- Yes
- No
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Introduction:
During 1990 South Africa acquired two T-72M1’s from Poland to be used in Operation Carbenet evaluation trials which took place between 5 March and 18 May 1990. South Africa acquired the T72’s in order to learn its strengths and weakness and how it compared to the South African army’s tanks and armed cars at the time. Once the trials were over South African defence firm LIW (Lyttelton Engineering Works) of the Denel group set out to develop a turret which could house a 155mm 45 calibre cannon and be mounted on a thank chassis, in this case on a T-72M1 tank. This new turret would be designated T6 and was based on a modified G6 turret. Even though the turret is based on the G6 turret, the T6 turret has been modified to have a full 360-degree traverse and a completely autonomous unit in terms of power supply an ammunition storage. The turret is also made from all-welled armoured steel which offers protection against 20mm rounds from the front and 7.62mm rounds from the sides.
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Specifications:
Main Armament: 155mm 45-caliber
Shell types: HE, HE-VT, HE-VLAP, Smoke
Ammunition amount: 40 projectiles & 40 charges
Elevation range: -5 to +70
Secondary armament: Yes
Weight: 45t
Crew: 5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio-operator)
Smoke grenades: eight (four on each side)
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Primary sources:
LIW T6 turret brochure
Denel Artillery: Artillery | Denel Land Systems
Secondary sources:
Army Guide (T6): Army Guide
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