Safir-74/T72Z MBT

Safir-74 / T72Z Main Battle Tank (T-54/55 Upgrade)

***The Following is an Excerpt from "Iranian Military Capability 2011"***

IRGC Safir-74 (Fars News)

The T-72Z/Safir-74 is a set of domestic Iranian upgrades for T-54/55 type-tanks. The T-72Z is the name for upgraded Type-59's, while Safir-74 refers to upgraded T-54's. However, since they are brought to the same standard, and to avoid confusion, they will both hereafter be referred to by the name 'Safir-74'. They are far more common within the IRGC, though do exist in some degree within the IRIA.

The upgrade program consists of a new modular power pack with a 780 hp V-46 diesel engine and associated gear box, brakes, hydraulics, steering and cooling system. This compares to the original 581 hp engine on the T-54/55.


The tank was also up-gunned with the HM-49L, a copy the 105 mm M68, the same gun used on the M-60A1. It has been coupled with the Fotana EFCS-3-55 fire control system. Kontakt-3 ERA supplements the original armor. But it lacks any direct smoke discharger's.

The Safir-74 program has substantially increased the lethality of the T-54/55 platform, the M68 gun is accurate out to longer ranges and when paired with a modern FCS, is still deadly. However, you can only upgrade a platform so much and such is the case with the T-54/55, it's too obsolete, and small to compete effectively against modern MBT's.

Iran purchased roughly 200 V-46 engines for the upgrade program, and since this is the limiting factor in this case, so we can assume the total number of Safir-74's in service is around 200, with the remaining T-54/55's being phased out of service. However, this assumes that Iran hasn't attempted to reverse engineer the engines, something well within their capability.

Specifications:
Crew: 4
Weight: 36 tonne
Length: 6.45 m
Width: 3.37 m
Height: 2.40 m
Engine: 780 hp V-46-6 V-12
Max Speed: 65 km/h
Armor: 450-480 mm RHA vs KE, 700-900 mm RHA vs HEAT
Armament: 105 mm M68, 7.62 mm coaxial MG, 12.7 mm turret MG
FCS: Fotona EFCS-3