Lion of Babylon (tank)

Production history

In 1986 a West German company built a factory in Taji to manufacture steel for several military uses. It was enlisted to retrofit and rebuild tanks already on duty in the Iraqi Army, such as T-54/55s, T-62s, and several hundred of Soviet and Polish T-72s, imported during early stages of the war with Iran. In the late-1980s plans were made to produce new T-72M1 tanks in Taji. These tanks were to be assembled from knockdown kits delivered by the Polish state-owned company Bumar-Łabędy. The assembly was to start in 1989 and the tanks would receive the name Asad Babil (Lion of Babylon). According to Polish officials not a single T-72M1 was finished, even though in 1988 a T-72M was displayed on an Iraqi arms show, which was claimed to be locally produced. The local assembly of the T-72 started in Taji in early 1989 as suggested by Iraqi officials. A number of Iraqi officials such as Lt. General Amer Rashid however did not like the idea of being dependent on knockdown kits supplied by another country and pushed for the complete production of the T-72M1 tank instead. In 1991 the Taji plant was destroyed by an airstrike while being upgraded by Bumar-Łabędy.

The United Nations imposed an arms embargo following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, which reduced the complete assembly of tanks to simple spare parts for Lions and other tanks in the Iraqi arsenal. It is not known how many Lion tanks were completed during the span between early 1989 and this embargo.

Specifications

In most aspects, the Lion of Babylon is physically identical to the T-72M1 it is based on. Lion of Babylon T-72s were upgraded with the addition of laminated Armor on the front slope and rear panels as protection against HEAT projectiles. American military intelligence believed some were equipped with Belgian-made thermal sights. These same sources claim the tank was also provided with a better track protection against sand and mud than the Soviet T-72, by reducing the original number of shock absorbers. Some tanks also were fitted with a type of electro-optical interference pod of Chinese origin. As secondary armament, the tank mounted either the NSV or the DShK 12.7 mm machine gun and the coaxial 7.62 mm PKT common to all T-72 models.

Armor

The Lion's primary armor was the same as the T-72M1, without any improvements. The Lion's side armor had 60 mm protection, the turret side armor was 300 mm, and the flat rear was 45 mm thick.

Despite the relative thinness, a retrofitted reinforced armor plate present both at the turret and the front upper hull seems to have been relatively effective against some shaped-charge ordnance, like the TOWs and Hellfire missiles. There are reports of Iraqi T-72s surviving near-misses from these weapons, although the reinforced armor generally did not prevent a mobility kill. However, it is also possible that the unexpected survival rate was due to the electro-optical countermeasures mounted on most of the tanks rather than the added armor.

There is evidence of at least one Lion surviving a direct hit from an Abrams main gun in Mahmoudiyah in 2003. A 120 mm HEAT round from an Abrams impacted on the front of an Asad Babil turret at point blank range without producing a catastrophic kill. Some Lion tanks may have featured explosive reactive armor, possibly obtained from Polish T-72M1 spare parts.

Another improvised armor upgrade may have also been added at the Taji complex. An additional 30 mm armor plate was welded on the front areas of the hull and turret, leaving an air gap matching the size of the armor, so that the power of a HEAT jet could be dissipated in the hollow space. This technique follows the principle of spaced armor. The Iraqi engineers tested this reinforcement against captured Iranian 120 mm Chieftain tank guns in 1989, apparently with some success.

Combat performance

The Lion of Babylon saw service in the 1991 Persian Gulf War as well as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like other tanks in the Iraqi inventory, Lions were mainly employed as armored self-propelled artillery, rather than in maneuver warfare roles. In operations, it fared poorly against American main battle tanks and armored fighting vehicles. For example, a 120 mm depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round from an M1 Abrams could knock out a Lion of Babylon tank well beyond 3,000 m, while the effective range of the tungsten-core 125 mm shell used by Iraq was 1,800 m.

Within closer ranges, the Lion of Babylon was more effective, especially while within prepared positions. However, even in such conditions, the Lion of Babylon did not fare well against M1s—as proven in the Battle of Norfolk during Desert Storm, although the tank also participated in the Battle of Phase Line Bullet, where Bradleys IFVs from the 4th squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment were driven back by dug-in Iraqi armoured vehicles at heavy cost.

Persian Gulf War

The bulk of Iraqi armoured units were equipped with the Type 69 and only Republican Guard divisions were equipped with Iraqi-modified T-72s, with exception of the regular army's armored Saladin division. Thus, engagements between Lions of Babylon and American tanks were limited to conflicts involving such Iraqi units.

During Desert Storm, T-72s built in Taji were technologically 20 years out of date. Only one M1 Abrams was officially documented during the Persian Gulf War as having received enough damage to be towed and receive maintenance after being struck three times on the turret by a Lion. Another six M1A1s were allegedly hit by Iraqi T-72 tank fire in the Gulf War official report, but the impacts were largely ineffectual. According to Atkinson and Scales, Lions accounted for at least two M2 Bradley kills during Desert Storm and left several damaged, all on February 26, 1991.

2003 Iraq War

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Republican Guard's Lions, most from the Medina Division, were deployed around Baghdad to attempt a last-ditch defense of the Baath regime.

In April 2003, U.S. tanks engaged their counterparts from just 50 yards, killing seven Iraqi T-72s without any losses. Such encounters exposed the poor marksmanship of Iraqi gunners, in part due to the shortage of modern night-vision and range-finder assets. The Lions were even more technologically lacking at this time, and it is not known if any improvements to the tanks were made between the Persian Gulf War and this conflict. Nonetheless, one Bradley was largely disabled by a 125 mm round from an Asad Babil tank when Iraqi armoured troops attempted to ambush their American counterparts near Baghdad airport.

Fate

The last operational Lions were destroyed by the successive waves of American armored incursions on the Iraqi capital or abandoned by their crews after the fall of Baghdad, several of them without firing a single shot. The derelict tanks were later scrapped by U.S. Army disposal teams or shipped to the United States for target practice.

Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi Government acquired dozens of refitted T-72M1s from Hungary, in order to equip an armored brigade. The headquarters of this new Iraqi Army unit is located in Taji, so there may still remain some maintenance facilities from the production of Lions. Some surviving T-72s are used for training, and the experience of Iraqi Army officers and crews with the Lion was one of the reasons behind the choice of Hungarian T-72M1s.