T-80
| General Characteristics | |
| Length: | 7.01 m |
| Width: | 3.60 m |
| Height: | 2.20 m |
| Weight: | 46.0 t |
| Speed: | 70 km/h (road) 48 km/h (off-road) |
| Range: | 335 km 600 km (with extra tanks) |
| Primary armament: | 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore gun |
| Secondary armament: | 7.62 mm PKT machinegun in coaxial mount also carries a 12.7 mm NSVT anti-aircraft mg |
| Power plant: | 932 kW (1250 hp) Gas turbine |
| Crew: | 3 |
| Table of contents |
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2 External Link |
The T-80, a Soviet MBT, was first produced in 1978 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine.
The question of why Western analysts might be confused about why the Russians 'chose to assign it a different model designation' is a bizarre one. It seems to be rooted in a poor understanding of Russian tanks and their histories. The T-80 and T-72 are mechanically very different tanks, in a lot of ways; they are also designed from square one by completely different design bureaus (Morozov as opposed to 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 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, 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 other tanks which boast similar power (the M1 series has a 1500hp gas turbine as well, while it weighs in at a whopping 70 tons), the Russian 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 Ukranians are (Morozov is at Kharkov, in the Ukraine. In the Soviet era, it was in the USSR, but is now a Ukranian 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. The ammunition is stored (except in more modern versions like Oplot and Black Eagle) below the crew inside the crew compartment in the autoloader carousel, which means that when the tank is penetrated, the ammo cooks off, killing the crew and blowing the turret into the air. Due to the small turret, it is impossible to de-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 as well with entirely new turrets.
These disadvantages are endemic to Russian tank design, nearly all Russian tanks have them, which is to say that the only additional disadvantage to the T-80 series might be its mechanical complexity, but of course, while that was an issue in the days of the T-64's usurpation by the T-72, it is less so today, except as concerns potential third-world export partners (most of whom cannot afford T-80s anyway; and in any case, 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.
Production History
Variants
See also: List of tanks, List of Soviet tanks, T-84, T-90, T-95.