M-84

The M-84 is based on the Soviet T-72M, the export variant of T-72A, with many improvements, including a domestic fire-control system that the T-72M lacked, improved composite armor, and a 1,000-hp engine. The M-84 entered service with the Yugoslav People's Army in 1984, and the improved M-84A version entered service a few years later. Other variants were introduced later, most being modernization packages.

About 240 Yugoslav factories directly participated in the production of the M-84, and about 1,000 others participated indirectly.[1] The manufacturer was chosen by Josip Broz Tito to be the Đuro Đaković in Croatia, over other proposed manufacturers in Serbia: Goša FOM Smederevska Palanka and Mašinska Industrija Niš, at that time the biggest producers of locomotives and wagons in Yugoslavia.[2] The biggest manufacturers directly involved in production of the M84 main battle tank in SFR Yugoslavia and Federal republic of Yugoslavia among former republics were:

• Bratstvo, Novi Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina,- gun with barrel 125mm
• Slovenske železarne, Ravne, Slovenia - steel, turret and armor
• Iskra, Slovenia - laser designation
• FAMOS, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - engine
• PPT-Petoletka, Trstenik, Serbia - hydraulics and turret movement system
• ATB Sever, Subotica, Serbia - automatic loading system
• Rudi Čajavec, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina - electronics and communications systems
• Zrak, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - optics
• Pretis, Vogošća, Bosnia and Herzegovina - ammunition
• Sloboda, Čačak, Serbia - ammunition
• Zastava Arms, Kragujevac, Serbia - coaxial 7.62mm and anti-air 12.7mm machine gun
• Metalski Zavod Tito, Skopje, North Macedonia - transmission parts
• 14. oktobar, Kruševac, Serbia - modular tank engine manufacturer, engine and transmission parts
• Đuro Đaković, Slavonski Brod, Croatia - finalist, tank hull, metalwork, assembly line, maintenance, LCS

• Military Technical Institute, Belgrade - primary designer of tanks, designer and developer of reactive armor and other armor, materials like high quality steel for armor, tank ammunition, tank engines, modernization suits and designer of tank crew training and simulation system - TOPOT[3]

• ATB Sever, Subotica - automatic loading system[4]
• Sloboda, Čačak - ammunition[5] and smoke discharge units
• PPT Namenska, Trstenik - hydraulics, transmission parts and turret movement system[6]
• Teleoptik-žiroskopi, Zemun - optics, gyroscopes and gyroscopic devices and Fire-control system with software, electronics and electronic elements of active protection system[7]
• Zastava Arms, Zastava kovačnica subsidiary,[8] Kragujevac - tank tracks[2]
• Technical Overhaul Institute "Čačak" - reactive and other armor,[9] overhaul and modernization center[10][11] and possible finalist for new tanks
• 14. oktobar, Kruševac - [12] modular tank engine manufacturer, engine and transmission parts, shell parts for ammunition[13][14]
• Yugoimport SDPR, Borbeni složeni sistemi subsidiary, Velika Plana - 125mm gun and barrels, welded turrets, rcws, radio-logical-chemical subsystem, fire suppression subsystems[15][16]
• Imtel komunikacije,[17] Belgrade - UORZ - Radar warning and direction finding system - part of protection system
• Zastava Arms, Kragujevac - machine-guns 12.7mm and coaxial 7.62mm

The M-84ASA, a Serbian version of the M-84, was unveiled in 2004. It has a new fire control system, Kontakt-5 ERA armor, AT-11 Sniper anti-tank missiles, Agava-2 thermal sight, and the Shtora defensive suite. It is very similar to the Russian T-90S in appearance and in capability. The latest prototype version from Serbia, M-84AS1, unveiled in 2017, has a new fire control system with domestic laser and radar warning system, RCWS 12.7mm and soft active protection suite with a new version of domestic explosive reactive armor (ERA). A later prototype of the same tank unveiled in 2020 has better-shaped ERA M19 reactive armour, some new situational awareness equipment, and new ammunition.[18]

About 150 M-84 tanks were exported to Kuwait. The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s prevented further exports of the M-84. Sales of the M84 including negotiations of contracts with foreign partners were done through Yugoimport SDPR, at that time acting as a Yugoslav state agency. Production and delivery was performed by Đuro Đaković.

The M-84A is armed with a 125 mm smoothbore cannon derived from the Soviet 2A46. The fume extractor positioned in the middle of the barrel is shielded with a thermal coating that minimizes deformation of the barrel from high temperatures and ensures it is cooled at the same rate during rapid firing. The M-84 uses an automatic loader, which enables it to sustain a firing rate of 8 rounds per minute.

The cannon's 40 rounds of ammunition are stowed in the hull of the tank beneath the turret. This concept was inherited from the original Soviet design for the T-72, and is both a strength and weakness of the tank. The lower hull beneath the turret is one of the least likely place to be hit and penetrated by antitank rounds or mines, but in the event of penetration and secondary detonation of the ammunition the crew and tank are unlikely to survive the resulting catastrophic explosion.

Along with its primary armament, the M-84 is also armed with one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and one 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun mounted on the commander's turret.

All versions of the M-84 have a crew of three. The commander sits on the right side of the turret, the gunner on the left, and the driver sits centrally at the front of the vehicle. Like most Soviet-derived vehicles, the M-84 series of tanks have an autoloader rather than a manual loader.

The basic tank has a cast steel turret with maximal thickness of 410mm; later, in the M-84A version, a segment made out of a non-metal, most likely rubber and boron carbide (see Chobham armour), was sandwiched between layers of steel. The glacis uses laminate armor, glass in plastic resin between two steel plates; in the A version a 16mm steel plate was welded on the glacis. Total armor protection ranges between 550mm-650mm for the glacis and 560mm-700mm for the turret. During the wars in Yugoslavia the M-84's frontal armor proved very effective against any type of AT threat. Side or rear hits often result in a catastrophic ammo explosion.

Twelve smoke grenades are positioned in front of the turret in banks of five and seven grenades. Night vision and gunner's sights are positioned on the top-right side of the turret. The M-84 has a searchlight used in short-range combat situations.

The M-84 tank has nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection capabilities.

The base M-84 engine is a 12-cylinder water-cooled V46-6 diesel engine, rated at 574 kW (780 hp). The improved M-84A has a more powerful, V46-TK 735 kW (1,000 hp) engine. With maximum fuel load of 1,200 litres the tank's range is 450 km, extendable to 650 km, with external fuel tanks.

The Croatian-made variants have enhanced power plants. The M-84A4 Sniper model has a German-built 820 kW (1,100 hp) engine, while the M-84D has an 895 kW (1,200 hp) engine, the most powerful of all M-84 variants. The M-84D also has greater fuel capacity (1,450 litres).

The tank can ford 1.2 meters of water, increasing to 5 meters with a snorkel.

• 
  M-84A
• 
  M-84AS1
• 
  M-84AB1
• 
  M-84AK
• 
  Kuwait M-84AB
• 
  M-84A4
• 
  M84D
• 
  M-84AS2

Kuwaiti M-84 during Operation Desert Shield

Prior to the Persian Gulf War, Kuwait ordered 170 M-84ABs, 15 M-84ABI ARVs and 15 M-84ABK command tanks, from Yugoslavia. Four M-84A tanks were delivered; however, the Iraqi Army soon captured them after the occupation. Further deliveries were stopped for the duration of the war. The Kuwaiti 35th Al-Shaheed Armored Brigade was equipped with 70 M-84s. During the retaking of the country, the 35th Brigade did not directly take part in battles with Iraqi tanks because of the M-84's similarity to Iraqi T-72 or Asad Babils. The M-84 was however very effective against T-62s and T-55s but some unconfirmed reports claim that a few of them were damaged, but recovered and repaired.

During the Ten-Day War, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) attempted to regain control over border crossings, airports and other strategic positions in Slovenia. The Slovenian Territorial Defence had no armoured units of its own and JNA M-84s were commonly used to break through barricades. Slovenia inherited all the M-84s within its territory, once the ceasefire and Slovenia's independence was accepted.

The M-84 saw action in the Battle of Vukovar, where the JNA and Serbian forces deployed large columns of main battle tanks in urban areas without the adequate support of the infantry. Tanks and APCs found themselves extremely exposed and suffered significant losses mainly to RPGs. It was noted by anti tank crews that the M-84s were extremely durable in comparison to other vehicles fielded by the JNA. One account from a team in the Battle of Vukovar noted that a single M-84 took 5 rounds from various launchers and direction with a 6th only knocking out its engine forcing its crew to bail out (its main gun being destroyed by a "lucky" AT shot from an RPG-7).

During the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, M-84s saw little action, the mainstay of all three warring parties being the T-55. At the beginning of the war, JNA units stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina had passed their equipment to the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The VRS had several dozen M-84s, with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina managing to capture only three M-84s. A number of M-84 tanks were used during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as during smaller localised conflicts. The number of M-84 tanks destroyed during the Bosnian war is unknown.

The M-84 was used by Yugoslav ground forces in Oraovica village during Insurgency in the Preševo Valley.

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

• The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are equipped with 71 M-84 MBTs.[21] In 2008, at least 50 operational tanks were withdrawn from active service due to financial reasons.

 Croatia

• The Croatian Army is equipped with 74 M-84A4 Sniper MBTs awaiting further upgrades.[22] It plans to upgrade 48 tanks to M-84A5 standard by 2020; remaining tanks will be put to reserve status or stored.

 Kuwait

• The Kuwaiti Army is equipped with 149 M-84 MBTs in AB, ABK and ABN versions bought prior to Operation Desert Storm from Yugoslavia.
  • 35th Shahid (Martyr's) Armoured Brigade equipped with 70 M-84s

 Serbia

Serbian M-84AS2

• The Serbian Army operates 212 M-84s and M-84AS's with plans to upgrade about 100 tanks to M-84AS2 standard.[23]
  • 15th Tank Battalion
  • 26th Tank Battalion
  • 36th Tank Battalion
  • 46th Tank Battalion

 Slovenia

• The Slovenian Army had 46 M-84 tanks in its fleet. All tanks were modernized to the M-84A4 Sniper standard but only 14 remained in service, while the rest were in operational reserve due to financial reasons. In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Slovenian Government initially agreed to donate the tanks to Ukraine, and in return the Slovenian tanks would be replaced by German vehicles.[24][25] The incumbent Slovenian government rejected the deal, demanding more replacement vehicles.[26]
  • 2nd Armored Brigade operates 31 M-84s

 Yugoslavia

• The Yugoslav People's Army operated about 450 M-84s in M-84 and M-84A versions. The M-84 was intended to fully replace the T-34, M4 Sherman and M47 Patton tanks then held in storage as well as some of the older T-55 units. Most JNA tanks were passed to the successor state – FR Yugoslavia, while a number was also captured by Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia in the war.
  • 1st Armored Brigade of 14th Corps at Vrhnika
  • 4th Armored Brigade of 10th Corps at Jastrebarsko
  • 211th Armored Brigade of 21st Corps at Niš
  • 252nd Armored Brigade of 37th Corps at Kraljevo
  • 329th Armored Brigade of 5th Corps at Banja Luka
  • 51st Armored Brigade of 24th Corps at Pančevo
  • 243rd Armored Brigade of 41st Corps from Skopje
  • 265th Armored Brigade of 32nd Corps at Varaždin

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• Federal Yugoslav Army:
  • 252nd Armored Brigade of Kragujevac Corps
  • 211th Armored Brigade of Niš Corps

Serbia and Montenegro

• Ground Forces of Serbia and Montenegro:
  • 211th Armoured Brigade of Niš Corps
  • 243rd Armoured Brigade of Priština Corps
  • 252nd Armoured Brigade of Priština Corps

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina captured and operated 3 M-84s.[27]
  • 3rd Corps, operated 2 M-84s
  • 5th Corps, operated 1 M-84

 Republika Srpska

• The Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) operated about 65 M-84s. Since the VRS was integrated into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina the fate of the remaining M-84s is unknown.
  • 101st Armored Brigade at Banja Luka operated about 65 M-84s[28]

Republic of Serbian Krajina

• Military of Serbian Krajina was equipped with some 31 M-84s

 North Macedonia

• The Army of North Macedonia inherited an unknown amount of M-84s from the 243rd Armoured Brigade of 41st Corps from Skopje after Macedonia left Yugoslavia in 1993. These tanks are retired and stored

• T-72
• PT-91 Twardy
• M-84AS
• M-95 Degman

T-72 – M-84 – M-91 Vihor – M-84D – M-95 Degman & M-84AS