The Soviets began development of the T-80 in the late 1960s on the basis of the T-64, which was launched in 1968 and finalized in 1976. The tank was modified in a variety of ways, briefly described as follows: 1. T-80, produced from 1976 to 1978. 2. T-80B, produced from 1978, adopted the "Cobra" gun-launched missile system, the fire control system also has a targeting device with a laser rangefinder, the engine is a GTD-1000 combustion turbine, 1100 hp. 3. The T-80y, produced in the mid-1980s, had an improved engine with 1,250 hp and explosive reactive armor. This is the most important model of the T-80. 4. T-80yD, a diesel conversion, originally intended to prevent the failure of the steam turbine program. The latest export version of the T-80 is also fitted with a "curtain" active protection system. T-80 Main Battle Tank - Basic Information Combat weight: 46 tons
Length: 9.656 meters (gun forward)
Width: 3.589 meters
Height: 2.202 meters
Gun: 1 2A46-2 smoothbore, caliber 125mm, rate of fire 8 rounds/min
Machine gun: 1 7.62mm, caliber 1, caliber 1, rate of fire 2 rounds/min
Ammunition base: 40 rounds of artillery shells with depleted uranium cores (which can fire three types of split tail stabilized rounds and anti-tank missiles). 8 9M119 Reed Flute artillery missiles, with a hit rate of 70% to 80% at 5,000 meters
Fire-control system: "Hunt - J" type. 1A45 stabilized fire-control system, including the captain and the gun commander's sights, ballistic computers, laser rangefinders, thermal cameras, a variety of sensors, and gun stabilizers.
Engine: 1 GTD-1250 combustion turbine
Engine power: 1,250 hp
Maximum speed: 70 kph
Maximum range: 440 km (with auxiliary tank)/335 km (without auxiliary tank)
Climbing degree: 32 degrees
Height over vertical walls: 1 m
Crossing trench width: 2.85 m
Crew: 3
Armor protection: main armor (composite armor) equivalent to 560 mm homogeneous steel armor; explosive reactive armor;
Active protection: "Curtain-I " photoelectric protection system, consisting of a photoelectric jamming system, laser alarms, anti-laser smoke screen throwing system and system control equipment, it is claimed to be able to reduce the hit rate of most anti-tank missiles by 3/4 to 4/5 T-80 Main Battle Tanks - Structural Characteristics Overall Arrangement
T-80 tanks are similar in overall arrangement to the T-64 Main Battle Tanks, with the driver The driver is located in the center of the front of the hull, the middle of the hull is the fighting compartment, and the power compartment is located in the rear of the hull. In order to improve the protection against kinetic armor-piercing and armor-breaking shells, the front upper armor of the vehicle has been further improved compared to the T-64 tank, and the front lower armor plate is equipped with a bulldozer outside, which can also be installed with the KM-4 minesweeper plow.
The turret is a steel composite structure with a clearance inner layer, located in the upper center of the hull, containing two crew members, the gun commander on the left, the commander on the right, the commander and the gun commander each have a turret hatch.
Weapon System
1. Main Weapons
The main weapon of the tank is still a 2A46 125mm smoothbore tank gun identical to that of the T-72 tanks, which can fire both normal shells and anti-tank missiles, and the barrel is equipped with the same heat shield and air extraction device as the 2A46 gun of the T-72 tanks.
2. Ammunition
125mm tank gun can fire tail-stabilized armor-piercing shells, tail-stabilized armor-breaking shells and grenades of three kinds of shells, which are split-loading type of ammunition, loaded with automatic loading machine. Some T-80 tanks are equipped with AT-8 Songster anti-tank missiles fired from the 125mm gun. The missile guidance controller is mounted in a steel box on the top right side of the turret, directly in front of the commander's tower, and can be stored in the turret when the missile is not in use.
Songbird anti-tank missile diameter 120mm, range 4000m, radio command guidance, guidance frequency 8000MHz, bullet length 1200mm, missile initial speed 150m/s, boost engine can increase the missile flight speed to 500m/s, flight 3000m distance only 7s, flight 4000m need 9s. combat part of the armor-breaking and anti-personnel two kinds of The combat part has both armor breaking and anti-personnel function, used for anti-tank, the thickness of armor breaking is 600~650mm. 2~4 missiles are carried by each tank. The missile tracking target with the gun commander's scope, by the fire control computer to solve the missile position and deviation relative to the aiming line, which will be converted into a command signal and amend the ballistic trajectory.
3. Automatic loading machine
2A46 type 125mm gun with automatic loading machine loading shells, loading machine structure and T-72 tanks the same. Ammunition is divided into two parts: projectile and charge, which are stored in the bottom of the fighting compartment in the lower and upper layers of the rotary transfer machine, and the rest of the ammunition is stored in the space in front of the vehicle next to the driver and in the fighting compartment as a spare round respectively.
4. Fire control system
The tank's fire control system than the T-64 tank has been improved, mainly equipped with laser rangefinders and ballistic computers and other advanced fire control components, but still adopts the active infrared-type night vision equipment.
5. Auxiliary Weapons
On the right side of the main armament, a 7.62mm ПКТ parallel machine gun is mounted side by side, and on the commander's turret, a HCBT 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun is mounted.
Propulsion system
1. Engine
Unlike the T-64, the T-80 was fitted with a new gas turbine, the first Soviet main battle tank to utilize a gas turbine, with a nominal power of about 724kW (985hp). The exhaust port of the engine opens on the rear armor plate of the hull.
2. Transmission
The gas turbine engine is matched to a hand-operated transmission with five forward and one reverse gears, or a gearbox with a preselector and automatic load shifting.
3. Action device
The tank's hull has six double-rimmed rubberized load wheels on each side (two half-rims are bolted together), three belt wheels, a front-loaded induction wheel and a rear-loaded active wheel with 12 teeth. The distances between the carrier wheels are unequal, with the second and third, fourth and fifth pairs of the fifth and sixth pairs of the carrier wheels being significantly more distant from each other. The side skirts completely cover the carrier pulleys.
The tracks are of double-pin construction, with end connectors between the track plates, which are rubber-lined.
The tracks of the T-80 tank are about 50mm wider than those of the T-64 tank, and the length of the tracks on the ground has grown by 250mm compared to that of the T-64 tank, resulting in a lower unit pressure than that of the T-64 tank.
Protection system
1. Armor protection
The front of the hull is made of composite armor, with the front upper armor plate consisting of multiple layers. The outer layer is steel plate, the middle layer is fiberglass and steel plate, and the inner lining layer is non-metallic material. The total thickness without the lining layer is 200mm, and it makes an angle of 22° with the horizontal plane. The front lower armor of the hull is divided into 3 layers, two steel plates with a total thickness of 80mm and one lining layer. In addition to this, there is a 20mm thick bulldozer outside the front lower armor plate. The angle between the front lower deck and the horizontal plane is 30°, and the thickness of the steel armor including the bulldozer is 100mm. storage boxes are installed at the front of both sides of the turret.
2. Additional reactive armor
Like the T-64Б tank, the T-80 tank is equipped with additional reactive armor on the front half of the turret and the front upper armor part of the hull. Turret part of the reactive armor installed structural form and T-64Б tanks are different, T-80 for the upper and lower rows, two rows of forward-facing angular arrangement, T-64 for the double-row downward tilted arrangement, in which the upper rows of two layers, the lower rows for a layer. The front top of the turret is also arranged with reactive armor against top attack weapons. The total number of explosive blocks of reactive armor on the hull and turret ranged from 185 to 221, including 95 on the turret. There is no reactive armor on the side skirts as there is on the T-64.
3. Three defenses
The overpressure collective protection is standard equipment on the T-80 tank.
4. Smokescreen device
The T-80 tank's smokescreen launcher is mounted in a position behind the turret's reactive armor on both sides of the 125mm gun.
5. Laser warning device
T-80 tanks laser warning device may carry on the enemy laser rangefinder, laser pointer or laser precision guidance device issued by the laser response to send an alarm signal. A laser pointer emitting a modulated beam is also mounted on top of the turret in front of the commander's tower of the command T-80 tank, protected by a rectangular armored case.
6. Other
Other standard equipment of the tank includes a submarine tube normally mounted on the rear of the turret and a self-rescue log mounted on the rear of the hull. Two tubes are fitted for diving, a thick tube for air intake (including air for the crew compartment) and a thin tube for exhaust.
Powerplant
The T-80's biggest shortcoming was the low reliability of its powertrain, which was improved, but still insufficient, in the T-80B. The T-80U's powertrain was significantly improved with the introduction of a GTD-1250 gas turbine engine, which was upgraded to 920 kilowatts (1,250 hp), with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 27 hp/tonne, and should be the most powerful of all existing Russian tanks. The thrust-to-weight ratio is 27 hp/ton, which should be the highest among existing Russian tanks. In addition to the new engine, an auxiliary power unit has been added to the vehicle to provide power during cold starts or engine shutdowns. The maximum speed of the tank remains at 70 km/h. The T-80UD is powered by a two-stroke diesel engine with 882 kW (1,200 hp). Although the engine produced less power, reliability and fuel consumption were improved. The 6TDF two-stroke liquid-cooled engine, a modification of the T-64's 5TDF engine, had six cylinders instead of five. Maximum power was also increased to 1,000 horsepower. Mated to a new drivetrain with 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear, aided by a new hydraulic servo system, the complete powertrain features an emission smoke screen.