The T-64 is a Soviet main battle tank, introduced in the early 1960s. It was used solely by the Soviet Army in its front-line divisions and was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62. Although the T-62 and the famed T 72 would see much wider use and generally more development, it was the T-64 that formed the basis of more modern Soviet tank designs like the T-80.
The T-64 first entered production in 1967, shortly before the T-72. (Serial production begin in 1963. The T-64 formally entered service in army in 1967.) The T-64 was KMDB's high-technology offering, intended to replace the IS-3 and T-10 heavy tanks in independent tank battalions. Meanwhile, the T-72 was intended to supersede the T-55 and T-62 in equipping the bulk of Soviet tank and mechanized forces, and for export partners and east-bloc satellite states.
It introduced a new autoloader, which is still used on all T-64s currently in service, as well as all variants of the T-80 except the Ukrainian T-84-120. The T-64 prototypes had the same 115 mm smoothbore gun as the T-62, the ones put in full-scale production had the 125 mm gun.
While the T-64 was the superior tank, it was more expensive and physically complex, and was produced in smaller numbers. The T-72 is mechanically simpler and easier to service in the field, while it is not as well protected, and its manufacturing process is correspondingly simpler.
The T-64 was never common in Soviet service, except with those units stationed in East Germany. Only a few thousand T-64s were built, and none were exported. Many T-64s ended up in Russian and Ukrainian service after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
| T-64 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin |  Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1966–present |
| Used by | Soviet Union, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Morozov Design Bureau |
| Designed | 1951–62 |
| Manufacturer | Malyshev Factory |
| Produced | 1963–85 |
| Number built | ~13,000 |
| Specifications (T-64A) | |
| Weight | 38 tonnes (42 short tons; 37 long tons) |
| Length | 9.225 m (30 ft 3.2 in) (gun forward) |
| Width | 3.415 m (11 ft 2.4 in) |
| Height | 2.172 m (7 ft 1.5 in) |
| Crew | 3 |
| | |
| Armour | 20–450 mm (0.79–18 in) of Glass-reinforced plastic sandwiched between layers of steel. ERA plates optional |
| Main armament | D-81T 125 mm smoothbore gun |
| Secondary armament | 7.62 mm PKMT coax machine gun, 12.7 mm NSVT antiaircraft machine gun |
| Engine | 5DTF 5-cyl. diesel 700 hp (522 kW) |
| Power/weight | 18.4 hp/tonne (13.7 kW/ton) |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Operational range | 500 km (310 mi), 700 km (430 mi) with external tanks |
| Speed | 60.5 km/h (37.6 mph) (road) |
T-64 Capabilities and Limitations
The T-64 did not share many drawbacks with the T 72, even if it is often confused with it:
- The automatic loader, hydraulic and not electric, is much faster (loading cycle of 6 to 13 seconds) and more reliable, and less sensitive to jolting when running off-road. It also has a "sequence" fire mode which feeds the gun with shells of the same type in less than 5 seconds. It is also able, in the modern versions, to turn backwards to keep a good speed at the end of the load.
- Driving seems much less exhausting for the crew, thanks to assisted controls and a more flexible suspension.
- The ammunition is transported at the lower point of the turret shaft, minimizing the risks of destruction by self-detonation.
- Protection, excellent from the beginning and constantly updated, remains able to stop modern shells thanks to the reactive armor.
- The fire control on the B version is very modern.
- The tank leader's small turret has good sights, the AA machine gun can be operated from inside the turret; he can also control the gun sight in case of emergency.
The T-64 suffers from two usual weaknesses of Soviet tanks:
- Due to the low silhouette, the maximum gun depression angle is limited to -6°, preventing it from using fire positions on steep hill crests (firing "hull-down"), a disadvantage in defensive situations.
- The crew compartments are very small, precluding tall crew members and demanding the use of external storage for equipment. The limited interior space also makes long missions tiring.
Additionally, the adoption of the autoloader was highly controversial for several reasons:
- Early versions of the autoloader lacked safety features and were dangerous to the tank crews (especially the gunner, who sits nearby): Limbs could be easily caught in the machinery, leading to horrible injuries and deaths. A sleeve unknowingly snagged on one of the autoloader's moving parts could also drag a crewman into the apparatus upon firing.
- The turret was poorly configured to allow the human crew to manually load the gun should the autoloader break. In such situations, rate of fire usually slowed to an abysmal one round per minute as the gunner fumbles with the awkward task of working around the broken machine to load the gun.
- While having smaller tank crews (three vs. the usual four) is advantageous since more tanks can theoretically be fielded using the same number of soldiers, there are also serious downsides. Tanks require frequent maintenance and refueling, and much of this is physically demanding work that several people must work together to accomplish. Most of the time, these duties are also performed at the end of a long day of operations, when everyone in the tank is exhausted. Having one less crewman for these tasks increases the strain on the remaining three men and increases the frequency of botched or skipped maintenance. This problem worsens if the tank's commander is also an officer who must often perform other duties such as higher-level meetings, leaving only two men to attend to the tank. All of this means that tanks with three-man crews are more likely to suffer from performance-degrading human exhaustion, and mechanical failures that take longer to fix and that keep the tank from reaching the battlefield. These problems are exacerbated during prolonged time periods of operations.
- The T-64 was criticized for being too mechanically complex, which resulted in a high breakdown rate. Problems were worst with the suspension system, which was of an entirely new and advanced design on the tank. Due to these problems, teams of civilian mechanics from the T-64 factories were "semi-permanent residents" of Soviet tank units early.
T-64 Dimensions
- Length (gun to the front): 9.295 m.
- Length (without the gun): 6.54 m.
- Breadth: 3.6 m.
- Height: 2.17 m.
- Weight: 42.4 t.
T-64 Crew
Three men:
- commander
- driver
- gunner
T-64 Propulsion
- Engine: 5DTF multifuel (diesel, kerosene and petrol) with 5 opposed cylinders, 10 piston, 13.6 L. Developing 700 hp (515 kW) at 2,800 rpm, consumption of 170 to 200 litres per 100 km.
- Transmission: two lateral gearboxes with seven forward and one backward gear.
- Three internal tanks for a 740 litres fuel capacity, two on the mudguards with 140 litres and two droppable 200 litres tanks on the aft end of the chassis.
T-64 Performance
- max. road speed: 60.5 km/h.
- max off-road speed: 35 km/h.
- power-to-weight ratio: 16.2 hp/t (11.9 kW/kg).
- range: 500 km, 700 km with additional tanks.
- ground pressure: 0.9 kgf/cm2 (88 kPa, 12.8 psi).
- able to ford in 1.8 m of water without preparation and 5 m with snorkels.
- crosses a 2.8 m wide trench.
- crosses a 0.8 m high obstacle.
- max. slope 30°.
Armament
- 125 mm smoothbore 2A46M-1 gun (D-81TM) with carousel 6ETs40 loader, 28 shots, fire rate 8 shots per minute, 36 embedded shots (8 x 9M112M "Kobra" (NATO code "AT-8 Songster"), 28 shells). Available shells are all fin-stabilised:
- anti-personnel (APERS) version of the 3UOF-36, 3OVF-22, with several perforating abilities.
- armour-piercing shells (APFSDS) 3UBM-17 or 3UBM-19 or older ones with a supplementary charge giving them an initial speed of about 1800 m/s.
- hollow charge shells, 3VUK-25 or 3UBK-21.
- coaxial machine gun 7.62 mm PKT with 1,250 rounds.
- remote-controlled air-defence machine gun 12.7 mm NSVT "Utyos" with 300 rounds.
- 4+4 (T-64B) or 6+6 (T-64A) 81 mm smoke mortars 902B "Tucha-2".
T-64 Equipment
- The 1A33 fire control system, with:
- Radio control of the 9K112 "Kobra" missiles (NATO code "AT-8 Songster") launched from the gun.
- The 2E28M hydraulic stabiliser (vertical range -5°20' to +15°15')
- The gunner day sight 1G42 with embedded laser telemeter.
- The TPN-1-49-23 active IR night sight.
- The L2G IR projector left of the gun for illumination.
- The 1V517 ballistic calculator.
- The 1B11 anemometric gauge.
- The tank commander's cupola is equipped with:
- The PKN-4S combined day and night sight which allows a 360° vision and to fire the main weapons.
- The PZU-6 AA sight.
- The 2Z20 2-axis electrical stabiliser (vertical range -3° to +70°).
- The TPN-3-49 or TPN-4 and TVN-4 night vision for the driver.
- A R-173M radio.
- An NBC protection, with radiation detectors and global compartment overpressure.
- Two snorkels for crossing rivers with a depth up to 5 m.
- A KMT-6 mine clearing plough can be fitted at the front.
T-64 Protection
- 3-layer composite armour (K formula), with a thickness between 450 and 20 mm:
- front: 120 mm steel, 105 mm glass fibre, 40 mm steel.
- sides: 80 mm steel.
- front of the turret: 150 mm steel, 150 mm glass fibre, 40 mm steel
- lateral rubber skirts protecting the top of the suspension.
- Kontact-1 reactive bricks covering:
- the front and the side of the turret
- the glacis
- the lateral skirts
