History and Introduction
When the T-80 first appeared in front of the global public eye it sent many tank designers a wake up call. Building upon the traditional eastern designs of the T-64 and T-72, the T-80 featured better armour, the autoloader from the T-64, composite armour like the T-72 (but better) and the 2A46M-1 cannon sporting lethal APFSDS rounds as well as gun launched ATGMs. The most striking feature however, was its unmistakable Gas Turbine engine. The T-80B was the world’s first mass produced MBT with such an engine, and the performance spoke for itself.
The T-80 was the progenitor for a series of MBTs that found service in almost a dozen militaries around the world including Armenia, Pakistan, Cyprus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Belarus (important for our story today). But with this fame, came those with ulterior motives. The western powers created elaborate methods in order to get their hands on the brand new Soviet Main Battle Tank. The United Kingdom created a shell trading company which was, officially, supposed to deliver the T-80s to Morroco, but they were re-directed to British territory. They conducted trials and even handed one over to the Americans to tests at Aberdeen Proving grounds.
The Germans, not to be let behind, also staged a plot to get their hands on a T-80. In 1985, after a series of ‘thefts’ of Soviet equipment including the T-64 in previous years, they ‘acquired’ a T-80U from a ‘contact’ in Belarus. The game was on. They put the vehicle through rigorous testing, including the armour protection, optronics, FCS and the autoloader mechanisms.
However, while the above mentioned content is accurate, there is one small lie. The Germans intentionally (and later unintentionally) filled the air with misinformation. The T-80U that arrived from Belarus may have actually originated in Ukraine. The explanation behind this is that the actual operation to acquire the T-80U was not undertaken in 1985, but rather in the early 1990s, probably 1992. This is made mroe certain from CIA intelligence reports on spotting the new T-80 in Kharkiv. And while Belarus was alleged to be the source of the MBT, it was actually from Soviet divisions in Ukraine, which, nearing the demise of the USSR, were is disarray and similarly to the UK operation, there were black market sales by the Spetstekhnika organization to different countries which then got re-routed to western nations for evaluation and testing.
Some sources even say that the T-80U was recevied via the UK operation. However I beleive it most likely came from Ukraine and they were simply not ‘accused’ as a form of protecting the nascent state and fostering goodwill (nothing says we dont like you more than snitching on you).
This allowed the Germans to advance their own studies into the fields of protection as well as anti-armour kinetic energy penetrators in the form of new APFSDS rounds that could challenge Soviet ERA.
In-game the FRG T-80U could serve as a nice end of the line vehicle to top off the GDR MBT line after the T-72M1 and possibly the trialled T-72S (export T-72B).
Specifications
Weight: 46t
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Engine: GTD-1250 Gas Turbine Engine (1250hp)
P/W: 27.2hp/t
Top Speed: 80km/h
Crew: 3 (Commandet, Gunner, Driver)
—Equipment—
Night Vision: Yes (All)
TVD: Generation 1 (Gunner only)
Laser Range Finder: Yes
—Armament—
Main Gun: 125mm 2A46M-1 Cannon
- Stabiliser: Yes
- Elevation Limits: -5, +15
- Traverse Limits: 360
Co-axial: 7.62mm PKT MG
Anti Aircraft: 12.7mm NSVT HMG
—Ammunition—
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120mm: 45 rounds (28 in Autoloader)
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12.7mm: 500 (100 in Magazine)
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7.62mm: 1250 (250 in Magazine)
Photo Gallery
Sorry, no images are declassified.
Although there is one document in the Bundes Archiv that might shed more light onto this story, however it is currently not digitsed/accessible. I will try to update this suggestion when the information is available.
Sources
- T-80U | War Thunder Wiki
- CIA Reading Room cia-rdp85t00060r000300110001-9: PROBABLE REACTIVE ARMOR ON T-80 TANK KHARKOV TANK AND VEHICLE TEST FACILITY, USSR (SANITIZED) : CIA Reading Room : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
- https://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp_pdf.cfm?DACH_RECNO=422
- https://invenio.bundesarchiv.de/invenio/direktlink/f9b0ceeb-5521-4b9b-a816-078c84aa3512/
- https://invenio.bundesarchiv.de/invenio/direktlink/0a881d70-e1c3-4f9e-960d-3e6eaa327a71/
I usually dont make such suggestions, but since people have been making suggestions like this (captured vehicles), I thought it would be fair and justified. As always, PLEASE remain respectful in the thread.
Data and content will keep updating as more information is revealed. Thank you for reading!
- Yes
- No (Give reason)