While diesel engines had predominated in Soviet tanks since World War II, the Soviets introduced a third main battle tank in 1976, powered by an SG1000 gas turbine engine but otherwise of similar configuration to the T-64 and T-72. Only 13,108 T-64s were built between 1964 to 1987, compared to the 22,096 built at Nizhni-Kagil between 19 of the T-72, a simpler but more reliable step back that cost 40% less to produce than the T-64. Another flaw lay in where rounds had to be stored: just outside of the turret mounting ring but within the crew compartment, which would be deadly for all hands in the event of a hit. Manufactured in Kharkiv, the T-64 displayed a disturbing difference between an impressive prototype and a production model full of problems, most notoriously a tendency of its auto-loader to “eat” the left arms of inattentive gunners inside the cramped turrets. This began in 1964 with the 38-ton T-64, which among other things featured a compact engine arrangement an auto-loader for its 125 mm smoothbore cannon, which could fire shells or anti-tank missiles smaller all-steel rollers in place of the big-wheeled Christie suspension that had reached its practical limit in the T-62 and composite armor made of layers of steel and ceramic compound. The mid-1960s saw an attempt by the Soviet Union to produce a new, radical generation of technically sophisticated main battle tanks that were lighter than their foreign contemporaries and capable of fighting with a three-man crew, rather than the more usual four. Now both sides of the Russian-Ukraine War are fielding these aging, troublesome tanks. Although both are similar in appearance, the T-80 was built around an innovative engine that proved to be both problematic and expensive. 24, 2022, its offensive was spearheaded by tanks, primarily drawn from its Soviet-built Cold War stocks of T-72s and T-80s. When Russia launched its “special military operation” into Ukraine on Feb. T-80: Why Is Russia Using One of the Worst Tanks Ever in Ukraine? Close
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