Chinese Upgrade Package For Russia’s T-72 Tank Unveiled: Ukraine War Leaves Gap in Global Markets

Chinese defence giant Norinco has unveiled a new class of main battle tank which has been developed on the basis of the Soviet T-72, and represents a comprehensive upgrade package for the older vehicles. Images of the tank taken in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, show the the tank has integrated an entirely new turret and remote-controlled weapon station resembling those of the VT-4 main battle tank currently being produced for export. The vehicle integrates Chinese FY-2 explosive reactive armour and a roof mounted commander’s independent thermal viewer. The T-72 is currently the most widely operated class of second or third generation main battle tank in the world, and is deployed by over 30 countries in significant numbers, and by additional countries for training and demonstrator roles. Although China itself does not field the T-72, it received a number of the tanks from one or more unknown third parties during the 1990s for study and evaluation.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/07/07/article_686b9bd33e8ed7_73438634.png" title="Norinco Enhanced T-72 with New Turret (Weibo)">The very widespread deployments of T-72s across the world allow Norinco to potentially significantly strengthen its armour export profile by developing an upgrade package for the vehicle. Russia and Ukraine were previously leading competitors in providing modernisation for the T-72 fleets of other countries, with the decision to invest in developing a modernisation package in China likely to have bene influenced by the two countries’ allocation of their <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/returning-tank-production-soviet-era-levels-russia-over-3000" target="_blank">defence sectors’ capacities</a> to supporting their intensive ongoing war effort. China’s tank industry is also increasingly seen to have surpassed those of Soviet successor states, which could make its upgrade package more attractive. The package is expected to provide clients with a less costly alternative to procurements of the VT-4 or Type 96 main battle tanks that have been marketed abroad.&nbsp;Interest in the upgrade package may be raised by the T-72’s demonstrated significant potential for modernisation in the Russian-Ukrainian War, with a <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-new-enhanced-t72-features" target="_blank">new Russian variant</a> developed in 2022 having integrated similar armour protection levels and fire control to the new T-90M tank, and from 2024 also <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/new-enhanced-russian-t72-first-active-protection-system-ukrainian-frontlines" target="_blank">integrated</a> an active protection system for much improved survivability. Russia’s lack of capacity to supply these abroad, which is expected to remain the case at least until the end of the decade, provides room for China’s rival upgrade package to gain a greater market share.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/07/07/article_686b9c205d73e2_18183779.png" title="Russian Army T-72B3 in the Kursk Region">The development of a T-72 upgrade package follows significant successes by China’s defence sector in making <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/uzbekistan-replace-su27-mig29-chinese" target="_blank">major inroads </a>into Central Asia, where equipment ranging from fighter aircraft to air defence systems have been selected over Russian competitors to replace Soviet era assets. Leading potential clients may include Algeria, where the VT-4 has also <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/replacing-t90-vt4-trials-algeria" target="_blank">gained an interest</a>, as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Iran is another leading operator of the T-72 that may show an interest, and fields over 300 obsolete 1990s variants of the tank. African states including Morocco, Uganda and Sudan have also made procurements of the T-72. The significant commonality between the T-72 and the T-80 may also lead Norinco to adapt the upgrade package for the newer Soviet tank class, which although less widely fielded, has been procured by the VT-4’s two <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/how-capable-are-pakistan-s-new-vt-4-battle-tanks-why-new-chinese-supplied-armour-could-be-a-game-changer" target="_blank">leading clients</a> Pakistan and Thailand, both of which have expanded their reliance on Chinese armaments.&nbsp;The package has the potential to provide clients for the VT-4 which already field the T-72 or the T-80 with commonality between the Chinese and Soviet built vehicles.&nbsp;