The Czech army has likely disposed of its last usable T-72M1 tanks. According to information obtained by HN, the last batch left for Ukraine in late March or early April. Before the war, the Czech Republic had 86 of these tanks in their original condition from the socialist army, according to official data. Now, even the last ones have left, confirmed two sources from the military environment.
As of winter, these tanks were indispensable to the 73rd Tank Battalion, which used about 20 of them. Their departure has consequences for training, as two possible replacements are delayed.
Ten railcars with tarps at the military logistics center in Štěpánov looked like a scene from 2022 or 2023, when the Czech Republic sent what was likely several hundred pieces of reserve armored equipment to Ukraine: primarily T-72M1 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles.
"I can only say that there are no T-72M1 tanks left at the base," said a source familiar with the situation at the 7th Brigade, an armored unit of the Czech army, in an interview with HN.
These tanks were from its 73rd battalion, where they assisted with active reserves and occasionally with three professional companies. The T-72M1 tanks are no longer listed on the military's equipment website.
Around 2020, they served the army well. At that time, the armament officially consisted of 30 T-72M4CZ tanks — a modernization of the classic T-72, developed in the late '90s but suffering from many issues of that era. They began to wear out quickly, and some parts, particularly the Italian fire control system and British engines, became hard to find.
As a result, the army pulled out twenty preserved T-72M1 tanks from storage — vehicles that had been assembled on the production line in the late 1980s. "When they brought them out, we were pretty amazed. Although they were older, everything on them worked. We hardly knew that anymore," describes a veteran from the 73rd battalion.
