Product Description
The T-80 is a main battle tank that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72.
The T-80U main battle tank (1985, "U" for uluchsheniye, meaning "improvement") was designed by SKB-2 in Leningrad (hull) and the Morozov Bureau (turret and armament). It is a further development of the T-80A and is powered by the 1,250 hp (919 kW) GTD-1250 gas turbine. It retains the T-80s high fuel use, which the Russian army found unacceptable during the Chechen conflicts. This first real combat experience for T-80 was unsuccessful, as the tanks were used to capture cities, a task for which they were not very well suited due to the low depression and elevation of the 2A46-M1 gun on all Russian MBTs.
The T-80 performed so poorly in the First Chechen War that General-Lieutenant Aleksandr Galkin, the head of the Armour Directorate, convinced the Minister of Defence after the conflict to never again procure tanks with gas turbine engines (Galkin reversed his position in 1996, claiming that the T-80U was superior to the T-90). After that, T-80 MBTs were never again used to capture cities, and, instead, they supported infantry squads from a safe distance.Â
