Though nearly obsolete by the beginning of World War II, the
T-26 was the most important tank of the Spanish Civil War and played
a significant role during the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 as well
as in the Winter War. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37N/G Battery
The T-26 was the most numerous tank in the Red Army's
armoured force during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June
1941.[79] Combat experience with the T-26 showed the Soviet military
that, even though the T-26's gun could defeat the armor of opposing tanks it
met in battle, Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37N/P Battery
its armor was too thin and the gun caliber was too small as it
often encountered entrenched anti-tank guns demanding a larger caliber that
could fire a larger high explosive shell. The Soviet T-26 light tanks were last
used in August 1945, in Manchuria.[80] Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37N/R Battery
The T-26 was reliable and
simple to maintain, and its design was continually modernised between 1931 and
1941. However, no new models of the T-26 were developed after 1940.
The BT tanks were a series of cavalry tanks produced in large
numbers between 1932 and 1941. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37N/X Battery
They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their
time, and had the best mobility of all contemporary tanks of the world. They
outclassed their Japanese opponents in the Soviet–Japanese border
conflicts (1938-1939) but thousands were lost during the German invasion
in 1941 and was rare after 1942. It was further developed to, and replaced by
the T-34. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ38N/X Battery
The T-28 was a three-turreted medium tank first manufactured in
1932. A total of 502 T-28 tanks were made 1933-1941. Combat experience in
the Winter War led to an upgrade with appliqué armor. The up-armored
T-28e tanks were used to break through the Finnish Mannerheim Line, ending
the Winter War in 1940. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ398U/XC Battery
Most of the 400 remaining T-28 tanks were lost during the German
invasion in 1941. The design was not particularly successful in combat, but the
building and designing of it gave the Soviet heavy industry important
experience in manufacturing medium tanks. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ50B Battery
The failure of this
multi-turreted tank guided the switch to the more successful, single-turret
T-34 medium tank.
The T-34 was a medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958.
Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, Sony VAIO VGN-TZ90HS Battery
it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and
influential design of World War II.[81] First
produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine), it
was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, Sony VAIO VGN-TZ90NS Battery
and widely exported afterward. It was the most-produced tank of
the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor,
the T-54/55 series.[82] In 1996, the T-34 was still in service in at least
twenty-seven countries. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ90S Battery
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy
tank of the interwar period and early Second World War in
limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only five-turreted
heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and
mechanically unreliable. Sony VAIO VPC CW2MFX/PU Battery
Most of the T-35 tanks
still operational at the time of Operation Barbarossa were lost due
to mechanical failure rather than enemy action.
Outwardly it was large but internally the spaces were cramped
with the fighting compartments separated from each other. Sony VAIO VPC S11V9E/B Battery
Some of the turrets
obscured the entrance hatches. The failure of the T-35 and other multi-turreted
tanks in the Winter War (1939-1940) led to the development of the more
successful Kliment Voroshilov heavy tank (single turret).
The tank is often referred
to as the T-37, although that designation was used by a different tank which
never left the prototype stage.[citation
needed] The T-37A was the first series of mass-produced fully
amphibious tanks in the world.[citation
needed]
The tank was first created in 1932, based on the
British Vickers tankette and other operational amphibious tanks. Sony VAIO VPCB11AGJ Battery
The tank was mass-produced starting in 1933 up until 1936, when
it was replaced with the more modern T-38, based on the T-37A. Overall,
after four years of production, 2552 T-37A’s were produced, including the
original prototypes.[citation needed] Sony VAIO VPCB11AVJ Battery
In the Red Army, they were used to perform tasks in
communication, reconnaissance, and as defense units on the march, as well
as active infantry support on the battlefield. The T-37A were used in large
numbers during the Soviet invasion of Poland and in the Winter War
against Finland. Sony VAIO VPCB11V9E Battery
The T-37A was also used by the Soviets in the beginning of
the Great Patriotic War, but most of them were quickly lost. Surviving
tanks of that type fought on the front lines until 1944, and were used in
training and auxiliary defense until the end of World War II. Sony VAIO VPCB11X9E Battery
he T-38 amphibious scout
tank was a light amphibious tank that was used in World War II.The
T-38 was a development of the earlier T-37, based in turn on the
French AMR 33 light reconnaissance tank. The tank was powered by a
standard GAZ (Ford) engine and was cheap to produce. Sony VAIO VPCCW18FJ/P Battery
Buoyancy was achieved by
the large-volume hull and large fenders. In water, the vehicle was propelled by
a small three-bladed propeller mounted at the rear.
The tanks were intended for use for reconnaissance and infantry
support. As a scout tank the T-38 had the advantages of very low silhouette and
good mobility, Sony VAIO VPCCW18FJ/R Battery
due to its ability to swim. The T-38 was also intended to be
air-portable; during the Kievmaneuvers in 1936, the tanks were transported
by Tupolev TB-3 bombers, mounted under the fuselage. Infantry
battalions were each issued 38 T-38s, with 50 being designated for each
airborne armored battalions. Sony VAIO VPCCW18FJ/W Battery
However, the thin armor and single machine gun armament made the
tank of only limited use in combat while the lack of radios in most T-38s was a
serious limitation in a recon vehicle. The T-38's limitations were recognized,
and it would have been replaced by the T-40, but the outbreak of the Second
World War meant that only a few T-40s were produced. Sony VAIO VPCCW19FJ/W Battery
Around 1,500 T-38s were
built, illustrating the importance of amphibious scout tanks to the Red Army.
Some were up-gunned with a 20 mm ShVAK cannon, and designated
the T-38RT.
The T-40 amphibious scout tank was a light amphibious tank used
by the Soviet Union during World War II. Sony VAIO VPCCW1AFJ Battery
Amphibious capability was important to the Red Army, as
evidenced by the production of over 1,500 amphibious tanks in the 1930s. The
T-40 was intended to replace the aging T-37 and T-38
tank light amphibians. It was a superior design, Sony VAIO VPCCW1AHJ Battery
but due to the pressures of war the Soviets favored the
production of simpler tank designs, and only a small number of T-40s were
built.The last batch of T-40s built had BM-8-24 Katyusha rocket racks
mounted instead of turrets. This version provided a mobile mount for a 24-rail multiple-launch
rocket system, firing 82 mm unguided rockets. Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E Battery
The T-50 light infantry tank was built by the Soviet Union at
the beginning of World War II. Development of the T-50 started as the SP
project (Soprovzhdeniya Pekhoty, ‘Infantry Support’) in 1939. The design
bureau was gutted during the Great Purge, Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/B Battery
and was unable to continue the project, so it was transferred to
the K.E. Voroshilov Factory Number 174 in May 1940. Troyanov completed the T-50
design in January 1941 and production was authorized, but due to technical
problems, it was unable to proceed. Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/L Battery
The design for this vehicle had some advanced features, but was
complicated and expensive, and only a short production run of 69 tanks was
completed. Furthermore, even before it was ready for mass-production wartime
experience invalidated the underlying concept of light tanks. Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/P Battery
The T-60 scout tank was a
light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. In this time over
6,292 were built. The tank was designed to replace the
obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank.
Although at first intended to carry a 12.7 mm machine gun
like the T-40, Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/R Battery
the armament was later upgraded to the 20 mm TNSh cannon, a
tank version of the ShVAK, on the advisement of the People's
Commissar for Tanks Industry, Vyacheslav Malyshev. This weapon could
penetrate 15 mm of perpendicular armour Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/W Battery
at 500 m range which proved inadequate against the newer
uparmored German tank designs thus attempts were made in 1942 to re-arm the
T-60 with the 37 mm ZIS-19 cannon but were abandoned due to the
Soviet Union's shortage of 37 mm ammunition. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/B Battery
The T-60 was also used in
the design of the experimental T-90 antiaircraft tank. This project
switched to the T-70 light tank, and was finally cancelled without any
production.The T-70 light tank was used by the Red Army during World War II,
replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light
infantry tank for infantry support. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/L Battery
The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with
a two-man turret—it was only produced in very small numbers when light tank
production was abandoned. The T-90 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was a
prototype vehicle with twin machine guns, based on the T-70 chassis. Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/R Battery
The T-70 was armed with a 45 mm L/46 gun Model 38 with
forty-five rounds carried, and a coaxial 7.62-mm DT machine gun.
The tank was operated by a driver and a commander who loaded and fired the gun.
Armour thickness on the turret front was 60 mm, hull front and sides: Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/W Battery
45 mm, rear and turret
sides: 35 mm, roof and bottom: 10 mm.
T-70s were put into production in March 1942 at Zavod No.
37, and along with T-60 production at GAZ and Zavod No. 38. They
completely replaced T-60 production in September 1942, although that tank
remained in use until the end of the war. Sony VAIO VPCCW26EC Battery
Production ended in October
1943, with 8,226 vehicles completed.
The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of heavy tanks
that had extremely heavy armour protection during the early part of World War
II, especially during the first year of the German invasion. Sony VAIO VPCCW26FX/B Battery
Although it was heavily armoured, larger guns and thicker armour
introduced by the enemy made it less effective over time. The series was
discontinued as it could not be upgraded with better guns or heavier armour but
served as a basis for the later Iosif Stalin heavy tank. Sony VAIO VPCCW28EC Battery
The Iosif Stalin tank (or
IS tank, named after the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin) was a heavy tank
developed by the Soviet Union during World War II. The tanks in the series are
also sometimes called JS or ИС tanks.
The heavy tank was designed with thick armour to counter
the German 88 mm guns, Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/P Battery
and carried a main gun that was capable of defeating the
German Tiger and Panther tanks. It was mainly a breakthrough
tank, firing a heavy high-explosive shell that was useful against
entrenchments and bunkers. The IS-2 was put into service in April 1944, Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/R Battery
and was used as a spearhead
in theBattle of Berlin by the Red Army in the final stage of the war.
The T-10 (also known as Obyekt 730) was a Soviet heavy tank of
the Cold War, the final development of
the KV and IS tank series. Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/W Battery
It was accepted into
production in 1952 as the IS-10 (Iosif Stalin, Russian form
of Joseph Stalin), but due to the political climate in the wake of
Stalin's death in 1953, it was renamed T-10.
The biggest differences from its direct ancestor, the IS-3,
were a longer hull, Sony VAIO VPCCW29FJ/W Battery
seven pairs of road wheels instead of six, a larger turret
mounting a new gun with fume extractor, an improved diesel engine, and
increased armour. General performance was similar, although the T-10 could
carry more ammunition. Sony VAIO VPCCW2AFJ Battery
T-10s (like the IS tanks they replaced) were deployed in
independent tank regiments belonging to armies, and independent tank battalions
belonging to divisions. These independent tank units could be attached
to mechanized units, to support infantry operations and perform
breakthroughs. Sony VAIO VPCCW2AHJ Battery
The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle
tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in
March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full
production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet
Army, Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E Battery
armies of the Warsaw
Pact countries, and others. T-54s and T-55s were involved in many of the
world's armed conflicts during the late 20th century.
T-54/55 tanks were replaced by
the T-62, T-72, T-64 and T-80 in the Soviet and
Russian Armies, but many remain in use by up to 50 other armies worldwide, some
having received sophisticated retrofitting. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/B Battery
Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO Cold
War adversaries in Europe. However, the T-54/55's first appearance in the
west in 1960 spurred the United States to develop the M60. The T-54 did
fight in Vietnam where it was outperformed by theM48A3 Patton and even
the M41 Walker Bulldog. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/L Battery
It also fought in the
Arab-Israeli wars where it was outperformed by theCenturion, M48
Patton, M60 Patton and even upgraded M4 Shermans.[83]
The T-54/55 series eventually became the most-produced tank in
history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 86,000 to
100,000. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/P Battery
The PT-76 is a Soviet light amphibious tank which was
introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank
of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was
widely exported to other friendly states,
like India, Iraq, North Korea and North Vietnam. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/R Battery
Overall, some 25 countries
used the PT-76.
The tank's full name is Floating Tank–76
(Russian: Плавающий Танк, Plavayushchiy Tank,
or ПТ-76). 76 stands for the caliber of the main
armament: the 76.2 mm D-56T series rifled tank gun. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/W Battery
Although the T-62 is very similar to the T-55 and makes use of
many of the same parts, there are some differences. Those include the hull,
which is a few centimeters longer and wider, the different road wheels, and
differences in characteristic uneven gaps between roadwheels. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery
The PT-76 is used in the reconnaissance and fire-support roles.
Its chassis served as the basis for a number of other vehicle designs, many of
them amphibious, including the BTR-50 armored personnel carrier,
the ZSU-23-4 self-propelled antiaircraft gun,
the ASU-85 airborne self-propelled gun and the 2K12 Kub anti-aircraft
missile launch vehicle. Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further
development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the
first smoothbore tank gun in use. Although the T-62 is very similar
to the T-55 and makes use of many of the same parts, there are some
differences. Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery
Those include the hull, which is a few centimeters longer and
wider, the different road wheels, and differences in characteristic uneven gaps
between roadwheels. Unlike the T-54 and T-55 main battle tanks, the gaps
between the last three pairs of roadwheels are larger than the rest. (Perrett
1987:37-38) Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery
Like the T-54 and T-55, the T-62 has an unditching beam mounted
at the rear of the hull. The tank can be fitted with a thin snorkel for
operational usage and a large diameter snorkel for training. The thin snorkel
can be disassembled and carried in the back of the turret when not used. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery
The commander's cupola is located on the left of the top of the
turret. The loader has a single piece hatch located on the right side of the
turret and further back than the commander's cupola. The loader's hatch has a
periscope vision block that can be used to view ahead and behind the vehicle. Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery
The commander's copula has four periscopes, two of which are
located in the hatch cover while the other two are located in the forward part
of the cupola. The driver has a single piece hatch located on the left front of
the vehicle, directly in front of the left side of the turret.[84] Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery
The tank uses the same
sights and vision devices as the T-55 except for the gunner, who received a new
TSh-2B-41 sight which has x4 or x7 magnification. It is mounted coaxially with
an optic rangefinder.[85][86]
It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly
replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be manufactured in the
Soviet Union and elsewhere after T-62 production was halted. The T-54/55 and
T-62 were later replaced in front-line service by the T-64 andT-72. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery
The T-62 fought in the
Yom-Kippur war where it was outperformed by the Centurion, M48
Patton and M60 Patton. It even proved vulnerable to the M51
Super Sherman, an upgraded variant of the M4 Sherman of World War II.
The T-64 is a Soviet main battle tank, introduced in the early
1960s. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery
It was used solely by the Soviet Army in its front-line
divisions and was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62. Although the T-62
and the famed T-72 used more widely and generally developed more, it was the
T-64 that formed the basis of more modern Soviet tank designs like the T-80. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery
A revolutionary feature of the T-64 is the incorporation of an
automatic loader for its 115 mm gun, allowing a crewmember's position to
be omitted, and helping to keep the size and weight of the tank down. Tank
troopers would joke that the designers had finally caught up with their
unofficial hymn, Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery
"Three
Tankers"—the song had been written to commemorate the crewmen fighting in
the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, in 3-man BT-5 tanks in 1939.[87]
The T-64 also pioneered other Soviet tank technology: the T-64A
model of 1967 introduced the 125 mm smoothbore gun, and the T-64B of 1976
would be able to fire a guided antitank missile through its gun barrel. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery
The T-64 design was further developed as the gas
turbine-powered T-80 main battle tank. The turret of the T-64B would
be used in the improved T-80U and T-80UD, and an advanced version of its diesel
engine would power T-80UD and T-84 tanks built in Ukraine. Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered
production in 1970. It is a further development of the T-62[88]with
some features of the T-64A (to which it was a parallel design) and
has been further developed as the T-90. Chronologically, Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery
and in design terms, it
belongs to the same generation of tanks as the US M60[89] series,
German Leopard 1, and British Chieftain tank.
The T-72 was the most common tank used by the Soviet
Army from the 1970s to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery
It was also exported to
other Warsaw Pact countries, as well
as Finland, India, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yugoslavia,
as well as being copied elsewhere, both with and without licenses.
The Yugoslavs upgraded the T-72 in the new and more
advanced M-84, and sold hundreds of them around the world during the
1980s. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery
The Iraqis called theirs the Lion of Babylon (Asad
Babil), though the Iraqis assembled theirs from "spare parts"
sold to them by the Russians as a means of evading the UN-imposed weapons
embargo. More modern derivatives include the Polish PT-91 Twardy and
Russian T-90. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery
Several countries,
including Russia and Ukraine, also offer modernization packages for
older T-72s.
The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) designed and manufactured
in the former Soviet Union. A development of the T-64, Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery
it entered service in 1976 and was the first production tank to
be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion
(theStridsvagn 103 only used a supplementary gas turbine by 1971). The
T-80U was last produced in a factory in Omsk, Russia, while the T-80UD and
further-developed T-84 continue to be produced in Ukraine. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery
The T-80 and its variants
are in service inBelarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan,[90] Pakistan, Russia, South
Korea, and Ukraine. The chief designer of the T-80 was the Russian
engineer Nikolay Popov.[91]
This holds up to 28 rounds of two-part ammunition in a carousel
located under the turret floor.[92] Additional
ammunition is stored within the turret. The ammunition comprises the projectile
(APFSDS, HEAT or HE-Frag) plus the propellant charge, or the two part missile.[92] Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery
The autoloader is an effective, reliable, combat tested system
which has been in use since the mid-1960s. The propellant charge is held inside
a semi-combustible cartridge case made of a highly flammable material - this is
consumed in the breech during firing, except for a small metal baseplate.[92] Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery
The T-80s main gun has a
range relatively longer than that of western tanks; it is capable of engaging
targets at a range of 5,000 m.
A disadvantage highlighted during combat
in Chechnya was the vulnerability of the T-80BV to catastrophic
explosion.[92] Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery
The reason given by US and Russian experts is the vulnerability
of stored semi-combustible propellant charges and missiles when contacted by
the molten metal jet from the penetration of a HEAT warhead, causing the entire
ammunition load to explode.[92] Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery
This vulnerability may be addressed in later models. When
Western tank designs changed from non-combustible propellant cartridges to semi-combustible,
they tended to separate ammunition stowage from the crew compartment with
armoured blast doors, and provided 'blow-out' panels to redirect the force and
fire of exploding ammunition away from the crew compartment. Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery
The T-90 is a Russian main battle tank (MBT) derived
from the T-72, and is currently the most modern tank in service with theRussian
Ground Forces and Naval Infantry. The successor to the T-72BM, the
T-90 uses the tank gun and 1G46 gunner sights from the T-80U, Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery
a new engine, and thermal sights. Protective measures
include Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour (ERA), laser
warning receivers, Nakidka camouflage,
the EMT-7 electromagnetic pulse (EMP) creator for the
destruction of magnetic mines[93] Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery
and
the Shtora infrared ATGM jamming system. It is designed and
built by Uralvagonzavod, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.
The T-90 with an 840 hp (630 kW) engine went into
low-level production in 1993, based on a prototype designated T-88.
Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery
It features a new generation of Kontakt-5 explosive reactive
armor on its hull and turret. Of conventional layout, the T-90 represents
a major upgrade to every system in the T-72, including the main gun.[94] The T-90S have
been identified as export model. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery
The references to a T-90E appear to be unsubstantiated.[94] The
T-90 is fitted with a "three-tiered" protection system: the first
tier is the composite armour in the turret, second tier is third
generation Kontakt-5 ERA and third tier is a Shtora-1 countermeasures
suite. Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery
No comments:
Post a Comment