Originally Posted by tommy_gunn

still it comes down to the gunn it have ,the 1 with the bigger stick always win the fight

Not really. The one advantage a T72 had in Iraq was a 123 mm gun compared to 120 mm on the M-1A1 and 105mm on some western tanks. The T72 was just too inferior in too many ways to have a chance in an open terrain battle. Yugoslavia is much different terrain and a "home field advantage" could help a lot. However, the ability to aim faster and shoot on the move is a big plus for the more advanced top tier tanks and if these are in effect upgraded T72 clones, the crew area will be cramped and ventilation not too good.

the simple fact of the matter is that this is unsustainable

to make a good tank you need to be in a country where your host can order 3000+ initially

what croatia is doing with this m95 is building a tank mostly from scratch (the one thats upgraded is the M84D) and expecting to export it

this means that theres no learning curve for production, so the initial costs are huge.

no wonder kuwait didnt buy any, they cost about $US4.5mn each, as much as an Abrams, while being substantially less capable

serbias upgrade package costing about $US800,000 is slighty more realistic

croatia would of have done better doing
1. paying 4.5mn to buy abrams
2. upgrading there tanks to anout t90 standard for about $800,000
3. the best option, buy t90s at about $2.5mn each

if it wasnt for pride they would of have never of have done this, its a perfect example of wasteful military expenditure, as i doubt this m95 will EVER be exported let alone have more than about 200 built just so that they can say its homemade.

if kuwait wanted to waste money on something like this they would of made there own tanks specific to desert conditions, and exported them to the other gulf states.

their VHS rifle is more realistic as they can produce a large enough number to keep costs down

Originally Posted by redwood

Not really. The one advantage a T72 had in Iraq was a 123 mm gun compared to 120 mm on the M-1A1 and 105mm on some western tanks. The T72 was just too inferior in too many ways to have a chance in an open terrain battle. Yugoslavia is much different terrain and a "home field advantage" could help a lot. However, the ability to aim faster and shoot on the move is a big plus for the more advanced top tier tanks and if these are in effect upgraded T72 clones, the crew area will be cramped and ventilation not too good.

The only T-72's in service in Yugoslavia are heavily modified TRAINING MBT's that are not intended for front-line combat.

The M-84 is a Yugoslav-made tank based on the T-72, though it is significantly better than the latter.

The M-84AS [Also known as M-2001] is a sister tank of the new Russian T-90, and it also has the SHTORA active protection system. The Yugoslav/Serbian/Croatian tanks are uhh far more superior than whatever hunk of junk Iraq had.

Originally Posted by Zastava-Arms

The only T-72's in service in Yugoslavia are heavily modified TRAINING MBT's that are not intended for front-line combat.

The M-84 is a Yugoslav-made tank based on the T-72, though it is significantly better than the latter.

To be fair its not significantly better, it has superior optics, armor and a more powerful engine but its not really that much more of an improvement.

The M-84AS [Also known as M-2001] is a sister tank of the new Russian T-90, and it also has the SHTORA active protection system. The Yugoslav/Serbian/Croatian tanks are uhh far more superior than whatever hunk of junk Iraq had. [/QUOTE]
While i agree with Iraq remark the M-84AS and T-90 in all of its varians have some extensive differences, for example T-90 is much better armored.

I know, its not the same, but its very similar.

A T-90 will be able to take on a M-84AS easy.