 10 in)
Tinggi	223 m (731 ft 8 in)
Awak	3
Perisai	Mild steel,[butuh rujukan] 45-300mm[butuh rujukan]
Senjata; utama	2A46 125 mm
Senjata; pelengkap	* 7.62 mm PKT coax senjata mesin 12.7 mm NSVT Senjata Anti Pesawat;
Jenis Mesin	V-12 diesel; 780 hp (582 kw)
Daya kuda/ton	18.8 hp/t
Suspensi	Torsion bar; beberapa dampers dibuang guna beradaptasi di medan gurun.[butuh rujukan]
Daya jelajah	425 km; 600 km dengan tengki tambahan
Kecepatan	60 km/jam (dijalan); 45 km/jam (diluar jalan)

Templat:T-72 navigation

Singa Babilonia atau Asad Babil (Arabic: اسد بابل) adalah nama yang diberikan ke proyek dari Tentara Irak (Baath) untuk memproduksi T-72menjadi buatan lokal selama alhir dekade 1980-an. Tank ini dirakit di kota Taji di Irak.^[2]^[3] Proyek ini di jalnkan oleh Rezim Saddam Hussein kemandirian lokal dalam hal pembuatan tank , yang dipicu sebagian oleh embargo Negara Barat terhadap penjualan kendaraan militer ke Irak selama Perang Iran-Irak. Namun Irak membantah jika tidak ada Tank yang pernah selesai nyatanya ada 120 tank bertugas selama konflik di timur irak.

Nama Singa Babilonia diambil dari Singa Babilonia, yang mana merupakan simbol kuno dari kerajaan babilonia yang mempresentasikan sebagai kekuatan yang besar.

Sejarah Produksi

Pada tahun 1986 sebuah perusahaan milik Jerman Barat membangun pabrik di Taji untuk memproduksi baja guna kepentingan militer. salah satu fungsinya adalah untuk melakukan retrofit dan membangun kembali tank yang sudah usang, seperti T-54 / T-55, T-62, yang telah berdinas di Angkatan Bersenjata Irak dan untuk merakit beberapa ratus tank T-72 kiriman dari Uni Soviet dan Polandia,^[4] diimpor selama tahap-tahap awal perang dengan Iran.^[1]

Pada akhir 1980-an rencana dibuat untuk menghasilkan tank T-72M1 baru di Pabrik wilayah Taji. Tank ini adalah tank bekas yang dikirim dari polandia oleh Polandia melalui perusahaan milik negara Bumar-Łabędy.^[5] Perakitan itu akan dimulai pada tahun 1989 dan tank yang telah selesai dirakit diberinama Asad Babil (Singa Babel). Menurut pejabat Polandia tidak ada satu pun T-72M1 selesai dirakit, meskipun pada tahun 1988 T-72M yang ditampilkan pada parade militer Irak menunjukkan, T-72 M1 telah diproduksi secara lokal.^[5]Perakitan lokal dari T-72 dimulai di Taji pada awal 1989 seperti yang disarankan oleh para Pejabat Militer Irak.^[4] Sejumlah pejabat Irak seperti Letnan Jenderal Amer Rashid tidak menyukai gagasan ketergantungan supplai senjata pada peralatan bekas yang disediakan oleh negara lain dan mendorong untuk melakukan produksi besar-besaran Tank T-72M1.^[5]^[4] Pada tahun 1991, Pabrik di Taji di Bom padahal pihak Polandia (Bumar-Łabędy) sedang melakukan peningkatan pada kemampun tank.^[5]

PBB memberlakukan embargo pengiriman senjata pasca invasi Irak ke Kuwait pada bulan Agustus 1990, yang mengurangi perakitan lengkap tank untuk suku cadang sederhana Tank ini dan tank lainnya di angkatan bersenjata Irak.^[4] Tidak diketahui berapa banyak tank Singa Babel diselesaikan selama rentang antara 1989- embargo ini.

Combat performance

The Lion of Babylon saw service in the 1991 Persian Gulf War as well as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like other tanks in the Iraqi inventory, Lions were mainly employed as armored self-propelled artillery, rather than in maneuver warfare roles. In operations, it fared poorly against American main battle tanks and armored fighting vehicles. For example, a 120 mm depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round from an M1 Abrams could knock out a Lion of Babylon tank well beyond 3,000 m,^[6] while the effective range of the tungsten-core 125 mm shell used by Iraq was 1,800 m.^[7]

Within closer ranges, the Lion of Babylon was more effective, especially while within prepared positions.^[8] However, even in such conditions, the Lion of Babylon did not fare well against M1s—as proven in the Battle of Norfolk during Desert Storm,^[9] although the tank also participated in the battle of Phase Line Bullet, where Bradleys IFVs from the 4th squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment were driven back by dug-in Iraqi armoured vehicles at heavy cost.^[10]

Perang Teluk Persia

The bulk of Iraqi armoured units were equipped with the Type 69 and only Republican Guard divisions were equipped with Iraqi-modified T-72s, with exception of the regular army's armored Saladin division.^[11] Thus, engagements between Lions of Babylon and American tanks were limited to conflicts involving such Iraqi units.

During Desert Storm, T-72s built in Taji were technologically 20 years out of date. Only one M1 Abrams was officially documented during the Persian Gulf War as having received enough damage to be towed and receive maintenance after being struck three times on the turret by a Lion.^[12]^[13] Another six M1A1s were allegedly hit by Iraqi T-72 tank fire in the Gulf War official report, but the impacts were largely ineffectual.^[14] According to Atkinson and Scales, Lions accounted for at least two M2 Bradley kills during Desert Storm and left several damaged, all on February 26, 1991.^[10]^[15]

Perang Irak 2003

Tank Asad Babil yang ditinggal lari oleh para kru.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Republican Guard's Lions, most from the Medina Division, were deployed around Baghdad to attempt a last-ditch defense of the Baath regime.^[16]

In April 2003, U.S. tanks engaged their counterparts from just 50 yards, killing seven Iraqi T-72s without any losses.^[17] Such encounters exposed the poor marksmanship of Iraqi gunners, in part due to the shortage of modern night-vision and range-finder assets.^[18] The Lions were even more technologically lacking at this time, and it is not known if any improvements to the tanks were made between the Persian Gulf War and this conflict. Nonetheless, one Bradley was largely disabled by a 125 mm round from an Asad Babil tank when Iraqi armoured troops attempted to ambush their American counterparts near Baghdad airport.^[19]

Fate

The last operational Lions were destroyed by the successive waves of American armored incursions on the Iraqi capital^[20] or abandoned by their crews after the fall of Baghdad, several of them without firing a single shot. The derelict tanks were later scrapped by U.S. Army disposal teams or shipped to the United States for target practice.

Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi Government acquired dozens of refitted T-72M1s from Hungary, in order to equip an armored brigade. The headquarters of this new Iraqi Army unit is located in Taji, so there may still remain some maintenance facilities from the production of Lions. Some surviving T-72s are used for training, and the experience of Iraqi Army officers and crews with the Lion was one of the reasons behind the choice Hungarian T-72M1s.^[21]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Kesalahan pengutipan: Tag <ref> tidak sah; tidak ditemukan teks untuk ref bernama Rus
^ Kesalahan pengutipan: Tag <ref> tidak sah; tidak ditemukan teks untuk ref bernama M1A1vsT-72p24
^ Kesalahan pengutipan: Tag <ref> tidak sah; tidak ditemukan teks untuk ref bernama baathglob
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Timmerman, Kenneth R, "Chapter 16: The Gang's All Here", The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq, ISBN 978-0-395-59305-9
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Zaloga, Steven J. (2009). M1 Abrams Vs T-72 Ural - Operation Desert Storm 1991. Osprey Publishing Ltd. hlm. 24. ISBN 978 1 84603 432 9.
^ Scales, page 298: "The Iraqi plan was to kill the American tanks on the ridge with dug-in T-72s and then drive the survivors back into the wadi and finish them off with artillery. The Iraqis, however, had no idea they could be detected and destroyed at a range of nearly 2 miles."
^ Scales, page 261
^ Scales, page 269: "As TF 1-37th Armor crossed over the ridge into the heart of the Iraqi defensive zone, the Iraqi commander's carefully disposed rear-slope defense stripped Dyer's tanks of their range advantage. Within 1,000 meters, a row of dug-in T-72s and BMPs suddenly appeared below the crest. All were hull-down in prepared positions behind thick dirt walls. Now the Americans were well within Iraqi killing range, and although the Soviet-made night sights were markedly inferior, things could still get very dicey."
^ Scales, page 270: "After the war they (TF 1-37th) returned to count the burned-out hulks of 76 T-72s, 84 BMPs, 3 air defense artillery pieces, 8 howitzers, 6 command vehicles, 2 engineer vehicles, and myriad of trucks."
^ ^a ^b Atkinson, pp. 428-433
^ Zaloga & Sarson, T-72... p.38
^ However, the tank endured a US Army's Armament Munitions and Chemical Command test.
^ AMCCT test
^ Fahey, Dan: Collateral Damage...During the ground war, only seven M1A1's were hit by rounds fired from the Iraqi's T-72 tanks, with none being seriously damaged. See also: George F. Hofmann & Donn A. Starry, pag.9
^ Scales, p. 273
^ Zucchino, page 3
^ Conroy & Mars, p. 158
^ Scales, page 268: "The Iraqi gunners were poor marksmen and their green tracer sabots hit nothing."
^ Fontenot, Degen and Thon, p. 306
^ John Pike (2003-04-05). "GlobalSecurity.org". GlobalSecurity.org. Diakses tanggal 2013-02-03.
^ Jewell, Sgt. Lorie (November 2005). "Iraqi Army Takes Delivery of Tanks, Vehicles". defendamerica.mil. Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq. Many of the division's soldiers drove T-72 tanks in the old Iraqi Army, so they are familiar with operating and maintaining them, leaders said. A handful of the tanks remain at Taji and are used for training purposes.

References

Jane's Armor & Artillery, Jane's Information Group, Surrey, 1988-89 Ed.
Atkinson, Rick. Crusade, The untold story of the Persian Gulf War. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. ISBN 978-0-395-60290-4
Bin, Alberto. Hill, Richard and Jones, Archer. Desert Storm, The Forgotten War. Greenwood Pub Group, 1998. ISBN 978-1-57356-809-8
Bohannon, Second Lieutenant Richard M. "Dragon's Roar: 1-37 Armor in the Battle of 73 Easting." Armor, May–June 1992, VOL CI, #3.
Conroy, Jason & Martz, Ron. Heavy Metal: A Tank Company's Battle To Baghdad Potomac Books, 2005. ISBN 978-1-57488-856-0
Fahey, Dan. "Collateral Damage: How U.S. Troops Were Exposed To Depleted Uranium During the Persian Gulf War", in Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers and Civilians with DU Weapons, International Action Center, 1997. ISBN 978-0-9656916-0-4
Fontenot, Gregory, Degen, E. J. & Thon, David (2004). On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591142792
Hinton, Henry L. & others: Operation Desert Storm: Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Abrams Tank, Apache Helicopter, Patriot Missile System and Foreign Government and Individual Contributions. DIANE Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-7567-1343-9
Hofmann, George F. and Starry, Donn A. Editors. Camp Colt to Desert Storm : the history of U.S. armored forces, University Press of Kentucky, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8131-2130-7
Isby, David. Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army. Salamander Books, London, 1988. ISBN 978-0-531-03732-4
Morris, David. Storm on the Horizon. Presidio Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-7432-3557-0
Ricks, Thomas E. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Penguin books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59420-103-5
Rostker, Bernard. Environmental Exposure Report:Depleted Uranium in the Gulf, DoD Publication, 1998. OCLC 39801459
Scales, Brigadier General Robert H. Jr. Certain Victory. Brassey's, 1994. ISBN 978-0-02-881111-6
Scarborough, Rowan. Apache Operation a lesson in defeat The Washington Times, April 22, 2003.
West, Francis J. Bing. No true glory. A frontline account of the battle for Fallujah. Bantam, 2005. ISBN 978-0-553-80402-7
Zaloga Steven J., & Sarson, Peter. M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank 1982-1992. Osprey Military, New Vanguard. Reed International Books Ltd, 1993. ISBN 978-1-85532-283-7
Zaloga., Steven J. (10/08/2009). T-72 Ural vs M1 Abrams. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-407-7.
Zaloga Steven J., & Sarson, Peter. T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974-1993. Osprey Military, New Vanguard. Reed International Books Ltd, 1993. ISBN 978-1-85532-338-4
Zucchino, David. Thunder Run: The armored strike to capture Baghdad. Grove Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8021-4179-X