T-80

The project to build the first Soviet turbine powered tank began in 1949. Its designer was A. Ch. Starostienko, who worked at the Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ). The tank was never built because available turbine engines were of very poor quality.

In 1955, two prototype 1,000 hp (746 kW) turbine engines were built at the same plant under the guidance of G. A. Ogloblin. Two years later a team led by Josef Kotin constructed two prototypes of the Object 278 tank. Both were hybrids of the IS-7 and the T-10 heavy tanks, powered by the GTD-1 turbine engine, weighing 53.5 tonnes and armed with an M65 130 mm tank gun. The turbine engine allowed the tank to reach a maximum speed of 57.3 km/h (35.6 mph), however with only 1,950 liters of fuel on board, their range was limited to only 300 km (190 mi). The two tanks were considered experimental vehicles and work on them eventually ceased.

In 1963, the Morozov Design Bureau designed the T-64, normally powered by the 5TDF diesel. They also experimented with the T-64T with GTD-3TL turbine engines which generated 700 hp (522 kW). This was tested until 1965. At the same time, at Uralvagonzavod, a design team under the guidance of L. N. Kartsev created the Object 167T tank. In 1964, in its report to First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, the team reported that the design was not worth pursuing partly due to its high fuel use.[16][17]

Soviet T-80 during manoeuvres, March 1986

In 1960, Khrushchev ended all heavy tank programs. LKZ, concerned with the poor reliability of the 5TD diesel engine of the T-64, was freed to focus on gas turbine tank engine development. In 1967, the S. P. Izotov bureau at the Klimov Research-Production Association was assigned to this project. Rather than re-purpose an existing helicopter engine, Izotov built the GTD-1000T from scratch.[18]

In 1966, the LKZ built the experimental Object 288 "rocket tank," powered by two Klimov GTD-350 turbine engines from the Mil Mi-2 helicopter, offering a combined power of 691 hp (515 kW). Trials indicated that twin propulsion was no better than the turbine engine which had been in development since 1968 at LKZ and Omsktransmash.[19]

The tank from LKZ equipped with this turbine engine was designed by Nikolay Popov. It was constructed in 1969 and designated Object 219 SP1.[20] It was essentially the T-64T powered by a GTD-1000T multi-fuel gas turbine engine producing up to 1,000 hp (746 kW). During the trials it became clear that the increased weight and dynamic characteristics required a complete redesign of the vehicle's suspension. The second prototype, designated Object 219 SP2, received bigger drive sprockets and return rollers. The number of road wheels was increased from five to six. The construction of the turret was altered to use the same compartment, 125 mm 2A46 tank gun, autoloader and placement of ammunition as the T-64A. Some other equipment was borrowed from the T-64A. The LKZ plant built a series of prototypes based on Object 219 SP2.[19]

In parallel with the T-80U and Russia in general, the Morozov Bureau in Ukraine developed a diesel-powered version, the T-80UD. It is powered by the 1,000 hp 6TD-6-cylinder opposed-piston[28] multi-fuel two-stroke turbo-piston diesel engine, ensuring high fuel efficiency and a long cruising range. The engine support systems make it possible to operate the tank at ambient temperatures of up to 55 °C and ford water obstacles 1.8 m in depth. The T-80UD shares most of the T-80U's improvements, but can be distinguished from it by a different engine deck and distinctive smoke-mortar array and turret stowage boxes. It retains the remotely-controlled commander's machine gun. About 500 T-80UD tanks were built in the Malyshev plant between 1987 and 1991. About 300 were still at the Ukrainian factory when the Soviet Union broke up, so the T-80UD tank was welcomed into Ukrainian military service, and therefore is more common in Ukrainian service than Russian. Unlike Russia, Ukraine has had much better success selling T-80s to foreign customers. Cyprus bought a number of T-80Us and T-80UKs from Russia for its army. Pakistan, countering India's adoption of the Russian T-90, bought Ukrainian T-80UDs for the Pakistan Armoured Corps.[29]

The Ukrainian T-84 main battle tank is based on the T-80UD. Ukraine was only able to afford a negligible number of T-84s for its own use, but did market the tank for export. The T-84 Oplot (first delivered in 2001) introduced turret-bustle ammunition storage; and to offer more sales to international market, the T-84-120 Yatagan has been offered for export featuring a very large turret bustle and NATO-compatible 120 mm gun.[30]

Two T-80UDs on the Red Square in Moscow during the failed August 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

In 1989, there were 3,000 T-80 MBTs overall.[31] According to data published in Russia, 2,256 T-80s (up to the T-80BV model, as T-80Us were never deployed in Europe) were stationed with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany in East Germany between 1986 and 1987. In 1991, when the Soviet Union was breaking up, the Soviet Army operated 4,839 T-80 MBTs of several different models.[32]

In August 1991, communists and allied military commanders tried to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev and regain control over the unstable Soviet Union. T-80UD tanks of the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division drove onto the streets of Moscow but the Soviet coup attempt failed when the tank crews refused to attack the audience or the parliament.[33][34]

Russian tank T-80 destroyed by NLAW during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the T-80 was not used in the way in which it was intended (large-scale conventional war in Europe). Until 2022, it was deployed during the political and economic changes in Russia in the 1990s.

Most T-80 MBTs are possessed by Russia, though many were inherited by Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

In 1995, the number of T-80 tanks increased to around 5,000 but was reduced in 1998 to 3,500.

The Russian Army had 3,044 T-80s and variants in active service and 1,456 in reserve as of 2008.[32][35] There are at least 460 T-80UD in service with 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division and 4th Guards Kantemirowsk Motor Rifle Division.[36] A T-80BV is on display in Kubinka Tank Museum and a T-80U is on display at an open-air museum in Saratov. The T-80Us have recently been seen at arms expos in Russia such as VTTV.

During the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, Boris Yeltsin ordered the use of tanks against the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies opposing him. On 4 October 1993, six T-80UD from the 13th Guards Tank Regiment, 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division took positions on a bridge opposite the Russian parliament building, and fired on it.

T-80B and T-80BV were never used in the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s to keep the tank's characteristics a secret, but they were first used during the First Chechen War. 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 biggest tank losses were suffered during the ill-fated assault in the Battle of Grozny, which began in December 1994. During three months of combat, Russia lost 18 of the 84 T-80 tanks used between the 133rd Tank Battalion and 3rd Tank Battalion.[37] The forces selected to capture Grozny were not prepared for such an operation, while the city was defended by, among others, former Soviet soldiers. Some T-80 tanks used in the assault lacked explosive reactive armor inserts.[38]

Several tank-to-tank battles were recorded. During the fighting in late December 1994 – early January 1995, Russian T-80 tanks destroyed at least six rebel tanks. On the other side, one T-80 was disabled by the hit of one 125 mm shell.[39] Another T-80 received three or four hits of tank shells but remained in service.[40][41] In August 1996, a T-80 destroyed one rebel tank.[39]

The inexperienced crews had little knowledge of the layout of the city, while the tanks were attacked by rocket-propelled grenade teams hidden in cellars and on top of high buildings. The anti-tank fire was directed at the least armoured parts of the vehicles.[42]

In the buildup of forces before the assault on Grozny, T-80s had been transferred from depots to units with little experience with the tank. When no auxiliary power unit is equipped, the T-80's gas turbine engines use almost as much fuel idling as when they are running. Most tank crews inadvertently exhausted their fuel this way on the day of the assault.[38][22]

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[43] (Galkin reversed his position in 1996, claiming that the T-80U was superior to the T-90).[6] After that, T-80 MBTs were never again used to capture cities, and, instead, they supported infantry squads from a safe distance. Defenders of the T-80 explain that the T-72 performed just as badly in urban fighting in Grozny as the T-80 and that there were two mitigating factors: after the breakup of the Soviet Union: poor funding meant no training for new Russian tank crews, and the tank force entering the city had no infantry support.[36]

Russia did not deploy T-80 tanks in later conflicts such as the 1999 Second Chechen War, the 2008 Russo-Georgian War,[44] or the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War.[45]

Captured Russian T-80s used by Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces used T-80 tanks alongside T-72s and T-90s.[46] Some were outfitted with improvised steel grilles on top of turrets, pejoratively called "cope cages" as a meme in online communities.[47] These have been fit to counter top-attack munitions such as the FGM-148 Javelin and loitering munitions; the cages were left on and refitted onto more tanks after drone dropped munitions became increasingly prevalent on the battlefield.[48][49]

As of 24 October 2023, Russia has lost 1 T-80B, 419 T-80BV, 7 T-80BV Obr. 2022, 94 T-80U, 2 T-80UK, 6 T-80UE-1, 1 T-80UM2, 101 T-80BVM, 6 T-80BVM Obr. 2022 and 10 Unknown T-80 which were confirmed to be destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured by Ukraine according to Oryx. The total tally is 647 T-80s lost by Russia.[50]

In 1992, the United Kingdom bought a number of T-80U MBTs for defence research and development. They were not bought officially but through a specially created trading company, which was supposed to deliver them to Morocco. The price of $5 million offered for each tank ensured a lack of suspicion on the part of the Russians. Britain evaluated the tanks on its proving grounds and transferred one to the US where the Americans evaluated it on the Aberdeen Proving Ground. In January 1994, British Minister of State for Defence Procurement Jonathan Aitken confirmed in parliamentary debates that a Russian T-80U tank was imported for "defence research and development purposes".[51][52]

Republic of Korea Army T-80U

South Korea was given 33 T-80U and 2 T-80UK tanks to pay Russian debts incurred during the days of the Soviet Union. The tanks came in three batches; the first consisted of six T-80Us in 1996, followed by 27 T-80Us in 1997, and finally two T-80UKs in 2005.

When South Korea first acquired the T-80 in the late 1990s, it was the most advanced tank on the Korean Peninsula, superior to the domestic K1 88-Tank in having a larger 125 mm gun to the K1's 105 mm. However, as time went on, the K1 was upgraded into the K1A1 and the more advanced K2 Black Panther entered service, while the T-80 changed little since its delivery due to the foreign nature of the design and lack of will to add domestic upgrades. While the South Korean tanks use domestically manufactured ammunition, T-80 shells and most parts must be imported, increasing maintenance costs as the cost of ordering replacement parts kept rising steadily. Although the turbine engine is lighter with better acceleration, it uses more fuel and is less reliable. The interior has been criticized as cramped and gunnery was underperforming via less advanced sights and slower reload speed.[53]

Ukrainian exports of the T-80UD have been moderately successful. In 1993 and 1995, Ukraine demonstrated the tank to Pakistan, which was looking for a new main battle tank. The tank was tested in Pakistan and in August 1996 Pakistan decided to buy 320 T-80UD tanks from Ukraine for $650 million in two variants: a standard Object 478B and export Object 478BE.[54][55][56] The tanks were all supposed to be delivered in 1997. After the first batch of 15 vehicles had been shipped in February 1997, Russia protested that it held the rights to the tank and that Ukraine couldn't export it.[54] Nearly 70% of T-80UD components were produced outside of Ukraine (mainly in Russia). Under the guise of keeping good relations with India, one of its most important military customers, Russia withheld 2A46-2 125 mm smoothbore guns, cast turrets and other technology, which forced Ukraine to make its tank industry independent.[56] It developed domestic components, including a welded turret, which was in use on the new Ukrainian T-84. Ukraine was able to ship 20 more T-80UD tanks to Pakistan between February and May 1997.[54] These 35 tanks were from Ukrainian Army stocks of 52 T-80UDs; they were built in the Malyshev plant several years before but were not delivered to their original destination. Their abilities were below the standard agreed by both Ukraine and Pakistan. The contract was completed by shipping another 285 Ukrainian T-80UD MBTs between 1997 and early 2002. These had the welded turret and other manufacturing features of the T-84.[54]

Cyprus is the first foreign country to officially obtain T-80 tanks. Russia sold 27 T-80U and 14 T-80UK for $174 million to Cyprus in 1996. The tanks arrived in two batches. The first shipment consisted of 27 T-80U MBTs arriving in 1996, while the second batch of 14 T-80UK MBTs arrived in 1997. This significantly improved the abilities of Cypriot army armoured forces; their most potent tank until then was the AMX-30B2. New tanks gave the Cypriot National Guard the edge in a possible confrontation with the Turkish Army in Northern Cyprus.[54][57][58] In October 2009 Cyprus ordered another batch of 41 used T-80Us and T-80UKs from Russia for €115 million. Deliveries were completed in the first half of 2011.[59]

The US government obtained one T-80U from the United Kingdom. It was evaluated at Eglin Air Force Base. In 2003, Ukraine transferred four T-80UD MBTs to the US.[60]

Apart from Cyprus and the People's Republic of China,[54] Russia has tried to export T-80 MBTs to Turkey and Greece, who were looking for new tanks. These two attempts have failed.[54] Sweden regarded the T-80U an alternative for its mechanized brigades in the early 1990s should the Leclerc be adopted for her armoured brigades,[61] but since the new upgraded Leopard 2 (Strv 122) was chosen, Leopard 2A4s (Strv 121) equipped the mechanized brigades as to simplify logistics.

T-80U underwater driving exercise, 4th Guards Tank Division in 2018

The original T-80 design uses a 1,000 hp monobloc gas turbine engine instead of a 750-hp diesel engine of the T-64;[20] later variants of the T-80 reverted to diesel engine usage. The gearbox is different, with five forward and one reverse gear, instead of seven forward and one reverse. Suspension reverts from pneumatic to torsion bar, with six forged steel-aluminium rubber-tyred road wheels on each side, with the tracks driven by rear sprockets.[62]

The tracks are slightly wider and longer than on the T-64 giving lower ground pressure.[62]

The turret houses the same 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore gun as the T-72, which can fire regular ordnance and anti-tank guided missiles.[3]

The main gun is fed by the Korzina automatic loader. This holds up to 28 rounds of two-part ammunition in a carousel located under the turret floor.[63] Further ammunition is stored in the turret. The ammunition comprises the projectile (APFSDS, HEAT, or HE-Frag), and the propellant charge, or the two-part missile.[63] The autoloader is an effective, reliable, combat tested system that has been in use since the mid-1960s. The propellant charge is held inside a semi-combustible cartridge case made of a highly flammable material, which is consumed in the breech during firing, except for a small metal baseplate.[63]

T-80U firing gun in 2012

The autoloader takes between 7.1 and 19.5 seconds to load the main weapon (28 rounds[64]), depending on the initial position of autoloader carousel.

The glacis is of laminate armour and the turret is armoured steel, with cavities in the turret cheeks containing either a ceramic filling or non-explosive reactive armour elements.[3]

The T-80's armour is composite on the turret and hull, while rubber flaps and sideskirts protect the sides and lower hull. Later T-80 models use explosive reactive armour and stronger armour, like the T-80U and T-80UM1. Other protection systems include the Shtora-1 and Arena APS, and the discontinued Drozd APS.

A disadvantage highlighted during combat in Chechnya was the vulnerability of the T-80BV to catastrophic explosion[63] thought to be caused by the vulnerability of stored semi-combustible propellant charges and missiles when contacted by the molten metal jet from the penetration of a HEAT warhead, causing the entire ammunition load to explode.[63] This vulnerability may be addressed in later models. When Western tank designs changed from non-combustible propellant cartridges to semi-combustible, they tended to separate ammunition stowage from the crew compartment with armoured blast doors, and provided "blow-out" panels to redirect the force and fire of exploding ammunition away from the crew compartment.[63]

  Operators

  Former operators

•  Cyprus: 27 T-80Us and 14 T-80UKs were ordered in 1996 from Russia;. In 2010, a further 27 T-80Us and 14 T-80UKs were delivered from Russian surplus.[54][78][57][58]
•  Pakistan: 320 T-80UDs (Object 478BE) were ordered in 1996 from Ukraine and delivered between 1997 and 1999.[29]
•  Russia: 100 T-80BV/U and 100 T-80BVM in active service. 5000 tanks of all types in storage, including T-80, T-80B and T-80U.[79]^: 194 Deliveries of T-80BVM continue as of late 2023.[80]
•  South Korea: 33 T-80Us were delivered to South Korea from 1995 to 1997, as a part of payment for the debt incurred during the Soviet era. Two T-80UKs were acquired from Russia in 2005. Unlike the other downgraded export version, South Korea received the batch built for then Soviet's domestic use.[54][58] Moscow was seeking the possibility of their return in 2016.[81]
•  Ukraine: 80 T-80BV/BVM/U/UK in service.[79]^: 204 345 T-80U and T-80UD's were in service in 1995,[82] 270 in 2000,[83] and 271 in 2005,[84] 320 sold to Pakistan.[58] The type was eventually retired but then after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, plans were made to refurbish up to 100 for Ukraine's Airborne forces.[85] By 2022, most Ukrainian airborne brigades had independent companies of T-80BV tanks attached.[86]
•  Yemen: Bought 31 T-80Us from Russia in 2000.[87] Bought 66 T-80BVs from Belarus.[88]
•  Uzbekistan: Unknown numbers of T-80BV

•  People's Republic of China – Some pieces of information claim that Russia has signed a contract with the People's Republic of China to sell 200 T-80U tanks in 1993. But only 50 T-80Us were purchased for unknown reasons.[89][78][90] These T-80Us are only used for testing and evaluation purposes as reference samples for the development of their domestic tanks.[91] However, there is no official information that can prove this situation from China.[89][78]

•  Soviet Union: 5,400 in service in 1991.[92] All were passed on to successor states (including Russia).
  •  Belarus: There were 95 T-80Us in service in 2000[83] and 69 in 2015.[93] None in service in 2022.[94]
  •  Kazakhstan: 4-5 T-80Us used for training in the military school of the city of Karaganda.[54]

•  Greece – T-80U took part in the tender for Greece, but lost against the Leopard 2A6.[54]
•  Malaysia – T-80UD took part in the tender for the Malaysian Army, but lost against the PT-91M Pendekar.
•  Sweden – Two T-80Us were trialed in Sweden in 1993-1994 as a potential secondary MBT for mechanized brigades, but lost against the Leopard 2A4. The T-80U was also known by its Swedish designation of Hotstrv VII ("Threat tank 7").[95]
•  Turkey – T-80U took part in the tender for Turkey, but lost against the Leopard 2A4.[54]