A highly-refined variant of the Soviet T-72, the M-84 entered production in 1984. Compared with the T-72, the M-84 has a more powerful engine, superior electronics (including the Iskra laser rangefinder), additional stowage on the turret, a large bank of smoke grenade launchers, and better secondary guns. It also has all-around higher workmanship standards. The track skirts are of a special hardened synthetic rubber, obviously they offer little protection against traditional shells but will cause the initial detonation of a HEAT round and offer the equivalent of an additional 1/8” steel protection against that type of weapon. The main gun barrel has a coating that cools it uniformly, increasing it’s accuracy.
A total of about 650 M-84’s were built between 1984 and 1991. Production was interrupted when the Yugoslav civil war broke out because the tank used components manufactured around the country (for example the turrets were made in Croatia, the electronics in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the gunsights in Macedonia).

Original Author: Jason W. Henson