 The appearance of new Soviet tanks such as the T @-@ 80B during the late 1970s and early 1980s demanded the development of new technologies and weapons to counter the threat posed to Western armor . The T @-@ 80B had increased firepower and a new composite ceramic armor . The T @-@ 72 also went through a modernization program in an attempt to bring it up to the standards of the T @-@ 80B . In 1985 the new T @-@ 72B version entered production , with a new laminate armor protection system ; its turret armor , designed primarily to defeat anti @-@ tank missiles , surpassed the T @-@ 80B 's in protection . 
