T-80 (Объект 219)
T-80 (Object 219) is a combat vehicle, main battle tank, produced in the USSR. This vehicle is the world’s first production tank with a single gas turbine power plant and the world’s first main tank with reactive and dynamic armor. The first production samples developed by SKB-2 on the basis of the T-64A were produced at the Kirov plant in Leningrad. The T-80U tank was produced at the Omsktransmash plant in Omsk, and the T-80UD tank with a diesel engine was produced at KhZTM in Kharkov.
Initial tests of the possibility of installing gas turbine engines on a tank were carried out at “object 167T”.
The first “Kirov” gas turbine tank of the new generation, “Object 219 sp 1”, manufactured in 1969, was externally similar to the experienced Kharkov gas turbine T-64T. The combat vehicle was equipped with a GTD-1000T engine with a power of 1000 hp. pp., developed by NPO im. V. Ya. Klimova.
The next “Object 219 sp 2” was already significantly different from the original T-64A.
Tests of the first prototype showed that the installation of a new, more powerful engine, increased weight and changed dynamic characteristics of the tank required significant changes to the chassis.
It required the development of new drive and idler wheels, support and support rollers, rubber-coated tracks, hydraulic shock absorbers and torsion shafts with improved characteristics.
The shape of the tower was also changed. The gun, ammunition, loading mechanism (different from the automatic loader found on the T-72 and its modifications), individual components and systems, as well as elements of armor protection have been preserved from the T-64A.
The T-80 tank (initial version) was adopted by the Soviet Army on July 6, 1976, and was mass-produced from 1976 to 1978.
The T-80 tank is a tracked, highly mobile combat vehicle with rocket-cannon and machine-gun armament, designed to carry out a wide range of combat missions around the clock, including in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The fighting compartment is located in the middle part of the tank and is formed by a combination of the hull and the turret. The turret contains a 125 mm smoothbore gun with a loading mechanism and a coaxial PKT machine gun. The tank’s hull houses a circular rotating cabin, docked with the turret. To the right of the gun in the cockpit is the tank commander’s seat with a commander’s cupola, and to the left of the gun is the gunner’s seat. The fighting compartment also contains various surveillance and communication devices and other equipment.
The power compartment is located in the rear of the hull. It contains a longitudinally located gas turbine engine with units that, when assembled, form a monoblock. Also installed in the power compartment are engine and transmission control units, other components, assemblies and sensors, as well as tanks: supply and rear fuel tanks and a transmission oil tank. The power compartment is closed with a removable roof of two halves.
Country: USSR
Assembly: LKZ (Leningrad), Omsktransmash (Omsk) and Zavod Malysheva (Kharkov)
Years of production: 1976—1991
In service: 1977—
Production: +10,000
Length: 9654 mm
Width: 3525 mm
Height: 2193 mm
Armor: 450-500 mm
Crew: 3
Engine: GDT-1000T
Power: 1000 HP
Max speed: 80 km/h
Range: 500 km
Weight: 42 t
Armament: 2А46-1 cannon (125 mm) / ПКТ machine gun / НСВТ heavy machine gun
