Selling T‑72 tanks: India's strategic move amidst global interest

After being withdrawn from service and during preparations for sale, the machines will have to undergo major overhauls and upgrades. India mainly possesses T-72M variants, which were built between 1980 and 2000 in one of its defence factories under license and in collaboration with Russia.

Upgrades to the fire control system and solutions that improve armour and mobility are likely to increase the equipment's attractiveness to potential buyers.

The T-72 is a family of main battle tanks developed during the Soviet era. The first units entered service in 1973. Over the years, many variants appeared, gradually adopted by armies in various parts of the world. The T-72 family includes, among others, the Polish PT-91 Twardy, the still very important for Russians T-72B3, and the T-72M. The T-72 machine is approximately 9.4 metres long and equipped with a 125 mm calibre cannon. Still, individual variants sometimes differ in very important specification elements such as armour or fire control systems and defence systems.

The Ukrainian portal Militarnyj suggests that the Indian authorities will gradually withdraw these tanks from service, modernize them, and put them up for sale in batches. The T-72M is still significant for the local army, alongside the T-90s and the locally produced Arjun tanks.

Defense News has suggested that countries from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia will be among those interested in purchasing T-72Ms from India. Militarnyj specifies that one of them could be Russia, whose stock of armoured equipment has significantly decreased during the 2.5 years of war with Ukraine. The head of the Ukrainian Center for Military-Legal Research, Oleksandr Musienko, believes that tanks from Russian stockpiles will last only until 2025.

India defines itself as neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war and continues to maintain trade relations with both countries. Over the years, many defence agreements have been made between Delhi and Moscow. Only recently has the Indian government shown interest in Western equipment. It has decided to purchase American P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft, and is interested in German submarines and French Rafale-M fighters. However, completely cutting off India from Russia is impossible, as Delhi needs components for its post-Soviet weapons and does not want to allow closer relations between Moscow and Beijing. It is difficult to predict how the Indian authorities would respond if Russia were interested in the decommissioned T-72M tanks.