It allows a skilled gunner to engage a target as far as two miles away. The 1PN96MT-02 would’ve been state-of-the-art.

To spot a 1PN96MT-02, look for a small, square window nearly flush with the top left of a tank’s turret. Many of the emergency T-62s rolled into battle with analog 1PN96MT-02 thermal sights in the gunner’s position.

But it’s evident that Russia is struggling to source modern optics. After decades, the gunner’s sights needed replacing.

The latter tanks have better armor than the T-62 has, plus they’ve got 125-millimeter main guns and autoloaders that shrink their crews to three.Ĭlearly the optics were a problem with the stored T-72s and T-80s. The best thing anyone can say about the war-emergency T-62s is that they bought time for the Kremlin to restore surplus T-72s and T-80s. And the Ukrainians captured enough T-62s to form their own battalion with the aging tanks. There’s no evidence of any of the scores of T-62s that the Russian army shipped to southern Ukraine making any difference in last year’s brutal campaign in that region. Which is not to say the 40-ton, four-person T-62 with its simple steel armor and 115-millimeter gun is a good tank.

Most modern t-80 tank