T-55 tank: specifications, photos and history of creation

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

The Soviet T-55 tank was mass-produced from 1958 to 1979. It is the successor to the T-54 combat vehicle, but surpasses it in many ways. The new model is distinguished by a more powerful power plant (traction increased immediately by 60 horsepower). The upgraded engine of the T-55 tank added maneuverability to the vehicle. Cross-country movement speed has also increased.

Further modernization

The developers were faced with the task of creating a version of the tank with increased combat capability as soon as possible. As part of further improvements, additional rack tanks were installed in the hull, due to which the fuel reserve increased significantly. The ammunition load of the main gun was increased from 34 to 43 rounds. Instead of air receivers used when starting the engine, a compressor was installed. Another novelty of that time appeared in the tank turret - the Rosa automatic fire-fighting system, which, when an open flame appeared, instantly found the source of fire and extinguished the fire with a directed jetfire.

Radiation

But the most important improvement was the installation of an anti-nuclear protection system with a set of Geiger counters that record the level of X-ray radiation. The combat capability of the tank during the attacking radiation flux did not suffer, however, the crew could lose the physical ability to perform their functions. For these reasons, the T-55 tower was shielded from the inside with special modules made of lead plates that reflect gamma rays.

Small anti-aircraft weapons

Combat vehicle needs all-round protection, including from an attack from above. Nevertheless, outdoor small arms were abolished, since the standard anti-aircraft machine gun of the DShKM brand, in the face of increased speeds of military aircraft, became outdated and became a useless attribute. However, ten years later, when combat helicopters carrying anti-tank bombs appeared, the machine gun was returned. The propeller-driven vehicles flew low, and it was not difficult to shoot down a bomber.

A bit of history

Full-scale serial production of the T-55 tank was launched in the USSR in 1958 at defense plants No. 75, No. 174 and No. 183. Production continued until 1979. In total, about twenty thousand cars rolled off the assembly line. The T-55 tank, whose photo is posted on the page, was widely exported. All the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as the Arab states, willingly bought a modern Soviet-made combat vehicle.

The effective medium tank T-55, except in the USSR, began to be produced in some other countries friendly to the Soviet Union. The release was launched inPoland, in the period from 1964 to 1978 collected 1500 units. In Romania, from 1970 to 1977 - 400 combat vehicles. In Czechoslovakia, at a factory in the city of Martin, from 1964 to 1973, 1,700 units were produced under license.

T-55 tank: characteristics

The T-55 model had much in common with its predecessor T-54, which determined the high level of unification of spare parts, assemblies and individual components. The nomenclature of material support was common for a long time. In some documents, technological maps and drawings, the machine was designated as the T-54/55 tank. This made it easier to produce a new model, since the entire assembly line process was already worked out.

Even the instruction manual for the T-55 tank corresponded in all respects to the characteristics of the T-54. Numerous improvements of the new model existed, as it were, separately from the basic parameters, their functions related to the machine indirectly. The T-55 tank, the drawings of which were copied from the original calculations of its predecessor, was an exact repetition of the T-54.

The following are the main parameters of the basic version of the T-55:

• number of people in the crew - 4;
• combat weight - 36.5 tons;
• tank length with gun - 9000 mm;
• body length only - 6200mm;
• height along the hatch line of the tower - 2218 mm;
• width - 3270;
• ground clearance - 500mm;
• main gun type - D10T2S/NP;
• machine guns on the armor turret, one forward, one twin, type SGMT, caliber 7, 62 mm;
• combat kit - 43 shots;
• machine gun ammunition - 3500 rounds;
• power plant - brand B-54, diesel;
• engine power - 580 hp p.;
• Near maximum speed of 50 km/h on a paved road.
• power reserve - 480 kilometers;
• specific pressure - 0.81 kg/cm2;
• confident overcoming obstacles - vertical wall, height - 0.8 meters; trench, width - 2.7 meters;
• overcoming the ford - 1.5 meters;
• descent - 30 degrees;
• rise - 32 degrees.

The T-55 tank, whose characteristics were constantly improved, was the most popular combat vehicle of the late fifties in Eastern Europe.

Modifications

In 1961, the T-62 was created on the basis of the T-55 with improved characteristics. The model was produced simultaneously with the T-55 until 1983. Then a deep modernization of combat vehicles was carried out, and thus new modifications appeared: T-55M, T-55AM, and T-62M, which were distinguished by enhanced firepower and a higher degree of security without loss of mobility. Passive protection consisted of additional armor, active consisted of the Drozd complex with two mortars loaded with a pair of 107-mm shells each, as well as heavy anti-aircraft machine guns. In addition to armament, the tanks were given two independent radar stations.

Later, the T-55M tank began to be equipped with a more advanced 9K116 Bastion guided weapon system, and the Sheksna was installed on the T-62M withsimilar characteristics, but more dynamic in action. These two complexes are equipped with a 100mm rifled barrel and a 115mm smoothbore gun. Shot of the first barrel - guided missile 9M117. The characteristics of the projectile are multistage, with a very high destruction efficiency. The missile is guided by a semi-automatic laser guidance system.

Measuring instruments

In addition to the striking weapons, the T-55M tank is equipped with a KTD-2 rangefinder, a BV-55 ballistic computer, a 32PV-TShSM sight and a M1 Meteor stabilizer. The T-62 tank is equipped with a 41PV-TShSM sight and a BV-62 ballistics computer. Laser rangefinders on both tanks cover distances from 500 to 4000 meters with a measurement accuracy of up to 10 meters.

Balistic computers provide automatic determination of aiming angles along with lateral lead data when firing artillery shells, but cannot calculate the trajectory of a guided missile.

An anti-aircraft machine gun when firing in a horizontal perspective can be tied to data from ballistic computers, but the direction of fire should be determined to a greater extent by visual observation.

Flaws

A large-caliber anti-aircraft gun mounted on a turret is supplied with three hundred rounds of ammunition in belts arranged in boxes. The shooter is instructed to fire in small bursts, since the thin and long barrel of a machine gun can heat up unevenly from long bursts anddeform. To stabilize the temperature, a heat shield is installed on the armament.

Booking

In addition to the existing protection, the T-55 tank has been modernized several times throughout its production in terms of its strengthening. The last time additional armor protection was installed in 1985. The upper frontal sector was duplicated with sheets 30 mm thick. Additional armor is located on both sides of the embrasure of the main gun, close to the barrel. The angle of its inclination implies the reflection of any enemy projectiles, except for cumulative ones, the destructive effect of which cannot be neutralized.

However, soon the T-55M tank was equipped with anti-cumulative rubber-fabric screens, which were laid in several layers along the entire front of the combat vehicle. The effectiveness of such protection is indirectly confirmed by testing at the site. Projectiles fired from a distance of 150 meters, crashing into rubber "mats", lost about thirty percent of their strength, and the main layers of armor protection remained without through holes.

Crew equipment

Special attention of the developers of the T-55 tank was given to radiation protection. The goal is to preserve the life and he alth of people. All crew members are equipped with special anti-radiation vests, each seat was also covered from all sides with lead modules in fabric sheathing.

The driver's area from below is reinforced with 20 mm armor plates, which are welded to the bottom. It turns out effective mine protection. The rest of the crew are located on the march in the rear, the safest part of the intra-turret space.

Means of camouflage

The T-55 tank, photographed in the desert, introduces the principles of camouflage. The armor of the combat vehicle, painted in sand color, allows you to merge with the environment. The tank becomes indistinguishable for enemy observers, and its combat crew can use this to change its location, as well as a spontaneous attack.

Other standards

For camouflage in the European landscape, camouflage is used, greenish-gray paint or a grid of the same color, stretched over the location of the tank. In combat conditions, a smoke screen is used, which is possible at any time thanks to the standard 902B device located on the right side of the tower. The system consists of eight launching barrels that eject 81 mm smoke grenades. The smoke zone allows you to take cover not only for the tank, but also for several infantry units that participate in the battle, provided that the personnel have respiratory equipment. The effectiveness of such a maneuver is beyond doubt.

The smoke zone when launching four charges in one gulp is 120 meters wide and 8 meters high. The launch of one grenade covers a zone with a radius of 60 meters around the tank. Smoke grenades are activated by a signal from the tank commander's console. The system has only one drawback - during the battle, reloading the smoke gun is impossible, since for this you need to leave the tank turret and spend several minutes on open armor, which is very risky underenemy crossfire. But some crews found a way out of a difficult situation. The shooter enters the armor at the moment of the greatest smoke from the action of the last two grenades, when visibility is zero, and reloads the system.

T-72 tank

In 1967, the development of the most massive, main battle tank of the armed forces of the USSR began, which was put on combat duty in 1973 and is currently in service in the Russian tank forces. In terms of its characteristics, the T-72 surpasses all previous modifications from the category of armored combat vehicles. The difference between the T-55 tank and the T72 lies in the greater firepower of the latter, the overall length of the seventy-second is 9530 mm versus 9000 mm for the T-55. The crew of the T-72 consists of only three people, the duties that ensure the life of the machine are evenly distributed among three without prejudice to the combat regulations.

Prototype of the Soviet T-55 tank

It turns out that there are doubles in the tank industry. Even before the collapse of the USSR, the T-55A tank was created in East Germany. This is almost a complete analogue of the Soviet T-54/55. The Germans did not start mass production of their development, as it was unprofitable for them for economic reasons. In addition, the tank forces of the GDR did not need so many combat vehicles, for which it was worth starting large-scale production.

At the same time, in the Soviet Union, almost the same tank was produced in huge quantities, and after short negotiations, the German model began to be produced in the USSR in parallel withSoviet tanks. T-55 A, a German tank of the middle class, was supplied in small batches to the army of the GDR. The technical characteristics of the model were not bad, the car was distinguished by a strong turret, good maneuverability and a high-precision gun. The tanks were inexpensive for the German side, since the political component of the project was taken into account, East Germany was at that time a "close friend" of the USSR.

Models

The T-55 tank is highly regarded as a source material for modeling in the field of military equipment. Craftsmen use the image of a popular combat vehicle to create miniature copies that are completely identical to the original. The kitography of such a model as the T-54/55 tank is a whole series of model developments on a scale of 1:35 with the elaboration of the smallest details. Models of the T-55 tank are considered the most interesting in the manufacturing process after the American Sherman.