The Czech Company Excalibur Army specializes in the development of tanks, artillery systems, and armored vehicles and also offers refurbished solutions for Soviet-era armored vehicles such as the T-72 Main Battle Tank (MBT). For the Ukrainian army, Excalibur Army restores and modernizes T-72 tanks offering new combat capabilities and armor protection.

Excalibur army company from the Czech Republic restores and upgrades Soviet-made T-72 tanks with new combat capabilities and armor protection. (Picture source Twitter account @Militarylandnet)

According to pictures released on Internet Social Networks, the Czech company Excalibur army has developed a new modernized version of the Soviet-made T-72 tank equipped with thermal imagers, night vision systems, and new armor.

On November 5, 2022, the Army Recognition team reported that the Czech Ministry of Defense in collaboration with the local defense industry will renovate 90 Soviet-made T-72B Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) with the support of the Netherlands and the United States that will be supplied to Ukraine.

The T-72B is an improved version of the T-72A which has a new Kontakt-1 ERA (Explosive Reactive armor) package mounted at the front of the hull and around the turret. is armed with an improved 2A46M 125mm smoothbore gun that can fire three types of ammunition, including the APFSDS (Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot) with a maximum range of 2,100 m, HEAT-FS (High-explosive anti-tank fin-stabilized) with a maximum direct fire range of 4,000 m, and HE-FRAG(FS) with a maximum indirect fire range of 9,400 m.

The T-72B also has an improved automatic loading system able to accommodate longer ammunition including the 9M119 Svir (NATO reporting name AT-11 Sniper) which is a laser beam riding, guided anti-tank missile developed in the former Soviet Union. The missile has a firing range from 4,000 to 5,000 m.

According to our first analysis of the Excalibur army T-72 tank pictures released on Twitter, The Czech upgrade tank layout is similar to the original T-72B. It has a crew of three with the driver seated at the front center of the hull and the commander and gunner in the turret.

In terms of protection, the new Czech T-72 upgrade is fitted with an ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) kit mounted at the front and on the sides of the hull as well as the front and the roof of the turret. It keeps the same armament as the T-72B consisting of one 2A46M 125 mm smoothbore gun. The second armament includes one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun mounted to the right side of the main armament and one 12.7mm heavy machine gun NSV machine can be mounted on the commander’s cupola. A bank of six-smoke grenade dischargers is mounted on each side of the turret.

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