TR-125

TR-125

TR-125
Type Main battle tank
Place of origin Romania
Service history
Used by Romania
Wars none
Production history
Number built 3 or 5
Specifications
Weight 50 tonnes
Length 7.9 m
Width 3.6 m
Height 2.2 m
Crew 3 (commander, driver and gunner)
Armor Composite armour 570 mm (22.4 in) front of the turret, over 600 mm RHA with additional armor
Main
armament
 125 mm A555 smoothbore tank gun
Secondary
armament
 PKMT 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, DShK 12.7 mm AA machine gun on commander's ring-mount
Engine 8VSA3 diesel
900 hp (671 kW)
Power/weight 18 hp/tonne (13.4 kW/tonne)
Suspension torsion bar

The TR-125 (TR-125 stands for "Tanc Românesc 125" - Romanian Tank 125) main battle tank is inspired from T-72 and made in Romania with Romanian components only. Number 125 in the designation stands for the 125 mm A555 smoothbore tank gun. It is now designated P-125 (P stands for Prototype).

History

In the late 1970s - early 1980s, Romania ordered 30 T-72M main battle tanks from the USSR. The Romanian government asked USSR for a license to build T-72 tanks locally.[1] Rebuffed by the Soviet leaders, the communist government decided to reverse-engineer the T-72 tank but eventually resulted a very different tank.

The tank was developed from 1984 to 1991. The turret and the loading mechanism were developed by ICSITEM research institute from Bucharest, while the chassis was designed by ACSIT–P 124 from the F.M.G.S. (FMGS stands for "Fabrica de Mașini Grele Speciale" - Special Heavy Equipment Factory) division of the "23rd August" (now known as FAUR) factory from Bucharest. The gun was hydraulically stabilized in two planes, laser rangefinder, a new carousel for automatic loading of the gun (which had a rate of at least 8 rounds per minute), ballistic computer, laser illumination warning system and facility launch smoke grenades automatically in the event of activation of the laser sensors. P-125 had a composite armor which include tungsten and allegedly titanium along with other materials (steel, rubber, etc.). There are no official reports about the composition of armor but an engineering calculation of weight compared to the volume and surfaces of TR-125 suggests that it weights more than it should and it may be because of the density of the alloy used in armor.

Five prototypes were made between 1987 and 1988 and tested until 1991.[2] An order from the Romanian Army did not come however, and the project was later canceled. The prototypes are kept in storage but one was exposed at Military Museum in 2015.

Description

The vehicle has a modified suspension with seven pairs of wheels, unlike the T-72 and most tanks based on it which have six.[3][4] This allowed the hull to be stretched by 1 m and installation of a more powerful 850-900 HP diesel engine 8VSA3, basically a variant of the engine mounted in TR-85. It used an old DShK machine gun for anti-aircraft purposes and was fitted with extra armour. The 125mm A555 smoothbore tank gun was developed by Arsenal Reșița factory. As a result of these changes the tank's weight increased from 41.5 tonnes (T-72M) to around 50 tonnes.

Operators

See also

References and notes

References
  1. ↑ Ceausescu and the Soviet Military Licenses (in Romanian, from Jurnalul.ro)
  2. ↑ Caravan, p. 291
  3. ↑ Zaloga, p. 17
  4. ↑ Gelbart, p.72

References

  • Caravan, Alexandru (2010). "Tancul Românesc - O istorie (History of the Romanian Tank)" (in Romanian). Statul Major al Forțelor Terestre (Romanian Land Forces Staff). 
  • Gelbart, Marsh (1996). Tanks main battle and light tanks. Brassey's UK Ltd. ISBN 1-85753-168-X. 
  • Zaloga, Steven J (1993), T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974-93, Osprey, ISBN 1-85532-338-9 
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