Monkey model

This article is about military equipment of the Soviet Union. For the medicine and biology-related term, see Animal model.

Monkey model was the unofficial designation given by the Soviet Military to versions military equipment (armored vehicles, airplanes, missiles) of significantly inferior capability to the original designs and intended only for export.

The monkey model was exported with the same or a similar designation as the original Soviet design but in fact it lacked many of the advanced or expensive features of the original.

Performance and capabilities of export model equipment were so degraded from the original as not to be in any way representative of the original design capabilities.

The term was popularized in the West by Viktor Suvorov, in Inside the Soviet Army. Suvorov states that the simplified monkey model was designed for massive production in wartime, to replace front-line stocks if a war should last for several weeks. In peacetime, Soviet industry gained experience building both standard and export-model variants, the latter being for sale "to the 'brothers' and 'friends' of the USSR as the very latest equipment available." He also cites the benefit of disinformation when an exported monkey model fell into the hands of Western intelligence, who "naturally gained a completely false impression of the true combat capabilities of the BMP-1 and of Soviet tanks" (Suvorov 1982:215).

Armored vehicles

Monkey-model tanks were equipped with lower grade fire control systems, lower grade armor, lacking NBC protection, and provided with substandard ammunition.

For example, the inferior 3VBM8/3BM17/18 APFSDS 125 mm smoothbore rounds were exported for use in the T-72 family of tanks. It was specifically designed for export and had a penetration of sloped armor at 2000 m that was half as much as that of the original Soviet model.

Aircraft

Monkey-model aircraft were downgraded in a manner similar to that of tanks. The MiG-23 MS 'Flogger-E' , for example, was an export variant the original MiG 23 developed because the MiG 23 was considered too advanced to be exported to Third World countries. The 'Flogger-E' lacked the most advanced features of the original. Infra-red search and track and beyond visual range missile capabilities were removed and its avionics suite was very basic. This variant was widely sold during the 1970s to Soviet allies in the Middle East.

Monkey models and the effectiveness of Soviet military equipment

The fact that most Soviet-designed tanks and aircraft engaged by western forces during the last decades were actually monkey models must be kept in mind when trying to assess the capabilities of real Soviet-era equipment versus those of contemporary western designs.

A good example of this is the dismal performance of Iraqi T-72 models during the Gulf War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Iraqi T-72s failed to destroy a single M1 tank. On the other hand experts^[who?] believe that the T-72's 125 mm 2A46 main gun is capable of destroying any modern main battle tank in the world today. This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the Iraqi operated a mix of monkey models and their own locally produced version, the Lion of Babylon tank, and used substandard ammunition (it has been claimed^{[by whom?]} that in some cases even training ammunition was used) for their guns.

According to Sewell (1998), Russian T-72s are built of materials superior to those of the eight export models, and T-72A tanks in Chechnya were more survivable than the T-72M and T-72M1 tanks which were easily destroyed by modern US and UK tanks in Iraq.

See also

• History of the tank
• List of Soviet tanks
• Red Army

References

• Milsom, John (1975). Russian Tanks, 1900-1970: The Complete Illustrated History of Soviet Armoured Theory and Design. Galahad Books. ISBN 0-88365-052-5.
• Suvorov, Viktor (1982). Inside the Soviet Army. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02615-500-1.
• Zaloga, Steven et al. (1993). T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974-1993. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-338-9.
• Inside the Soviet Army. http://militera.lib.ru/research/suvorov12/06.html