 |
|
| |
|
||||
The T-80 is a Soviet Main Battle Tank. A development of the T-64, It was first produced in 1983 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine. The latest version, the T-84, continues to be produced in Ukraine. The T-80 and its variants are in service in Cyprus, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine.
Missing image T-80_FRONT.jpg Front view
Production HistoryThe question of why Western analysts might be confused about why the Soviets "chose to assign it a different model designation" is a bizarre one. It seems to be rooted in a poor understanding of Soviet tanks and their histories. The T-80 and T-72 are mechanically very different in many ways; they are also designed from square one by different design bureaus (Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau, or KMDB, as opposed to Uralvagonzavod at Nizhny Tagil), and really are only similar in general appearance. The T-80 is, in fact, based on the T-64, which was a competing design at the time the T-72 was produced. The T-64 was Morozov's offering, and was initially intended to be the Soviet Union'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, and was never exported. The T-64's story continues in the T-80. Morozov extrapolated on the design, including a gas turbine engine. This gave the tank a stunning power-to-weight ratio and made it easily the most mobile tank in the world (where it remains today, according to most experts). This is because while there are other tanks which boast similar power (the Abrams M1 series has a 1,500hp gas turbine as well, but weighs 70 tons), the Soviet tanks are almost half the size and weight (hence the similarity in their looks; it's the national tank design ethic, pan shaped turrets, sharp hull fronts and low profiles). It might be said the Russians are "desperate" to find export partners for it, which is not true; the Ukrainians are (Morozov is at Kharkov, in the Ukraine. In the Soviet era, it was in the USSR, but is now a Ukrainian factory). They have been moderately successful, selling units of two types to Pakistan, while the Russians are "desperate" to sell the T-90, at which they have also been to some degree successful, selling units to India. The T-80's disadvantages are in the small size of the tank (about 1/2 to 3/4 that of the M1, depending on the aspect). The crew quarters are cramped and difficult to work in. Except in more modern versions of the tank (like Oplot and Black Eagle), the ammunition is stored below the crew inside the crew compartment in the autoloader carousel, which means that when the tank is penetrated, the ammunition can cook off, killing the crew and blowing the turret into the air. Due to the small turret, it is impossible to depress (negatively elevate) the gun more than a few degrees when the tank is in defilade, and so the tank has a hard time firing from hull-down positions, though in newer versions like Oplot and Black Eagle, this is mitigated with entirely new turrets. These disadvantages are endemic to Soviet tank design; nearly all Soviet tanks have them, which is to say that the only additional disadvantage to the T-80 series might be its mechanical complexity. In any case, most such customers cannot afford T-80s, and the most recent (and even more expensive) prototypes have solved all of these problems and in many ways are similar to current Western offerings, excepting that they are considerably smaller. It is very similar to the T-72 and T-64 in appearance. The T-80 is highly maneuverable and mobile, often referred to as the "flying tank". Current versions of the T-80 are comparable to the newest Western offerings. Variants
See alsoExternal links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "T-80". |