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Т-80У I T-80U

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THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE T-80

By the end of the 1960s, the Soviet Army had the most advanced tanks at that time. In 1967, the T-64 tank was adopted, which was significantly superior to foreign analogues – M-60, Leopard 1 and Chieftain. However, in the USA and Germany, since 1965, joint work has been underway to create a new generation MBT-70. The new NATO tank, in addition to enhanced armament and armor, had to be distinguished by increased mobility characteristics. An adequate response was required from the Soviet tank builders. April 16 , 1968 a joint resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers was issued, according to which SKB-2 at the Kirov Plant was tasked to develop a variant of the T-64 medium tank with a gas turbine power plant.
By the end of the 60s, there were already developments in the USSR on the use of gas turbine engines on tanks. The GTD, which won a victory over piston engines in combat aviation in the 1940s, began to attract the attention of tank builders. The gas turbine engine gave significant advantages over a diesel or gasoline engine: with similar sizes, the gas turbine had significantly more power, which allowed to dramatically increase the speed and acceleration qualities of combat vehicles, improve tank control and ensure a quick start of the engine at low temperatures. The first development of a tank with a gas turbine engine in the USSR began in 1948, and in 1955 two experimental tank gas turbine engines with a capacity of 1000 hp were manufactured for the first time.
In 1957 at the Kirov plant under the leadership of the chief designer of the Design Bureau Zh.Ya.The first domestic turbine tank, prototype object 278, was manufactured and tested by Kotin. The machine was equipped with a gas turbine engine GTD-1 with a maximum capacity of 1000 hp, allowing the tank weighing 53.5 tons to develop a good speed of 57.3 km/h. Two tanks of this type were built and tested, however, unlike diesel, the gas turbine was still far from perfect and it took more than 20 years of work and many experimental machines before the GTD could be installed on a production tank. In 1963, in Kharkov, under the leadership of A.A.Morozov, simultaneously with the T-64 medium tank, its gas turbine modification was created – an experimental T-64T, with a 700 hp GTD-3TL helicopter engine.
In 1964, an experimental object 167T with GTD-ZT (800 hp), developed under the leadership of L.N.Kartsev, came out of the gates of Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil. The first prototype "Kirov" tank – object 219SP1, manufactured in 1969 – was outwardly almost similar to the experienced Kharkov T-64T. An experimental GTD-1000T engine with a capacity of 1000 hp developed by V.Y.Klimov NPO was installed on the machine. The next car, object 219SP2, was already significantly different from the original T-64: it turned out that the installation of a new, more powerful engine, increased weight and changed dynamic characteristics of the tank require significant changes to the chassis. The shape of the tower was also changed.

(P.S. from Fulcrum: I took the info from http://www.modernarmy.ru /, if you find shoals in the text there - let us know, we will fix it)