T-54/T-55

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"T-54" redirects here. For an American tank prototype from the same era, see T54 (American
tank). For other uses, see T54 (disambiguation).
"T-55" redirects here. For the American utility carrier prototype, see M50 Ontos. For the turbine
engine, see Honeywell T55.
T-54/55

A T-54 Tank on display at Victory Park, Kazan

 Medium tank (Warsaw pact
designation)
Type  Main battle tank

(NATO designation)
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1947–present
Used by See Operators
Wars See Combat History
Production history
 KMDB (T-54)
Designer  OKB-520 (T-54A and later)

Designed 1945–1958
 KhPZ, UVZ (Soviet Union)
 Bumar-Łabędy (Poland)
Manufacturer
 ZTS Martin (Czechoslovakia)
 US$200,000 (export price to Egypt,
Unit cost
1956–1972)[1]
 1946–1981 (Soviet Union)
 1956–1979 (Poland)
Produced
 1957–1983 (Czechoslovakia)

96,500–100,000+ est., inculding:

35,000 T-54 and 27,500 T-55 (by
Soviet)
No. built
13,000 Type-59/69/79 (by China)
11,000 T-54/55 (by Czechslovakia)
10,000 T-54/55 (by Poland)
See Operators and variants section
Variants
below
Specifications (T-55)
Mass 36 tonnes (39.7 ST)
Length 9.00 m (with gun forward)
Width 3.37 m
Height 2.40 m
Crew 4

205 mm turret front

130 mm turret sides
60 mm turret rear
30 mm turret roof
120 mm hull front at 60° (100 mm after
Armour 1949)[2]
79 mm hull upper sides
20 mm hull lower sides
60 mm at 0° hull rear
20 mm hull bottom
33-16 mm hull roof
Main
D-10T 100 mm rifled gun(43 rounds)
armament
Secondary 7.62 mm SGMT coaxial machine gun,
armament (12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun)
Model V-55(V-54) V-12 water-cooled.
38.88-l diesel
Engine
500 hp (373 kW) up to 800 hp (597 kW)
(late versions)
Power/weight 14.6 hp (10.4 kW) / tonne
Mechanical (synchromesh), 5 forward, 1
Transmission
reverse gears
Suspension Torsion bar
Ground clearance 0.425 m
580 L internal, 320 L external (less on
Fuel capacity early T54), 400 L jettisonable rear
drums
Maximum speed 51 km/h (31.6 mph)

 v
 t
 e

T-54 and T-55 tanks

The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years
following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the
end of 1945.[3] From the late 1950s, the T-54 eventually became the main tank for armoured units
of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and many others. T-54s and T-55s
have been involved in many of the world's armed conflicts since their introduction in last half of
the 20th century.

The T-54/55 series is the most-produced tank in history. Estimated production numbers for the
series range from 96,500 to 100,000. They were replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90
tanks in the Soviet and Russian armies, but remain in use by up to 50 other armies worldwide,
some having received sophisticated retrofitting.

During the Cold War, Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO adversaries in combat in
Europe. However, the T-54/55's first appearance in the West around the period of the 1950s
(then the beginning of the Cold War) spurred the United Kingdom to develop a new tank gun,
the Royal Ordnance L7, and the United States to develop the M60 Patton.[4]

Contents
 1 Development history
o 1.1 Predecessors: T-34 and T-44
o 1.2 Prototypes
o 1.3 T-54
 1.3.1 T-54A and T-54B
o 1.4 T-55
 1.4.1 T-55A
o 1.5 T-54/T-55 upgrades
 2 Description
o 2.1 Advantages and drawbacks
 3 Production history
o 3.1 Soviet Union
o 3.2 Poland
o 3.3 Czechoslovakia
  4 Service history
o 4.1 Soviet Union and Russia
o 4.2 Middle East
o 4.3 Vietnam War
o 4.4 Ogaden War
o 4.5 Angola
o 4.6 India and Pakistan
o 4.7 Other conflicts
 5 Combat history
 6 Operators and variants
 7 Museums/ T-54/T-55 on display
 8 See also
 9 Citations
 10 General bibliography
 11 External links

Development history
Predecessors: T-34 and T-44

Main articles: T-34 and T-44

The Soviet T-34 medium tank of the 1940s is considered to have the best balance of firepower
(F-34 tank gun 76.2 mm gun), protection and mobility for its cost of any tank of its time in the
world.[5] Its development never stopped throughout the Second World War and it continued to
perform well; however, the designers could not incorporate the latest technologies or major
developments as vital tank production could not be interrupted during wartime.

In 1943, the Morozov Design Bureau resurrected the pre-war T-34M development project and
created the T-44 tank. Thanks to a space-efficient torsion-bar suspension