When Russia launched its “special military operation” into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, its offensive was spearheaded by tanks, primarily drawn from its Soviet-built Cold War stocks of T-72s and T-80s. Although both are similar in appearance, the T-80 was built around an innovative engine that proved to be both problematic and expensive.
Now both sides of the Russian-Ukraine War are fielding these aging, problematic tanks.
HISTORY OF THE T-80
The mid-1960s saw an attempt by the Soviet Union to produce a new, radical generation of technically sophisticated main battle tanks that were lighter than their foreign contemporaries and capable of fighting with a three-man crew, rather than the more usual four. This began in 1964 with the 38-ton T-64, which among other things featured a compact engine arrangement; an auto-loader for its 125 mm smoothbore cannon, which could fire shells or anti-tank missiles; smaller all-steel rollers in place of the big-wheeled Christie suspension that had reached its practical limit in the T-62; and composite armor made of layers of steel and ceramic compound.
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