Kuwait City Liberator | M-84AB

[@nikola12nis]

M84, along with M87 Orkan (one could say many times more advanced and difficult -technologically to create) system, was the peak of Yugoslav engineering. Our engineers were always world class, unfortunately, our technologists could never develop what engineers needed, not because of the lack of knowledge and brains, but rather resources. That is what differentiates poor and rich countries, ability to spend billions on technological advancements. There was also a potential 203mm howitzer/cannon being considered, but was not realized due to army choosing M87 Orkan, as only one project could be funded.

[@robiagacitei5487]

your engineers were decent at best.

[@97MrBlues]

You know nothing. ​@@robiagacitei5487

[@copter2000]

@@robiagacitei5487 Your comment were fine at worst.

[@rowanyuh6326]

@@robiagacitei5487stupid comment at best

[@milostomic8539]

This was a pretty good tank in the 1980s and 1990s. It's still useful today but only if upgraded. Five countries today use M84. Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kuwait, with Serbia beeing the largest user (232 tanks).

[@ivanstepanovic1327]

The reason for great performance in desert was that once Kuwait appeared as a potential buyer, the tanks were tested in Deliblatska Peščara (also known as "European Sahara") where the conditions are pretty similar to desert. Except the heat, of course. That resulted in great engine air intake system and filters and other sand "resistance".

[@randomexcessmemories4452]

The M-84 and its variants are some of the most overlooked yet best tanks to follow the T-72 lineage, and this was a really fascinating video! I had no idea the M-84AB was such a good tank.

[@brothabox6998]

Better gun...better equipment...better weapon sistem and other maintenance then T -72

[@tarekmalaeb8229]

I had the chance to meet an officer of the Kuwaiti army, he highly praised the M84, even mentioned that the Iraqi army had shipped all of their tanks to Iraq during the occupation, as they considered it far better than most of their tanks even the T72 Lion of Babylon

[@husseinoskovjino9398]

The T72 lion of Babylon was much better than the M84 The lion of babylon was not only made by one country but by several Yugoslavia an ally of Iraq helped it during the program Same goes with the DGA mods from france The Soviets and East Germany also helped Iraq Most T72M1s which are not actually a downgrade of whatever bullshit that one dude that thinks he is a tank enthusiast thinks Look it up in wikipedia it was an extremely decent tank And the Lion of babylon was way better As for the saddam variant which is rarely mentioned Its a varient made for desert combat and it is an intentional downgrade and made for desert combat cuz Iraq doesn’t have many deserts especially sand deserts but only fought once in such conditions which is a sand dune are north of the hawizah marsh near iran in which T72s couldn’t go through The desert variant was made cuz iraq had made plans to invade the gulf region and spliting it between Iraq and Saudi Arabia (MBC which is the most famous Tv channel in Saudi Arabia made a documentary with government officials and found out that saddam told the king of Saudi Arabia to invade and split the gulf states)

[@HELESPONTify]

Is Great diference Kuwaitian and Irakien in memtality?

[@dannyzero692]

7:47 "Inside the tank, everything was translated into Arabic, although this didn't prove to be very helpful as many Kuwaiti crews were illiterate." Modern problems required ancient solution of "just go to school".

[@bilalsadiq1450]

Well, according to Wikipedia, they had the highest literacy rate in the Arab world as of 2005 at 94% (now at 96.5%). UNESCO seems to show a literacy rate of 70-80% in 1991, so I find the statement rather dubious (unless young men signing up for the tank corps were particularly illiterate somehow...)

[@jlvfr]

@@bilalsadiq1450 I'm wondering if Kuwait would be trying to expand the force too fast, thus leading to (at least partly) iliterate recruits. Or the iliteracy could be related to technical issues, ie they could read the words but not understand the _meaning_ of said words.

[@bilalsadiq1450]

@@jlvfr good point, from the stories it seems like the tanks were probably rushed into service, especially those delivered to Saudi Arabia to participate in Desert Storm after the invasion. The crews might've been rerolled from other branches, or maybe whatever military Kuwait managed to escape to SA with. I'm guessing it was a 'learn on the job' type experience for many of the tankers.

[@genericpersonx333]

​@@bilalsadiq1450 Bear in mind, 70-80% literacy means 20-30 men out of a hundred couldn't read. If you have a tank unit with hundreds of personnel, that is dozens who can't read. Reading instructions and manuals is a huge part of modern military training, because no one person can know how to do everything purely from hands-on experience and memory, especially not on new equipment they have not spent years using. Kuwait in 1990 had a serious shortage of men; it was a tiny country expecting to fight a big war, and so they couldn't be too picky about only using their 80% of men who had learned basic literacy to fight. Kuwait opted in 1990 to spread its illiterates as widely as they could so it was a matter of four literate guys being able to explain what was needed to the fifth illiterate one. If they had concentrated their illiterates into large units, those units would have been highly dysfunctional at best and downright liabilities at worst, as they would be fit for little more than digging ditches and hauling supplies, and you still needed literate men to make sure they dug the ditches the right way in the right places and moved the right crates to the right place and so on. Ironically, the Kuwaitis has FORESEEN the illiteracy problem before the war, which one reason they mandated public schooling in the 1960s. They were TRYING to have a fully-literate male population by the mid-1990s, but it takes time for schooling to work, and the Iraqi Invasion simply came a few years too early for Kuwait's men to have finished all their schooling.

[@buttbuttson737]

@@bilalsadiq1450 There is a chance this story is being confused with one about Egyptian tank crews. During training with the US, several Egyptian officers confiscated their crew's manuals under the assertion that they couldn't read them in the first place.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

Realistically, M-84 was better than other T-72 export models in late 1980s and early 1990s. But it had worse protection and ammo than Soviet T-72B which started appearing in 1985. For Kuwait specifically, it was better suited than M1 Abrams mostly because it was simpler and more reliable. Of course, Kuwait was never able to defend itself independently from much larger neighbors, so much of their armed forces is only for show.

[@DanasSutra-t8v]

​@@str8ballinSAlol

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@str8ballinSA BS 😁 In reality Croats managed to knock one T-72 and that is about it. They had enough luck that JNA was hobbled by political leadership that did not want to crush their rebellion by force , plus Western leadership supporting breakup of Yugoslavia.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@str8ballinSA Yeah right 😁 Total loses of JNA near and around Vukovar were around dozen AFV (T-55, T-34/85, some APC ...) . Better tanks were not used for direct support in urban environment. Rest is Croat fiction, they had to justify more than 2000 dead for practically no reason (it was already decided that JNA would not try to crush rebellion in whole of Croatia) .

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@str8ballinSA What war college ? 😁 Armor was not used much in Vukovar, except as support guns and to evacuate wounded. As a battle, considering that JNA had to use all kinds of volunteers and reservists, it did not go particularly bad. Much better than first battle of Grozny or Fallujah. Urban combat is not a walk in the park. JNA still managed to inflict at least 4 times more casualties than it received, and probably more.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@str8ballinSA What war college would that be ? 😁 JNA did not use armor much in Vukovar, except as support guns, and APCs to evacuate wounded. It was mostly artillery battle, and considering that JNA had to rely on volunteers and local territorial defense, it went pretty well. Urban combat is never walk in the park, as witnessed by Grozny and Fallujah . Still, JNA did pretty well, inflicting at least 4 times more casualties than it sustained.

[@shaider1982]

I was surprised that the tank outpaces the Abrams but remembered that it has a higher power to weight ratio than a normal T72.

[@thelovertunisia]

And the Abrams broke down back then...bad omen for times to come lol.

[@gotanon9659]

​@@thelovertunisia Or more like the crew didnt know how to maintain the Abrams properly

[@gotanon9659]

More like the abrams being unable to fully use the engine due to a governor

[@Shoelessjoe78]

​@@thelovertunisiathey rarely ever broke down in Afghanistan... Times change 30+ years of improvement as well.

[@Mubarak_z71]

I am simply kuwaiti I see my country name I click it faster than saddam hussan busses

[@TheMusan970]

😂😂❤

[@valskiplayz3848]

Kuwaiti too

[@ラーメンのボス]

Send me some Kuwaiti Dinars please.

[@ljubastojanovic608]

There was the story for M84 about US heliochopters pilots flying low above Kuwait desert to see "what is moving so fast on the send"

[@AleksandarM987]

The good old times, where the Yugoslav peoples army ( JNA) was respected and among the strongest armies in the Europe.

[@Playvoodoo]

M-84 tanks were used in Liberation of Kuwait but did not take directly battle with Iraqi tanks because of similarities, recognition stripes were painted almost all M84s.

[@andrejapaunic4761]

JNA/YPA stands for Yugoslav Peoples Army

[@drmarkintexas-400]

🎖️🏆🤗🙏 Thank you for sharing this

[@forlornfool221]

I want to see the race! Kool Beans

[@MrUNCLESAM84]

Recently Russia was trying to sell Kuwait their T-90MS but the Kuwaitis opted for the upgraded "unique" Kuwaiti variant of the M1 Abrams called M1A2-K which they modified it to suit their needs.

[@justsomedude7583]

My favorite older/ out of print black library book is Execution Hour. Good navy/ ship story you don’t get as much of now in newer writings.

[@caveman8910]

Delivery was also through the Dammam port (I know for a fact) and that was the first time Yugoslavian team had entered into KSA being that Yugoslavia and KSA weren't officially working with each other. Also, Kuwaitis weren't the only one driving those tanks because not enough of them were trained...

[@Mixer2904]

I spoke with Serbian tank commander shortly after 1999 war against NATO, he told me what was the strategy for the Serbian tanks to try to stop US abrams tanks if NATO invaded on land, he said they knew they had no chance to disable abrams on the front but would have to used speed of M-84 to get behind Abrams and try to hit in the back, so they would have used a decoy tank to draw abrams and rush in behind them unlike Iraq and Kuwait Serbia is heavily forested so it would be much easier to hide from airplanes and make ambushes.

[@MarioBekes]

I disagree with intro "economic situation in SFR Yugoslavia turned from bad to worse" so that is why Yugoslavia was selling tanks etc , just to make clear Yugoslavia was one of biggest exporters of weapons systems from 1964 ( Middle East, Easter Europe, Asia ) when special department was established, not only weapons, for example Yugoslavia was building in Iraq for 20 years underground facilities - all blue prints were given to James Baker during visit to Yugoslavia as for T 84 entire factory and facilities were given to US military 1996 so all production halted , it is was agile tank for 80's and 90's ..

[@TanksEncyclopediaYT]

After 1980s all profit from exports were used to service the ever growing debt, the Yugoslavian currency collapsed in value, unemployment went up and net income went down. I'm not sure why would anyone want to contest that the economy was collapsing. M-84 tanks were being assembled in Djuro Djakovic factory in Croatia. That factory wasn't given to anyone, and it continued to produce M-84 tanks until 2002.

[@thesayxx]

@@TanksEncyclopediaYT The M84 was assembled in Đuro Đaković, but it wasnt built there. The optics were made in Zrak Sarajevo, the armour in Ravne na Koroškem, electronics by Iskra, the cannon by Bratstvo in B&H, ATB Sever Subotica made the autoloader etc. It took 14 different factories from 4 different SFRJ states to assemble the M84. Its 100% true that some factories shut down in the 90's due to war and changing of governments / countries gaining independence. And now all the users face the same problems of replacing the gun barrels. The original factory (Bratsvo from Novi Travnik B&H) no longer makes them.

[@dzonikg]

@@TanksEncyclopediaYT When westerner thing they know better then people here ,Debt was almost cut in half in 1990 from 20 billion to 12 bilions $ ,maybe income fell down little but was still multiply times other east countries, awerage montly net wage in Yugoslavia in 1990 was 1000 deuthc marks,in Romania it was 100. But people forget that many countries also owned to Yugoslavia,just Iraq owned 3.5 billion $ to Yugoslavia in 1990 which was never payed ,USSR also owned 2 billion which was payed by Russia in 2000s to now different republics countries

[@duskobabic4285]

You're right. Apart from the M84 and other weapons and equipment, Yugoslavia had a very strong industry and production at all levels, from needles to locomotives. That was actually the reason for them to cause a civil war, for us to destroy ourselves among ourselves, and then they come and pretend to be our saviors. We were just too stupid to see it. Too stupid.

[@DanasSutra-t8v]

​@@thesayxxSUV je rađen u banjalučkom Čajavecu

[@dominuslogik484]

man that is a rough one, having a plurality of tank crews unable to read instructions wow.

[@californiahighwaypatrol577]

You should talk about all the m60 Variants made

[@CrimsonScar-1]

Could you guys please cover the T-64 in a future video? I can’t find it on your channel.

[@rankoorovic7904]

Story has it the the M84 was made because the T-72 required a crew not taller then 1.70 m but unlike the USSR that had a much bigger population to fill the tank core with guys under 1.70 Yugoslavia didn't so the M84 was made to allow bigger guys as a crew 😁 I don't know was that true or not but i heard that story a hundred times 😁

[@ravenouself4181]

While a a fun joke/meme, it's not true. Not only were the majority of the service men shorter, or just above, 1,72 meters tall, but it was also built by the specifications in the blueprints that came with the license.

[@rankoorovic7904]

@@ravenouself4181 I figured it was BS but i heard it so many times i had to write it🤣

[@arsenijearsen3041]

Best tank of his time.

[@MajorMorrozov]

can we get a multipart series (like the T62) on the T64? as it is arguably the tank that most revolutionized world tank design save the ft-17.

[@mosesracal6758]

Shouldve hooked up Tito like Warhammer's god-emperor to like a chair just so we can see more M-84 variants

[@MK-bv6wn]

Nicely done, economic was not the mayor hindrance for that tank it was the politics in the late 80s then the wars as the resoult of that politics, the tank was build from the parts produced all over the yugoslavia, also yugoslavia acquire just the plans for Soviet T 72 nothing else, they must figured out by themself how to really build the tank, thats why it is not the same as T 72, Yugoslavia had advanced company which produced probobaly the best laser aiming device for that tank , the company was known as Iskra Fotona it was so good in busines that the US ordered the state of Slovenia to sell company to the US costumer when Slovenia enter the Nato to block this company to work with non westrn countries who had soviet type tanks, snce then that company did not produced asingle optical laser aiming device, their only product now are medical lasers

[@Playvoodoo]

Most Kuwaiti tank crews were Bedouin tribesmen.

[@ReLax-ru2pk]

“As many of the Kuwaiti crews were illiterate”, that’s hilarious. Be Kuwaiti tank driver, come to intersection, can’t read sign, makes wrong turn

[@mhmdalmutairi6796]

Kuwaiti crews was amazing this is rong information

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

The M-88 round, what was the closest Soviet counterpart?

[@TanksEncyclopediaYT]

M-88 PKO-J round was a direct copy of the Soviet 3BM-9 / 3BM-12 round. The only difference between the 3BM-9 and 3BM-12 rounds was that the 3BM-12 had a tungsten carbide plug, making it slightly longer.

[@yutakago1736]

They should send the M84 to Ukraine to refurbish.

[@juneseokwoo6225]

​@stefanmijatovic5308 you mean Russians?

[@ccdsds3221]

@@juneseokwoo6225yes, ukranians are russians.

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

What navigational equipment specifically?

[@Chounubis]

M84 and the Chieftain Mk.5 proved fantastic for Kuwait in 1990-91. Look up "The Battle of The Bridges" for some good stuff on the Chieftain.

[@grimreaperkim9433]

M-84 Yugoslavian T-72 Tank

[@ravenouself4181]

Someone has to correct Youon the following. It's Yugoslav People's Army, not Yugoslav National Army: Jugoslovenska = Yugoslav Narodna = People's Armija = Army Also, it's not "J" as the "J" in "Juice", but a "J" pronounced as the "Y" in "Egg Yoke". If You find it difficult to pronounce, just say YPA.

[@richardhaw9757]

illiterate tankers!?

[@oskar6661]

Yep, vast swathes of the poorer Arab populations were/are illiterate. This is where they generally get their soldiers from, including tankers.

[@anon-iraq2655]

Micro state composed of bussiness owners, only people who would join the army are "special" people who literally can't do anything else

[@RedXlV]

@@anon-iraq2655 Kuwait has the highest literacy rate in Arabia. There really aren't many illiterate Kuwaitis. Though it could well be that they were overrepresented in the army, since they'd be the poorest part of the population and not have many opportunities for advancement *other* than military service.

[@subzero2712]

@@RedXlVno it’s because most tankers were born in the 70s or 60s at the time😭 there was a campaign after the invasion to teach tankers

[@jebise1126]

but m84 was sort of upgrade of t72. how come soviet union didnt says something with this export?

[@M18Hellcat]

Because M84 is not neither of those, it's a self made tank from Yugoslavia, they bought the blueprints, reverse engineered it and made a new one

[@aleksazunjic9672]

USSR was having their own problems, and they did not oppose Gulf War because Iraq did conquer sovereign country which was against UN charter. Also, they could not do much as Yugoslavia purchased license for the components and they were free to make their own tanks and sell them around.

[@w0lfgm]

Licence agrement was covered that and USSR probaly give its blessing.

[@levilastun829]

In addition the Soviets at that time had in production the T-72B which had better armour, improved gun which could fire better APFSDS rounds and ATGM's, better sights, fire control system, in addition an improved V-84 engine. The T-72B was superior to the M-84 in everything, except the drivetrain. Ironically the V-84 engine was supercharged and only had 840hp, while the V-46-TK was turbocharged and made 1000hp. The Russians only in 1992 managed to develop a 1000hp turbocharged engine, called the V-92 and was first equipped only in 2002 on Indian T-90S Bhishma tanks. While in Russian service these engines were first introduced only in 2005 on the T-90A.

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

The USSR did try to stop the war diplomatically.​@@aleksazunjic9672

[@FritzOFN]

These tanks could be needed in Ukraine..

[@chesterhiggens]

Won’t make a difference. They can’t defend anything.

[@madkoala2130]

They are same trash as soviet tanks, there is no difference. NATO could have asked Croatia and Slovenia to donate those few that they have in service, but it seems like NATO got some brains and knew they will not make a diffrence.

[@RedXlV]

@@chesterhiggens Go to hell, Vatnik.

[@coling3957]

The Anglo-American forces did all the fighting in Kuwait/Iraq border area.. the Arabs were given a victory march along the highway so it didn't look like it was just western forces crushing the arab army of Saddam. the arab coalition could have used milk- floats instead of tanks for their contribution.

[@TrollOfReason]

The US learned to do that in WW2 & France. Many times, & more often as the Allies were closing on Paris, the US & British forces would allow Free France units to actually enter the town even (or especially) if they did none of the actual fighting.

[@jon9021]

Correct!

[@Kevjoseful]

I agree and its because Anglo- Americans are warmongers

[@mhmdalmutairi6796]

Maybe you are token to your self

[@maxencebaudoin7889]

​@@TrollOfReasonthe plan was to bypass paris but the free french decided to liberated paris to help the uprising and the allies high command seeing that the french would not obey and already begin to move forward to paris

[@patriotenfield3276]

Where is the Article ?

[@TanksEncyclopediaYT]

Its scheduled for release next month

[@Randomguy.01]

Make Moroccan tanks

[@PRISMAS76]

Terrible video´s begining, The economy got worse because USA and Alies ended the support for Yugoslavia due to the eastern block fall, they did not need them anymore, the next step would be promise help if independence from Yugoslav Federation which make the way to civil war in the 90´s.

[@alangordon3283]

No it didn’t . The country was on its arse like every communist state was and is .

[@fixmehanicar]

Shoure economy didnt colapse due to poor work practises no competition and over all "we will cover this with loan" or "aid". Grow up.

[@PRISMAS76]

@@fixmehanicar The economy in Yugoslavia collapsed because of the disappearing markets for Yugoslavian products, before the 1990s Yugoslavian products were sold in the Iron Curtain´s both sides, USA and their vassalles in Europe close the door of commerce to the YFR.

[@neroserafimovich]

@@PRISMAS76 However what you say is true, but you shouldn't neglect the growing nationalism in some republics and growing sentiment that was fueled by chauvinism about independence. As much as the global north helped in dissolution of Yugoslavia, we had as much guilt of our own. Not to mention the "liberalisation" which destroyed the struggling economy. Yugoslavia didn't break up because of Socialism, it broke up when it gave the socialism up.

[@PRISMAS76]

@@neroserafimovich The nationalism in the republics came after the USA promise to the republics leaders economic help if independence, they then played the nationalism card

[@erickondziolka8405]

Der panzer

[@dalmatino9336]

Republic of Croatia was never engulfed in civil war,it was the same recepie as in Ukraine today.Serbian backed separatists+serbian army invaded Croatia .In 1995.Croatian army swept them oit from our territory with 4 day operation "STORM".

[@matovicmmilan]

No, in 1991 the Croatian secessionist paramilitary attacked the federal Yugoslav Army units and the Serbs as they opted to remain part of Yugoslavia. The Army responded by kicking the Croats out of the Serb majority areas after which point the ethnic Croatian leadership begged for ceasefire. In 1995 only after the US accepted the pleas by Croatia to secure that Serbia & Montenegro wouldn't intervene and again crush the Croatian forces as in 1991, they dared to attack the Krajina Serbs (350.000) which is 3.5% of all Serbs. But even then, the Croats didn't dare to attack the area of RSK located along the border with Serbia, still fearful of provoking Serbia.

[@dalmatino9336]

🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sevasthvostanski5588]

@@dalmatino9336 of course it was, only then there was no Serbian army because Milosevic betrayed the Serbs from the Krajina, but you were at war with pensioners from the territorial defense, who were under US airstrikes and artillery support from the UK and French armies. the army from Serbia fought until the spring of 1992, after which they withdrew according to the signed agreement, then the Croats held about 30% of the territory, and over 40% of the Croats fled to the west, something like the Ukrainians

[@AustinBunyard]

Cheiftans are better

[@NM_kplus_fps]

Fam no one is agreeing with you on that one

[@dominikskledar5340]

Yugoslaviya marke armiy M84

[@1970valtari]

This tank, as well as planes and other weapons, are the most important reason why Yugoslavia no longer exists. The USA could not allow that, and why NATO bombed Serbia in 1999.and took away part of the territory of Kosovo from Serbia.Serbs are not obedient and that is why NATO punishes them.

[@deshonarnold2253]

What's with the rambling?

[@Petar15630]

Bro what do you want from us to be slaves to the Usa and nato? Can't serbia make their own weapons without nato taking it as a threat?

[@Aboleo80]

​@@Petar15630There are many countries that make weapons and never get invaded by NATO. The difference is those countries don't use those weapons to kill and rampage in their neighborhood like Serbia did in the 90s. Serbia makes weapons today as well and nobody is invading it. The difference is Serbia isn't invading or supporting separatist in neighboring countries now.

[@agrameroldoctane_66]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@agrameroldoctane_66]

​@@deshonarnold2253 Serbia is not a nation, it is a state of mind.