The T-55 and T-54 main battle tanks were the Soviet Union's replacements for the World War II era T-34 tank. The T-54 and T-55 tanks are very similar in construction, but the T-55 lacks the T-54's bow-mounted SMGT 7.62mm machine gun, which was in a ball mount in the front of the hull, operated by the driver.

Contents

1 Production history 1.1 Variants 2 Combat history 2.1 General characteristics

Production history

The first T-54 succeeded the T-44 in production from 1947 as a result of a WWII project. At the time it was better armed and armoured than its Western counterparts, the British Centurion and the American M26 Pershing.

The T-54 was redesigned in 1958 as the T-55, with a thicker turret casting, more powerful engine, and NBC protection. Production continued until 1981 in the Soviet Union. It was also produced in Czechoslovakia, Poland and in China as the Type 59, later redesigned as the Type 69; the Type 69 is still manufactured in China for export today. The Chinese sold thousands of the Type 69 to both Iran and Iraq during their war in the 1980s.

Tens of thousands of T-55 tanks were manufactured in the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1981. It and the T-62 were the two most common tanks in Russian inventory - in the mid-1970s the two types together comprised approximately 85% of the Russian army's tanks. The T-62 and T-55 are now mostly in reserve status; the active-duty units mainly use the T-64 and T-72, with a smaller number of T-80 and T-90 tanks in service (the T-90 in a few units only).

The Israelis captured over a thousand T-55s from the Syrians and Egyptians in the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War and kept many of them in service. They were upgraded with a 105mm/L68 NATO-standard main gun replacing the old Soviet 100mm/D10, and a General Motors diesel replacing the original Soviet diesel engine. The Israelis designated these Tiran-5 medium tanks, and were used by reserve units until the early 1990's. Most of them were then sold to assorted Third World countries, some of them in Latin America, and the rest were heavily modified, converted into heavy armored personnel carriers designated the IDF Achzarit.

The T-55 is considered to be the single most common tank type in the world today. Although it is completely outdated, it remains the tank of choice for many Third World nations who find it fits nicely within their limited budgets. A wide array of upgrades in different price ranges are provided by many manufacturers in different countries, including new engines, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour, new main armament such as 120mm or 125mm guns, active protection suites, laser rangefinders, and thermal sights such as the French AGAVA. These improvements make it a potent main battle tank (MBT) for the low-end budget, even to this day.

Variants

• T-54
• T-54M
• T-55
• T-55A
• T-55AM (reactive armor)
• T-55AM2PB (mostly made in USSR for East Germany, reactive armor and ATGM, most sold back to Russia in 1992, other T-55 tanks in Russian army upgraded to T-55AM2PB standards during 1992-2000)
• T-55AMV (bulldozer blade or mine plow)
• T-55 Enigma Iraq (T-55, Type-59, and Type-69 tanks used by Iraqi Brigade commanders had applique armour on turrets and hulls composed of steel filled with concrete. Intended to, and in many cases successful at defeating shaped charge warheads (one example is reported to have survived several hits form Milan missiles before being dispatched by a helicopter).
• T-55QM Iraq (had NATO-standard 105mm/L68 gun installed replacing the old 100mm gun, along with a French laser rangefinder), upgrades done in mid to late 1980s)
• T-55QM2 Iraq (T-55 upgraded by Russian technicians with a Russian 125mm/L80 smoothbore gun and French laser rangefinder, 1986-1991)
• Type 59 China copy of T-55
• Type 69 China redesigned Type 59
• Type 69-QM Iraq (Type 69 upgraded with NATO standard 105mm gun and laser rangefinder, 1984-1988)
• Type 69-QM2 Iraq (Type 69 upgraded with Warsaw Pact standard 125mm/L80 smoothbore gun and laser rangefinder, 1986-1991)
• TR-77 (unlicensed copy manufactured in Romania, 1977-1991, exported very widely)
• Tiran-5 (upgraded Israeli version built on tanks captured in 1967 and 1973, no longer in service in Israel but many were sold off)

Combat history

Hungary in 1956.

Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Israel-Arab wars in 1967 and 1973.

Southeast Asia. (Vietnam, Cambodia)

"Brushfire Wars" (Angola, Congo)

Afghan Wars

Chechen Wars

Iran-Iraq War

Gulf War.

(Fill in)

General characteristics

• Length: 6.20 m
• Width: 3.60 m
• Height: 2.32 m
• Weight: 40.5 t
• Speed: 35 km/h (offroad)
• Range: 390 km
• Crew: 4 (loader, driver, gunner, commander)
• Armament:
  • Primary: 100mm/D10 rifled gun (late models have ability to fire AT-10 Stabber anti-tank missiles)
  • Secondary: 7.62 mm PKMT machinegun in coaxial mount, sometimes DShK 12.7mm heavy machinegun in antiaircraft mount atop turret, in front of commander's hatch.
• Power plant: 462-516 kW (620-690 hp) Diesel, sometimes upgraded with a more powerful and reliable engine of Western manufacture
• Armour: Up to 250mm of armour. Some late models have reactive armour, but almost all of these belong to the Russian army.

See also: List of tanks, List of Soviet tanks, Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. fi:T-55 de:T-54 he:T-54 pl:T-55