FORCETALLY
Loading the evidence…
Preparing your view.
Preparing your view.
At a glance
T-80larger figure on 1 of 2
Type 59 tanklarger 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 T-80B
Single sourceLength
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]
Hull
Single source6.04 metres (19.8 ft) (hull)[source]
Operational; road, with external tanks
Single sourceOperational; road, without external tanks
Single source335 km (208 mi) (road, without external tanks) 415 km (258 mi) (road, with external tanks)[source]
Operational; Operational range
Single sourceOperational; with external tanks
Single sourceSG-1000 gas turbine T-80B, GTD-1250 turbine T-80U, or one of 3 diesel T‑80UD T-80B
Single sourceT‑80U
Single sourceSG-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]
Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel
Single sourceModel 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel 520 hp (390 kW)[source]
Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.
Configuration
| Specification | T-80 | Type 59 tank |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Main battle tank[source] | Main battle tank[source] |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union[source] | China[source] |
| In service | 1976–present[source] | 1959–present[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] | Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Laotian Civil War Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Sino-Vietnamese War Iran–Iraq War Second Sudanese Civil War Sri Lankan Civil War Gulf War First Congo War Kosovo War Albania–Yugoslav border incident (April 1999) Sudanese civil war (2023–present)[source] |
| Designer | Nikolay Popov , LKZ (T-80) KMDB (T-80UD)[source] | — |
| Designed | 1967–1975[source] | — |
| Manufacturer | LKZ and Omsk Transmash , Russia Malyshev Factory , Ukraine[source] | First Inner Mongolia Machinery Factory , Norinco[source] |
| Unit cost | US$3 million[source] | — |
| Produced | 1975–2001 (T-80) 1987–present (T-80UD)[source] | 1958–1985[source] |
| No. built | 5,500+[source] | 9,500[source] |
| Variants | Engineering & recovery, mobile bridge, mine-plough with KMT-6 plough-type system and KMT-7 roller-type system.[source] | — |
| 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 1,320 mm vs HEAT[source] | — |
| Main armament | 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] | 100 mm rifled gun[source] |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm PKT coax MG , 12.7 mm NSVT or DShK or PKT antiaircraft MG[source] | 2 x Type 59T 7.62 mm machine gun, Type 54 12.7 mm air-defence machine gun[source] |
| Power/weight | 23.5 hp (17.6 kW) / tonne T-80B 27.2 hp (20.3 kW) / tonne T-80U[source] | 14.44 hp/tonne[source] |
| Transmission | Manual, 5 forward gears, 1 reverse T-80B, 4 forward, 1 reverse T-80U[source] | — |
| Suspension | Torsion bar[source] | torsion bar[source] |
| Ground clearance | 0.38 m (1.2 ft) T-80B, 0.446 m (1.46 ft) T-80U[source] | — |
| Fuel capacity | 1,100 litres (240 imp gal) (internal) 740 litres (160 imp gal) (external)[source] | — |
| Armor | — | 20–203 mm[source] |
| Reported operators |
|
|
450 km, 600 km with external tanks[source]