T-80U

T-80
T-80U main battle tank at Engineering Technologies 2012 international forum.
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1976–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, 2008 South Ossetia War,War in Donbass
Production history
Designer	Nikolay Popov, LKZ (T-80),KMDB (T-80UD)
Designed	1967–1975
Manufacturer	LKZ and Omsk Transmash, Russia Malyshev Factory, Ukraine
Unit cost	USD $2.2 million T80U export, 1994.
Produced	1976–1992
No. built	5,404 (as of 2005)
Variants	engineering & recovery, mobile bridge, mine-plough with KMT-6 plough-type system and KMT-7 roller-type system.
Specifications (T-80B / T-80U)
Weight	42.5 tonnes T-80B, 46 tonnes T-80U
Length	9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) T-80B, 9.654 m (31 ft 8.1 in) T-80U (gun forward) 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) T-80B, 7 m (23 ft 0 in) T80U, (hull)
Width	3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) T-80B 3.603 m (11 ft 9.9 in) T-80U
Height	2.202 m (7 ft 2.7 in) T-80B, T-80U
Crew	3
Armour	T-80B : Hull 440-450 mm vs APFSDS 500-575 mm vs HEAT, Turret 500 mm vs APFSDS 650 mm vs HEAT T-80U : Hull & Turret with Kontakt-5 780 mm vs APFSDS 1320 mm vs HEAT
Main armament	125 mm 2A46-2 smoothbore gun, 36 rounds T-80B, 2A46M-1 with 45 rounds T-80U 9M112 Kobra ATGM, 4 missiles T-80B, 9M119 Refleks ATGM, 6 missiles T-80U
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKT coax MG, 12.7 mm NSVT or PKT antiaircraft MG
Engine	SG-1000 gas turbine T-80B, GTD-1250 turbine T-80U, or one of 3 diesel T-80UD 1,000 hp T-80B, 1,250 hp T-80U
Power/weight	23.5 hp (17.6 kW) / tonne T-80B 27.2 hp (20.3 kW) / tonne T-80U
Transmission	manual, 5 forward gears, 1 reverse T-80B, 4 forward, 1 reverse T-80U
Suspension	torsion bar
Ground clearance	0.38 m (1.2 ft) T-80B, 0.446 m (1.46 ft) T-80U
Fuel capacity	1,100 litres (240 imp gal) (internal) 740 litres (160 imp gal) (external)
Operational range	335 km (208 mi) (road, without external tanks) 415 km (258 mi) (road, with external tanks)
Speed	70 km/h (43 mph) (road) 48 km/h (30 mph) (cross country)

The T-80 is a third-generation main battle tank (MBT) designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union. When it entered service in 1976, it was the first MBT in the world to feature a powerful multifuel turbine engine as its main propulsion engine. The T-80U was last produced in a factory in Omsk, Russia, while the T-80UD and further-developed T-84 continue to be produced in Ukraine. The T-80 and its variants are in service in Belarus, Cyprus, Egypt, Kazakhstan,Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine. The chief designer of the T-80 was the Russian engineer Nikolay Popov.

The project to build the first Soviet turbine powered tank began in 1949. Its designer was A. Ch. Starostienko, who worked at the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ). The tank was never built because available turbine engines were of very poor quality. In 1955 two prototype 1,000 hp (746 kW) turbine engines were built at the same plant under the guidance of G. A. Ogloblin. Two years later a team led by the famous heavy tank designer Josef Kotin constructed two prototypes of the Ob'yekt 278 tank. Both were hybrids of the IS-7 and the T-10 heavy tanks, powered by the GTD-1 turbine engine, weighing 53.5 tonnes and armed with the M65 130 mm tank gun. The turbine engine allowed the tank to reach a maximum speed of 57.3 km/h (35.6 mph) but with only 1950 liters of fuel on board, range was a mere 300 km (190 mi). The two tanks were considered experimental vehicles and work on them eventually ceased. In 1963, the Morozov Design Bureau designed the T-64 and T-64T tanks. They used a GTD-3TL turbine engine which generated 700 hp (522 kW). The tank was tested until 1965. At the same time at Uralvagonzavod a design team under the guidance of L. N. Kartsev created the Ob'yekt 167T tank. It used the GTD-3T turbine engine which supplied 801 hp (597 kW).