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T-80 (MBT)

1976 COLD WAR MAIN BATTLE TANK MODERN

History of the T-80 (MBT)

The T-80 of the Russian Army was born in the era of the Soviet Empire during the Cold War. The type is an evolution of the T-64 series, adding elements of the successful T-72 for promising operations. In the end, the first production tank to use a gas turbine engine proved to be a limited success, never reaching the numbers of its predecessor or the wildly popular T-72. While the T-80 is still in service today (2012), the T-80's days as a front-line battlefield solution are coming to an end as its available numbers steadily decrease each year.

The T-90 (based on the T-72) maintains its lead in the modern Russian army, leaving the T-80 a temporary solution at best, a measure to bridge the gap between the expired T-64 and the modern Russian Federation T -90.

In 1963, the Red Army began to deploy the T-64 main battle tank, which was the vanguard of Soviet armor during the critical period of the Cold War. The T-64 is equipped with an automatic loader attached to a 125mm smoothbore main gun capable of firing anti-tank missiles. Its arrival undoubtedly attracted the attention of the West, as it represented the most advanced tank of the Red Army at the time.

The T-72 then quickly developed into a simpler, cheaper counterpart to the T-64, although it surpassed the T-64 in numbers and worldwide (about 25,000 T-72 tanks were built for 13,000 T-64s ) . Soviet tank doctrine requires the use of both tank types and allows for long-term financial flexibility. Because the T-64 is considered a sort of "state secret" in terms of technology and capabilities, it is not publicly exported like the T-72.

As such, the T-64 remained the main high-tech Soviet main battle tank, leading the Red Army to victory in the event of a total war in Europe. As early as the late 1960s, new designs based on the T-64's inherent advantages were being considered. Since the end of World War II (1939-1945), many tank designs have been in service in the Soviet Union, many of which laid the foundation for the development of Soviet tank technology.

Such developments began to improve a gas turbine engine that could one day be used to power armored vehicles, although armored engineers had to wait for technology to catch up with this desire.

Object 288 is a tank test stand with 2 GTD-350 aircraft turbine engines rated at 690 hp. The second design, the Object 219 SP1, used a GTD-1000T multi-fuel gas turbine engine capable of producing 1,000 horsepower.

After extensive testing of various chassis configurations, the Object 219 SP1 was modified into an improved Object 219 SP2, and this prototype formed the basis of the "T-80". The T-80 was designed to span from 1967 to 1975, when serial production was ordered, and the vehicle entered service in 1976 after required military trials.

Production of the T-80 will continue until 1992, with 5,404 of them to be delivered by LKZ and Omsk Transmash in Russia and Malyshev in Ukraine. Gas turbine power plants allow higher output than conventional diesel powered types at the expense of fuel economy, overall reliability and overall cost.

In the tradition of Soviet tank design, the T-80 has a very low profile, excellent maneuverability and a sleek main gun. The use of an autoloader in the turret reduces the traditional operator from four to three, including the driver (in the fuselage) and the commander and gunner (in the turret). The autoloader also allows for a flatter turret design and lower overall weight. The overall configuration of the tank is traditional, with the engine at the rear, the turret in the middle and the driver at the front. The T-80's undercarriage consisted of six twin-tire wheels located on one side of the track, with the drive sprocket at the rear and track idlers at the front.

The upper track area is protected by side skirt armor. General armor protection is steel and composite, which can be enhanced with additional reactive armor blocks.

Portions of the T-72's torsion bar suspension system were ported to the T-80, providing excellent maneuverability for a vehicle of this weight class.

The main armament of the T-80 is the 125mm 2A46-2 smoothbore main gun (same as the T-72) located in the front central part of the turret. Older T-80 brands store up to 36x125mm projectiles internally, while newer models hold up to 45. This may include a variety of munitions, including HE-FRAG (FS), HEAT-FS and APFSDS-T projectiles, as well as 9M112 or 9M119 laser-guided anti-tank missiles.

Secondary armament is a coaxially positioned 7.62mm PKT machine gun. A 12.7mm NSVT or PKT series heavy machine gun performed the anti-aircraft function on the commander's cupola on top of the turret.

It turns out that the number of smoke grenade launchers depends on the production model, although usually at least eight are installed (two rows of four launchers on each front turret fairing.

Base SG-1000 gas turbine engine producing 1,000 hp. This, combined with a drivetrain with five forward gears and one reverse, theoretically allows for an inherent operating range of 208 miles. Under ideal conditions, an external fuel tank mounted to the rear of the fuselage could extend it up to 270 miles.

Top road speed is 43 mph, and off-road speeds of 30 mph are achievable, although this depends largely on operating environment and driving habits.

The first T-80 production models in 1976 were simply referred to as "T-80" and were equipped with a standard laser rangefinder, but lacked support for explosive reactive armor (ERA) blocks and anti-tank missile firing from the main gun. The first major upgrade in the series was the T-80B in 1982, which added support for firing the 9K112 "Kobra" (NATO: AT-8 "Songster") anti-tank missile and introduced a new stable fire control System and modified turret casing. The T-80B was then modified in 1980 with a newer, more powerful engine rated at 1,100 horsepower.

In 1982 a new main gun was added to the line, and in 1985 supply was added to support the ERA block (which led to the T-80BV branding). The command tank version of the T-80B is the T-80BK. Also in 1982, the now standardized form of the T-80A was introduced, with a new turret and an improved fire control system. It was followed by the heavier T-80U, which could use 9K119 "Refleks" (NATO: AT-11 "Sniper") laser-guided anti-tank missiles fired from the main gun. In addition, the T-80U gained additional armor protection through the use of the "Kontakt-5" ("K5") ERA module, while again improving its fire control system.

In 1990, the T-80U was equipped with a new 1,250 hp engine. The T-80UM1 "Bar" ("Snow Leopard") contains greatly improved missile defense ("Shtora-1" countermeasures). The T-80UM2 features a new cast turret design.

The 1987 T-80UD "Bereza" was a development of the Ukrainian-handled T-80, equipped with an indigenous 6TD series diesel engine and remote-controlled anti-aircraft machine gun station. The latter allows the crew to fire the gun from inside the turret.

The Ukrainian T-80UD itself was then further developed into the "T-84" in 1999, which is the (and current) standard main battle tank of the Ukrainian army at the time of writing (2012).

The Soviet T-80 never experienced the planned large-scale ground war in Europe. The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, and its T-80s were subsequently used by Communist and Allied military leaders in an attempted coup. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed, the T-80's strength was approaching 5,000, and in the years that followed, the tank's stockpile was transferred to successor countries such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

Over time, the number of T-80s in the Russian army began to dwindle by hundreds, many of which were placed in reserves. Despite the large number of T-80s at the time, it was not in service with the Soviet Army during the Soviet Forrest War (1979-1989).

The first truly notable combat experience of the T-80 tank was in the First Chechen War (1994-1996). Cuts to Russia's military budget have left well-trained Russian tankers operating in urban environments where they are not adequately prepared.

This clearly played to the strengths of the Chechen partisans, who developed viable defensive and offensive tactics, demonstrated their skill in carrying out deadly surprise attacks with anti-tank measures, and the weaknesses of the T-80 design and modern Russian army doctrine (armored vehicles in action). lack of any infantry or armoured vehicle support during the period). The Russian Army's T-80s in Chechnya proved extremely vulnerable to rocket-propelled anti-tank grenades, forcing a plan to improve tank anti-missile defenses. The attack on the city of Grozny alone cost the Russian army more than 200 tanks in a month.

Operations in the theater also demonstrated that the T-80's inherently very limited range (about 200 miles without an onboard external fuel supply) was a tactical burden for Russian generals demanding more.

While under Soviet rule the T-80 was not allowed to be sold on the export market, the Russian government opened up the T-80 along with the "old way of doing things" after the collapse of the Soviet Empire. sell. The car subsequently entered inventory in Cyprus, Egypt, South Korea and Yemen, while joining existing operators in Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The Chinese government purchased at least 50 T-80 tanks for testing, but decided not to purchase them on a large scale. Likewise, the T-80 failed to sign contracts with Turkey and Greece.

Ukrainian-built T-80s made their way to Pakistan, while Ukraine also shipped four prototypes to the US for evaluation, joining a T-80U donated by the UK.

For now, the T-80 remains active in the Russian army with around 1,400 usable units, many of which remain in key reserve battalions - perhaps as many as 3,000 suffered this fate . The T-90 is a modernization of the T-72 system and is the main main battle tank of the Russian Army, with 1,670 tanks as of 2012. The T-90 incorporates key qualities of the previously successful T-72 system, with improvements refined through the use of the T-80.

The T-80 chassis was branched off to fulfill various other battlefield roles, including engineer, salvage, bridge/layer, and minesweeper.

November 2016 - New upgrade available for MBT series T-80BV. The modernization is aimed at aligning the T-80BV with the upgraded T-72B3 tank.

Part of the upgrades include targeting devices for the PNM Sosna-U gunner and wider support for the types of ammunition fired from the main gun - including armor-piercing missiles. Integrated laser rangefinder up to 7,500 meters.

The third-generation dynamic protection system also addresses crew survivability issues.