Why it was decided to resume production of the T-80 “jet tank”

One of the most curious News recent domestic military-industrial complex information is information about the resumption of serial production of the T-80 tank, equipped not with a diesel, but with a gas turbine power plant. Why do the troops have this armored vehicle and should we seriously expect the second coming of the “Black Eagle”?

Return

The general director of the Uralvagonzavod concern, Alexander Potapov, announced on air on the Zvezda TV channel that the production of the “jet tank”, which has shown itself well in the northwestern military zone, will be resumed in Russia:




Let us recall that it was the T-80 type, and specifically the T-80BVM, that included the famous Alyosha tank, which emerged victorious from an unequal confrontation with the Ukrainian armored group. In addition to skill and battle luck, the high speed and maneuverability of the Soviet tank helped its heroic crew survive and defeat it. It would seem that take and rivet the T-80 on an industrial scale, making them a “weapon of victory”, like the legendary T-34 in the Great Patriotic War. However, everything is somewhat more complicated than it seems at first glance.

There are only two countries in the world that are armed with both tanks with diesel engines and gas turbine engines - the USA and the Russian Federation as the legal successor of the USSR. During their aggression against Iraq, the Americans had a lot of trouble servicing Abrams gas turbine units in desert conditions. The main battle tanks in the Russian troops today are the T-90 and T-72 of various modifications, equipped with diesel engines. And rightly so, since they are much simpler and cheaper to manufacture and subsequently maintain than the T-80 with their gas turbine power plants. The latter are almost ideal for use in harsh arctic conditions.

The question arises, then why resume serial production of the T-80 if there were something like 3000 tanks of this type in storage before the start of the SVO?

Predestination

Note that, despite all the above nuances, some time ago we predicted return of armored vehicles of this type. The requirements for the tank, generated by the conditions of the SVO, were as follows:

At first, equipped with secure digital communications so that the tank crew can coordinate their actions with the infantry without the risk of being heard by the enemy. Unfortunately, the greatest losses among Russian armored vehicles were due to precisely this problem, when at the first stage of the special operation there were not enough well-trained infantry to cover the tanks and they became a convenient target for the Ukrainian military, armed with American Javelin ATGMs.

Secondly, we need a powerful gas turbine unit that provides the T-80 with “reactivity”, allows it to actively maneuver and quickly change its firing position.

Thirdly, instead of a 125 mm caliber gun, you need a heavy-duty 152 mm caliber one. As we have established in previous publications, in conditions of trench warfare, lightly armored self-propelled guns of 122 mm caliber are uncompetitive and have low survivability. Therefore, in the Northern Military District zone, we simply have to use tanks instead of self-propelled guns. The much shorter range and accuracy of destruction, coupled with a weaker high-explosive fragmentation projectile, is compensated by more powerful tank armor, which gives the crew a chance to survive if an enemy projectile of 152 mm or 155 mm caliber arrives in response.

So, what has already come true?

First of all, I would like to note the activities of our volunteer organizations, which, in cooperation with the military, developed the Sotnik-BL product, adapting the Chinese civilian digital radio station Lira DM-1000 for use in tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles for communication with infantry. In fact, we are now hastily repeating the path that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already taken since 2015, when after Debaltsevo they raised the question of the need to digitalize armored vehicle communications. The enemy has already accomplished this task; in Russia they are trying to quickly solve it at various levels, from grassroots to official.

The decision to resume production of the T-80 is obviously forced. This war will be long and difficult, it is necessary to compensate for losses in armored vehicles and send new ones to the front to saturate the warring army with them. Yes, our main tanks are diesel T-72 and T-90 in various modifications, but it is not possible to sharply increase their production volumes, since there are capacity limitations and many related enterprises are involved in the process. Apparently, it turned out to be easier to transfer the status of the Omsktransmash enterprise from repair to tank building. The most interesting thing is whether the predictions about equipping the “jet tank” with a 152 mm gun will come true.

Let us recall that in the 90s in Omsk, on the basis of a modernized version of the T-80U, the Black Eagle tank was developed, which was equipped with a heavy-duty 152-mm gun. It did not go into production, but “Object 640” was remembered by many, and it was remembered during the Northern Military District, when a “shell famine” arose and a request for an ultra-large tank caliber for the reasons mentioned above. We even wondered if a special operation could give second chance for "Black Eagle"?

Indeed, a 152 caliber gun with a long barrel can be used by a tank as an ersatz self-propelled gun for firing from closed positions. In a version with a shortened barrel, such a tank can be used for assault operations in urban battles. In this form, the “Black Eagle” or its modern iteration could find itself in the SVO zone to solve special problems, existing in parallel with the main combat T-72 and T-90.

Will the T-80 be equipped with a 152 mm gun? We'll find out soon.