T-54 tank
| T-54/55 | |
|---|---|
A T-55 tank.
|
|
| Type | |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1949–present |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Production history | |
| Designer | |
| Designed | 1945–1958 |
| Manufacturer | |
| Produced |
|
| No. built | 86,000–100,000+ est. |
| Variants | See Operators and variants section below |
| Specifications (T-55) | |
| Weight | 36 tonnes (39.7 ST) |
| Length | 6.45 m |
| Width | 3.37 m |
| Height | 2.40 m |
| Crew | 4 |
|
|
|
| Armour | 205 mm turret front 130 mm turret sides 60 mm turret rear 30 mm turret roof 120 mm hull front at 60° (100 mm after 1949) 79 mm hull upper sides 20 mm hull lower sides 60 mm at 0° hull rear 20 mm hull bottom 33-16 mm hull roof |
|
Main
armament |
D-10T 100 mm rifled gun |
|
Secondary
armament |
7.62 mm SGMT coaxial machine gun, (12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun) |
| Engine | Model V-55(V-54) V-12 water-cooled. 38.88-l diesel 500 hp (373 kW) up to 800hp (597 kW) (late versions) |
| Power/weight | 14.6 hp (10.4 kW) / tonne |
| Transmission | Mechanical [synchromesh], 5 forward, 1 reverse gears |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 0.425 m |
| Fuel capacity | 580 l internal, 320 l external (less on early T54), 400 l jettisonable rear drums |
| Speed | 48 km/h (30 mph) |
The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced just as the Second World War ended. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945. Initial production ramp up settled for 1947 at Nizhny Tagil, and 1948 for Kharkov were halted and curtailed as many problems were uncovered; the T-34-85 still accounted for 88 percent of production through the 50's. The T-54 eventually became the main tank for armoured units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and many others. T-54s and T-55s have been involved in many of the world's armed conflicts since the later part of the 20th century.
The T-54/55 series eventually became the most-produced tank in military history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 86,000 to 100,000. They were replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks in the Soviet and Russian armies, but remain in use by up to 50 other armies worldwide, some having received sophisticated retrofitting.
During the Cold War, Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO adversaries in combat in Europe. However, the T-54/55's first appearance in the West around the period of the 1950s (then the beginning of the Cold War) spurred the United Kingdom to develop a new tank gun, the Royal Ordnance L7, and the United States to develop the M60 Patton.
The Soviet T-34 medium tank of the 1940s is considered to have the best balance of firepower (F-34 tank gun 76.2 mm gun), protection and mobility for its cost of any tank of its time in the world. Its development never stopped throughout the Second World War and it continued to perform well; however, the designers could not incorporate the latest technologies or major developments as vital tank production could not be interrupted during wartime.
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Wikipedia