| General Characteristics |
| Length: | 9.2 m |
| Width: | 3.4 m |
| Height: | 2.2 m |
| Weight: | 38 t |
| Speed: | 75 km/h (road)
- (off-road) |
| Range: | - |
| Primary armament: | 125mm/L80 gun with 40 rounds¹ |
| Secondary armament: | 7.62mm PKMT machine gun in coaxial mount² |
| Power plant: | 559 kW (750 hp) diesel |
| Crew: | three (driver, gunner, commander) |
| ¹ later variants can carry an alternate ammo load of 25 rounds 125mm and 8 AT-8 "Songster" or AT-11 "Svir" anti-tank missiles
² Many carry a 12.7mm DShK or NSVT heavy machine gun in an antiaircraft mount on top of the turret, in front of the commander's hatch
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The T-64, a Soviet main battle tank, was introduced in the late 1960s. It was designed parallel to the T-72 series and is very similar in appearance. Unlike the T-72 it was only used by the Soviet Army and never exported. Most of those produced are still in service, though it is no longer being manufactured. Prior to 1989, they were used only by Soviet troops stationed in East Germany during the Cold War; Soviet units elsewhere got the T-72.
Currently many of the old Soviet inventory of T-64 tanks are in service with the military of Ukraine. The T-64 design has been further developed as the T-80 and T-84.
Production History
The T-64 first entered production in 1967. It introduced a new autoloader, which is still used on all variants of the T-64 currently in service, as well as all variants of the T-80 except the Black Eagle and the Ukrainian T-84-120. The T-64 prototypes had the same 115mm smoothbore gun as the T-62, the ones put in full-scale production in the early 1970s had the 125mm gun. Only a few thousand T-64s were built. It was never common in Soviet service, except with those units stationed in East Germany.
The T-64 was a competing design at the time the T-72 was produced. The T-64 was KMDB's offering, and was initially intended to be Russia's primary MBT, while the T-72 was intended to be mainly produced for export partners and east-bloc satellite states. The T-72 is mechanically simpler and easier to service in the field, while it is not as well protected, and the manufacturing process is correspondingly simpler.
This was enough of an advantage in the long term for the Soviet Union that the tank most produced was the T-72; obviously it better fit the Soviet ideal of quantity over quality; while the T-64 was the superior tank, it was more expensive and physically complex, and as such was not produced as much. The T-64 was never exported (though many of them ended up in Ukrainian service after the breakup of the Soviet Union), and has seen only limited combat experience—in the campaigns against Chechen separatists.
Variants
- T-64 - Initial production version with 115mm gun, 700-hp 5TDF engine, very limited production.
- T-64A - Increased armour, NBC protection, smoke grenade launchers, improved optical rangefinder, 125mm gun replaces 115mm gun.
- T-64AK - Command version
- T-64B - Composite armour in front of hull and front of turret. Laser rangefinder and ballistic computer. Fitted with laser designator equipment for AT-8 "Songster" anti-tank missile, which is launched through the gun tube.
- T-64B1 - T-64B without the guided missile system.
- T-64AM, T-64AKM, T-64BM and T-64B1M - The "M" designates earlier tanks updated with 1,000-hp 6TD six-cylinder engine.
- T-64BV - Explosive reactive armour tiles added to front of hull and front of turret, capability to use AT-11 "Svir" anti-tank missile.
See also: List of tanks, List of Soviet tanks, T-80.
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