#t-80u

[epictones]

A mid-war Soviet Heavy Tank, part of an armour battalion diverted through a mountain pass in Poland to support the blunted spearhead in Germany. Heavy Tank 812 was confirmed destroyed after the Allied victory in the region.

Just a straightforward C&C Red Alert conversion.

[smokehalos]

idek anymore

transparent tank under the cut

[telogreika]

Т-80У

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Turretless Russian T-80U main battle tank, Russia, September 24, 2024. Source: ukr.warspotting.net

[gladioshocktrooper]

Russian T-80U of the 4th Tank Brigade.

[ramesseum]

[captain-price-unofficially]

A very rare T-80U in Ukrainian service with the Ukrainian 58th Motorized Brigade, 2024.

[sabotpetal]

"I could have sworn there was a T-80U tank around here somewhere"

[i-identify-tanks-in-posts]

What manner of scandalously naked Russian is this?

Obj. 219, Russian Prototype MBT.

This is the development prototype for the T-80U. It could also be Obj. 478B, which has some differences, but nude as it is, I don't know.

90% confidence (unsure of variant)

[tanksandbeyond]

A South Korean T-80U of the 3rd Armored Brigade conducting live fire training at a firing range in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, 2019.

The T-80U is a further development of the Soviet T-80 tank, featuring a much better protected turret fitted with Kontakt-5 ERA, an improved 1A45 fire control system, the ability to fire 9M119 Svir missiles, and a number of other improvements. South Korea received its T-80Us from Russia as a debt payment incurred from the Soviet Union era. The first six T-80Us arrived in 1996, followed by 27 more in 1997, and two T-80UK command variants in 2005. For a time they were better than South Korea's own K1 tank, and indeed, anything the North could field. as the K1 was upgraded and the K2 eventually entered service, the T-80U was increasingly obsolescent, and was criticized by South Korean tank crews as being cramped and inaccurate compared to other tanks fielded by the Republic of Korea Army.

[gremlins-hotel]

Who was gonna tell me the Challenger II’s field armor package makes that thing nearly 80 tons? 80 tons??? Britain what are you doing 😭 the Challenger II is already the heaviest & most underpowered NATO tank without all that. 1,200 horsepower for 80 TONS?? That’s 15 hp/ton. I mean that’s not…that’s not pitiful, but your contemporaries are pushing 23.2/t (M1A2) and 24-26.9/t (Leopard 2A5). Please babe, I’m begging. Be better. Even the Z-mobiles are beating you brother: 23/t (T-72B +), ~24.7/t (T-80U/BV), 21.3/t (T-90M). This is ignoring other ground vehicle types such as IFVs, surface-to-air missile defense, etc. that we have also seen fielded.

(((One should strive for a power/weight ratio of 18-20 hp per ton. Ideal is 20+. Most NATO tanks come in at 60+ tons with engines running 1,500 horsepower to the sprockets. This is a good place to be for mobility’s sake; get to positions faster, leave positions faster, being mobile when in potentially target-rich environments. Cold War Soviet & modern Russian Federation tanks tend to be a lot smaller than NATO counterparts (often in the 45-60 ton range) and, though their engines are smaller (1,000-1,250 horsepower), they are just mobile relative to weight.)))

In other news, Ukrainian armored forces are being incredibly resilient and resourceful in attaching their own homemade ERA (reactive armor; against chemical & kinetic threats) to their freshly delivered Leopards. I’m assuming they’re doing it to their Challengers as well, but I haven’t seen the pictures like I have for the Leos. Leo 2A4 with added on ERA:

In other, other news, the Kremlin is pulling T-54s and T-55s out of mothballs and reserves to be sent to the Ukrainian front. Guys, these are tanks that started service in 1948. If you’re too lazy to do math, these are 75-year-old heaps that probably haven’t seen the touch of a mechanic in two decades despite the T-54 technically still being in-service.

Bonus pics just because they look goofy: M1A2 vs T-72 & T-55 vs. Challenger II

[aresdifesa]

Trattative tra Cipro e Francia per sistemi d'arma Al centro delle trattative vi sono missili Mistral e carri armati T-80U che sarebbero presi in carico dalla Francia e trasferiti alla Ucraina, con fornitura di nuovi sistemi d'arma a Cipro

[crazygadgetshere]

The T-80U with Full Interior is Coming Soon!

Amusing Hobby shares information on its upcoming kit. Source

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Destroyed T-80U belonging to Russia's 4th Guards Tank Division, 1st Guards Tank Army, Western Military District, Ukraine, 2023. Source:  Naalsio 26 

P.S. Though lost as of Autumn 2022, this loss appears to have remained undocumented until now.

Despite Russian propaganda claims spread by some “click byte media” in the West, actually Ukrainian tactical counteroffensive operations are proceeding forward quite well...By June 10, 2023, approximately  3909 Russian main battle tanks were destroyed...  

[jcmarchi]

Defenders of Ukraine Notice an Increase of Old Tanks in Russian Forces - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/defenders-of-ukraine-notice-an-increase-of-old-tanks-in-russian-forces-technology-org/

Defenders of Ukraine Notice an Increase of Old Tanks in Russian Forces - Technology Org

Russia is losing thousands of tanks in Ukraine. Different estimates show different results, but the losses of Russian armour are definitely hurting them. This is evident in the fact that the defenders of Ukraine are noticing a significant increase in old tanks in Russian service. Namely, the T-62s are becoming commonplace on the battlefields in Ukraine and even the older T-55/54 tanks are not as rare as they used to be.

T-62 and T-62M tanks being transported in Russia in 2013. Image credit: Glenn J. Mason via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)

After the battle for Avdiivka, the Russians began to use T-62 and T-55/54 tanks more often. Many of them are not even modernized, as noticed by Ukrainian FPV drone operators. Analysts note that this could be due to huge losses at the frontlines and low production rates.

Even more interesting, as Defense Express noted, is that the Russians have similar problems with infantry fighting vehicles. This is underlined by the use of MT-LB as an armoured personnel transporter – Russia officially has much better, safer machines for this. The MT-LB, of course, is ubiquitous and one of its main functions was always transport, but these machines are easily defeated and not the standard choice for frontline service.

Open-source intelligence analysts found that in August, the Russians had 219 T-55s in their long-term storage sites, and about a hundred of them were taken to war in Ukraine. The T-62 stocks are significantly larger – in August, about 600 such tanks were taken out of storage, and about 800 remained in storage for later use.

These old tanks are modestly modernized bit by bit, but Ukrainian drones often destroy T-62s that have not been modernized at all. This is because the factories refurbishing these old machines are slow and the job is not easy as these tanks have been sitting outside for decades.

The modernization potential of the T-80U is practically exhausted as well, since there are only a few dozen such tanks left in Russian storage sites, and they are unlikely to be suitable for modernization. Probably those will be used for spare parts only.

In 2023, Russia announced the resumption of T-80U production. They were talking not about pulling old tanks out of storage and refurbishing them, but about brand new production. This, of course, was an embarrassing statement for a country that brags about the non-existent T-14 Armata, but Russia has no other options.

The T-80 has been in service since 1976. At the same time, plans to resume production indicate that there are no more T-80Us suitable for modernization in storage and, therefore, new tanks need to be made.

There are about 170 T-80UDs in Russian tank storage yards, but they are likely just donors of spare parts as their 6TD engines were produced in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Therefore, units of the 1st Tank Army gradually switched to the T-80BV, which has a Russian engine, but there seemed to be problems with them too. The marine units of this army receive T-55s instead of the newer T-80BVs, which is a significant downgrade

The optimism about the exhaustion of Russian tank resources should be very limited. Russia has thousands of tanks left. Experts started talking about the problems of Russian armour probably a year ago, but Ukraine is still at a disadvantage in terms of the quantity of armoured machines.

Hopefully, however, the use of older tanks indicates that Russia does have some concerns and issues and the continued pressure of Ukrainian drones will put a sizable dent in Russian stocks.

Written by Povilas M.

Sources: Unian.net, Wikipedia

[captain-price-unofficially]

Cat with a T-80U belonging to Russia's 4th Guards Tank Division, 1st Guards Tank Army, Western Military District. 2024