PT-76 vs T-80: Specs Compared

ATanks

PT-76

Amphibious light tank

Credit

Владимир Саппинен · CC BY 3.0 · Resized · CC BY 3.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

BTanks

T-80

Main battle tank

Credit

Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation · CC BY 4.0 · Resized · CC BY 4.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

PT-76Gun forward

7.63 m

Length source ↗

T-80Gun forward T-80B

9.9 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

PT-76larger figure on 0 of 1

None

T-80larger figure on 1 of 1

Width+8%

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

23 of 47 rows sourced on both sides

7.63mGun forward

9.9mGun forward T-80B

LengthScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

7.63 m

Gun forward

Single source

6.91 m

Hull

Single source

7.63 m (25 ft) (gun forward) 6.91 m (22 ft 8 in) (hull)^[source]

9.9 m

Gun forward T-80B

Single source

9.654 m

Length

Single source

7 m

T-80U

Single source

7.4 m

T-80U Hull T-80B

Single source

Gun forward: 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) T-80B, 9.654 m (31 ft 8.1 in) T-80U Hull: 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) T-80B, 7 m (23 ft 0 in) T-80U^[source]

3.15m

3.4m

Width+8%

All recorded figures & sources

3.15 m

Width

Single source

3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)^[source]

3.4 m

Width

Single source

3.603 m

T-80B T-80U

Single source

3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) T-80B 3.603 m (11 ft 9.9 in) T-80U^[source]

2.33m

2.2mT-80B, T‑80U

Height

All recorded figures & sources

2.325 m

Height

Single source

2.325 m (7 ft 7.5 in)^[source]

2.202 m

T-80B, T‑80U

Single source

2.202 m (7 ft 2.7 in) T-80B, T‑80U^[source]

14.6t

42.5 tons (T‑80B), 46 tons (T‑80U)

Mass

All recorded figures & sources

14,600 kg

Mass

Single source

14.6 t (16.1 short tons ; 14.4 long tons )^[source]

42.5 tons (T‑80B), 46 tons (T‑80U)^[source]

3driver, commander/gunner, loader

Crew

All recorded figures & sources

3 people

driver, commander/gunner, loader

Single source

3 (driver, commander/gunner, loader)^[source]

3 people

Crew

Single source

3^[source]

44km/hMaximum; On road

70km/hMaximum; T-80U

SpeedScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

44 km/h

Maximum; On road

Single source

10.2 km/h

Maximum; swimming

Single source

44 km/h (27 mph) on road, 10.2 km/h (6.3 mph) swimming^[source]

48 km/h

Maximum; Cross-country

Single source

70 km/h

Maximum; T-80U

Single source

70 km/h (43 mph) (T-80U) 48 km/h (30 mph) (cross country)^[source]

480–510kmOperational; with external fuel

415kmOperational; road, with external tanks

RangeScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

370–400 km

Operational; Operational range

Single source

480–510 km

Operational; with external fuel

Single source

370–400 km (230–250 mi) 480–510 km (300–320 mi) with external fuel^[source]

415 km

Operational; road, with external tanks

Single source

335 km

Operational; road, without external tanks

Single source

335 km (208 mi) (road, without external tanks) 415 km (258 mi) (road, with external tanks)^[source]

180kW19.1L 6 cylinder inline diesel

932kWT‑80U

PowerScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

180 kW

19.1L 6 cylinder inline diesel

Single source

19.1L 6 cylinder inline diesel 180 kilowatts (240 hp)^[source]

745.699872 kW

SG-1000 gas turbine T-80B, GTD-1250 turbine T-80U, or one of 3 diesel T‑80UD T-80B

Single source

932.124839 kW

T‑80U

Single source

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^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

PT-76 and T-80 configuration
Specification	PT-76	T-80
Type	Amphibious light tank^[source]	Main battle tank^[source]
Place of origin	Soviet Union^[source]	Soviet Union^[source]
In service	1951–present^[source]	1976–present^[source]
Designer	N. Shashmurin and Zh.Y. Kotin^[source]	Nikolay Popov , LKZ (T-80) KMDB (T-80UD)^[source]
Designed	1949–1951^[source]	1967–1975^[source]
Manufacturer	VTZ , Kirov Factory^[source]	LKZ and Omsk Transmash , Russia Malyshev Factory , Ukraine^[source]
Produced	1951–1969 (chassis possibly still produced)^[source]	1975–2001 (T-80) 1987–present (T-80UD)^[source]
No. built	Around 12,000 . (Other sources indicate 5000 were built. See footnote 3).^[source]	5,500+^[source]
Armour	RHA^[source]	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 1,320 mm vs HEAT^[source]
Main armament	76.2 mm D-56T rifled tank gun (40 rds.)^[source]	Smoothbore 125 mm 2A46-2 gun , 36 rounds and 4 9M112 Kobra ATGMs (T-80B) 2A46M-1 with 45 rounds and 6 9M119 Refleks ATGMs (T-80U)^[source]
Secondary armament	7.62 mm SGMT coax machine gun (1,000 rds.) or 7.62 mm PKT machine gun coax machine gun (1,000 rds) since 1967^[source]	7.62 mm PKT coax MG , 12.7 mm NSVT or DShK or PKT antiaircraft MG^[source]
Power/weight	12.3 kW/t^[source]	23.5 hp (17.6 kW) / tonne T-80B 27.2 hp (20.3 kW) / tonne T-80U^[source]
Suspension	torsion-bar^[source]	Torsion bar^[source]
Ground clearance	370 mm (14.6 in)^[source]	0.38 m (1.2 ft) T-80B, 0.446 m (1.46 ft) T-80U^[source]
Fuel capacity	250 L (55 imp gal ; 66 US gal )^[source]	1,100 litres (240 imp gal) (internal) 740 litres (160 imp gal) (external)^[source]
Used by	—	See Operators^[source]
Wars	—	August Coup 1993 Russian constitutional crisis First Chechen War Yemeni Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) Wagner Group rebellion^[source]
Unit cost	—	US$3 million^[source]
Variants	—	Engineering & recovery, mobile bridge, mine-plough with KMT-6 plough-type system and KMT-7 roller-type system.^[source]
Transmission	—	Manual, 5 forward gears, 1 reverse T-80B, 4 forward, 1 reverse T-80U^[source]
Reported operators	Reported operator · Angola Reported operator · Benin Reported operator · Cuba Reported operator · Democratic Republic of the Congo Reported operator · Guinea Reported operator · Guinea-Bissau Reported operator · Indonesia Reported operator · Laos Reported operator · Madagascar Reported operator · Mali Reported operator · North Korea Reported operator · Republic of the Congo Reported operator · Uganda Reported operator · Vietnam Reported operator · Zambia	Reported operator · Cyprus Reported operator · Pakistan Reported operator · Russia Reported operator · Ukraine

FORCETALLY

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PT-76

T-80

Type

Amphibious light tank^[source]

Main battle tank^[source]

Place of origin

Soviet Union^[source]

In service

1951–present^[source]

1976–present^[source]

Designer

N. Shashmurin and Zh.Y. Kotin^[source]

Nikolay Popov , LKZ (T-80) KMDB (T-80UD)^[source]

Designed

1949–1951^[source]

1967–1975^[source]

Manufacturer

VTZ , Kirov Factory^[source]

LKZ and Omsk Transmash , Russia Malyshev Factory , Ukraine^[source]

Produced

1951–1969 (chassis possibly still produced)^[source]

1975–2001 (T-80) 1987–present (T-80UD)^[source]

No. built

Around 12,000 . (Other sources indicate 5000 were built. See footnote 3).^[source]

5,500+^[source]

Armour

RHA^[source]

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 1,320 mm vs HEAT^[source]

Main armament

76.2 mm D-56T rifled tank gun (40 rds.)^[source]

Smoothbore 125 mm 2A46-2 gun , 36 rounds and 4 9M112 Kobra ATGMs (T-80B) 2A46M-1 with 45 rounds and 6 9M119 Refleks ATGMs (T-80U)^[source]

Secondary armament

7.62 mm SGMT coax machine gun (1,000 rds.) or 7.62 mm PKT machine gun coax machine gun (1,000 rds) since 1967^[source]

7.62 mm PKT coax MG , 12.7 mm NSVT or DShK or PKT antiaircraft MG^[source]

Power/weight

12.3 kW/t^[source]

23.5 hp (17.6 kW) / tonne T-80B 27.2 hp (20.3 kW) / tonne T-80U^[source]

Suspension

torsion-bar^[source]

Torsion bar^[source]

Ground clearance

370 mm (14.6 in)^[source]

0.38 m (1.2 ft) T-80B, 0.446 m (1.46 ft) T-80U^[source]

Fuel capacity

250 L (55 imp gal ; 66 US gal )^[source]

1,100 litres (240 imp gal) (internal) 740 litres (160 imp gal) (external)^[source]

Used by

—

See Operators^[source]

Wars

—

August Coup 1993 Russian constitutional crisis First Chechen War Yemeni Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) Wagner Group rebellion^[source]

Unit cost

—

US$3 million^[source]

Variants

—

Engineering & recovery, mobile bridge, mine-plough with KMT-6 plough-type system and KMT-7 roller-type system.^[source]

Transmission

—

Manual, 5 forward gears, 1 reverse T-80B, 4 forward, 1 reverse T-80U^[source]

Reported operators

Reported operator · Angola
Reported operator · Benin
Reported operator · Cuba
Reported operator · Democratic Republic of the Congo
Reported operator · Guinea
Reported operator · Guinea-Bissau
Reported operator · Indonesia
Reported operator · Laos
Reported operator · Madagascar
Reported operator · Mali
Reported operator · North Korea
Reported operator · Republic of the Congo
Reported operator · Uganda
Reported operator · Vietnam
Reported operator · Zambia

Reported operator · Cyprus
Reported operator · Pakistan
Reported operator · Russia
Reported operator · Ukraine