Credit
From US Army Field Manual 100-2-3 - The Soviet Army; Troops Organisation and Equipment · Public domain · Resized · Public domain · Source ↗ · Modified
FORCETALLY
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At a glance
T-54/T-55larger figure on 1 of 2
T-80larger figure on 1 of 2
Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.
Measured figures
Gun forward
Single source9.00 m (29 ft 6 in) with gun forward[source]
Gun forward T-80B
Single sourceConfiguration
| Specification | T-54/T-55 | T-80 |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Medium tank (Warsaw Pact designation) Main battle tank (NATO designation)[source] | Main battle tank[source] |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union[source] | Soviet Union[source] |
| In service | 1948–present[source] | 1976–present[source] |
| Used by | See Operators[source] | See Operators[source] |
Length
Single sourceT-80U
Single sourceT-80U Hull T-80B
Single sourceGun 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]
Operational; Operational range
Single sourceOperational; with extra tanks (on unpaved roads)
Single source325 kilometres (202 mi), 610 kilometres (380 mi) with extra tanks (on unpaved roads)[source]
Operational; road, with external tanks
Single sourceOperational; road, without external tanks
Single sourcelate versions
Single sourceModel V-55(V-54) V-12 water-cooled. 38.88-litre diesel up to
Single sourceModel V-55(V-54) V-12 water-cooled. 38.88-litre diesel 500 horsepower (373 kW) up to 800 horsepower (600 kW) (late versions)[source]
SG-1000 gas turbine T-80B, GTD-1250 turbine T-80U, or one of 3 diesel T‑80UD T-80B
Single sourceT‑80U
Single sourceBars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.
| Wars | See Service History[source] | 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] |
|---|
| Designer | KMDB (T-54) OKB-520 (T-54A and later)[source] | Nikolay Popov , LKZ (T-80) KMDB (T-80UD)[source] |
|---|
| Designed | 1945–1958[source] | 1967–1975[source] |
|---|
| Manufacturer | KhPZ , UVZ (Soviet Union) Bumar-Łabędy (Poland) ZTS Martin (Czechoslovakia)[source] | LKZ and Omsk Transmash , Russia Malyshev Factory , Ukraine[source] |
|---|
| Unit cost | US$ 200,000 (export price to Egypt , 1956–1972)[source] | US$3 million[source] |
|---|
| Produced | 1946–1981 (Soviet Union) 1956–1979 (Poland) 1957–1983 (Czechoslovakia) 1958-1985 (China)[source] | 1975–2001 (T-80) 1987–present (T-80UD)[source] |
|---|
| No. built | 96,500–100,000+ est., including: More than 35,000 T-54 and More than 27,500 T-55 (by Soviet Union) 13,000 Type-59/69/79 (by China) 11,000 T-54/55 (by Czechoslovakia) 10,000 T-54/55 (by Poland)[source] | 5,500+[source] |
|---|
| Variants | See Operators and variants section below[source] | Engineering & recovery, mobile bridge, mine-plough with KMT-6 plough-type system and KMT-7 roller-type system.[source] |
|---|
| 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[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 | D-10T 100 mm rifled gun (43 rounds)[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 coaxial machine gun, (12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun)[source] | 7.62 mm PKT coax MG , 12.7 mm NSVT or DShK or PKT antiaircraft MG[source] |
|---|
| Power/weight | 14.6 horsepower per metric ton (10.9 kW/t)[source] | 23.5 hp (17.6 kW) / tonne T-80B 27.2 hp (20.3 kW) / tonne T-80U[source] |
|---|
| Transmission | Mechanical ( synchromesh ), 5 forward, 1 reverse gears[source] | Manual, 5 forward gears, 1 reverse T-80B, 4 forward, 1 reverse T-80U[source] |
|---|
| Suspension | Torsion bar[source] | Torsion bar[source] |
|---|
| Ground clearance | 0.425 m (16.7 in)[source] | 0.38 m (1.2 ft) T-80B, 0.446 m (1.46 ft) T-80U[source] |
|---|
| Fuel capacity | 580 L internal, 320 L external (less on early T54), 400 L jettisonable rear drums[source] | 1,100 litres (240 imp gal) (internal) 740 litres (160 imp gal) (external)[source] |
|---|
| Reported operators | — |
|
|---|
335 km (208 mi) (road, without external tanks) 415 km (258 mi) (road, with external tanks)[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]