Following the end of the Cold War, and a subsequent de-escalation of the hostilities, Sweden planned to modernize its tank battalions. Trials were undertaken between 1991 and 1994. The T-80U, alongside the T-72M1, and other NATO tanks such as the M1A1, the Leclerc, and the Leopard 2A4, participated in these trials. The T-80U however joined very late to the trials, and was not properly evaluated unlike the other designs. The tank suffered from poor visibility and mobility, specially during night time where its optics were deemed much inferior to those fitted by western designs. However, the tank did have excellent protection, it was relatively easy to operate, it had a very powerful engine, and a good transmission that allowed very high top speeds without much crew discomfort. But in the end, the tank was not incorporated; instead, the Leopard 2A4 was adopted as the Strv 121.

Introduced in Update "Fire and Ice", the T 80 U (Sweden) was a contender in Swedish trials for a possible adoption of new tank in the 1990s, the T-80U is not too dissimilar from the Soviet T-80U. The most significant difference is the lack of 3BM46 APFSDS round for the cannon. While it lacks the most powerful kinetic round, it still has the same armour and mobility performance for players used to the T-80U playstyle to quickly acclimate to. It has also the same vulnerabilities: weak ammo racks, and a poor mobility at least compared to western designs. It uses a carousel autoloader, which means that the rounds are very exposed inside the vehicle.