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Polish T-55A tanks on the streets during Martial Law in Poland during 1981. Author: J. Żołnierkiewicz.
Some of Nazi Germany's captured Soviet T-34 Model 1943 tanks pressed into service with the Wehrmacht, January 1944. Accession number: Bild 101I-277-0836-04.
Two T-72B tanks at the Chebarkul training ground, Russia, April 2017. Author: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Attribution: Mil.ru.
Soviet T-34-85 in East Berlin on 17 June in the June 16-17 East German uprising of 1953. Attribution: Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F005191-0040 / CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Overview[]
Here is a list of the most plentiful tanks the Eastern Bloc could issue on mass for a war in Europe (including invading the Asian part of Turkey) as of about 1980-83. Yugoslavia and Albania had left the Soviet bloc by then, but may have been attacked if NATO wanted to take the war on communism to it's maximum existent.
Finland was neutral, but it was a Soviet vassal of most of the Cold War and the USA had a similar vassalage over neutral Sweden at the same time. A Cold War gone hot may have included both Finland and Sweden. Finland had only a few dozen tanks and no one class reached the threshold numbers.
Quality, quantity and age were a major issue for some nations.
The best use of the tanks[]
Never use tanks in mountainous terrain or forests since mobility is badly restricted. Urban warfare is dangerous since people can drop bombs trough open turret hatches. Tanks will sink in marshes and are to heavy too cross some types of bridges.
The list[]
To qualify for the list of heavy, medium and main battle tanks, an Eastern Bloc nation must have 500 or more Soviet designed tanks (*2,000 for the much bigger USSR and **250 for puny Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and Albania), or 100 or more of a native design.
| Tank. | Users | Nation of origin. | Designed. | Produced. | Operational range. | Maximum speed. | Ground clearance. | Mass in tonnes. | Thickest and thinnest armour plates. | Was it obsolete by 1983? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The M-4 Sherman | Yugoslavia | USA | Out of date | |||||||
| The T-10 | USSR | *USSR | . | |||||||
| The T-10A | USSR | *USSR | ||||||||
| The T-10M | USSR | *USSR | ||||||||
| The T64A | USSR | *USSR | ||||||||
| The T64B | USSR | *USSR | . | |||||||
| The T-72 | USSR, GDR | *USSR | 1967–1973 | 1968- to date | 460 km (290 mi), 700 km (430 mi) with fuel drums | 60 to 75 km/h (37 to 47 mph) | 0.49 m (19 in) | 1.5 tonnes (45.7 short tons) | N\A | In date |
| The T-72 Ural | USSR | *USSR | 460 km (290 mi), 700 km (430 mi) with fuel drums | 60 to 75 km/h (37 to 47 mph) | 0.49 m (19 in) | 1.5 tonnes (45.7 short tons) | N\A | In date | ||
| The T-72A | USSR | *USSR | 1967-73 | 1968 to present date | 460 km (290 mi), 700 km (430 mi) with fuel drums | 60 to 75 km/h (37 to 47 mph) | 0.49 m (19 in) | 1.5 tonnes (45.7 short tons) | N\A | In date |
| The T-34-85 (1969 upgrade) | Romania, Yugoslavia | USSR | 1942-43 + a 1969 upgrade | 1944-53 + a 1969 upgrade | On roads: 330 km (210 mi) Cross-country:200 km (120 mi) (1940-41 model) | 53 km/h (33 mph) (1940-41 model) | 0.4 m (16 in) (1940-41 model) | 26.5 tonnes (29.2 short tons; 26.1 long tons) (1940-41 model) | Hull front 47 mm /60° (upper part)and Turret top 16 mm (1940-41 model) | Ageing |
| The T-34 (1940-41 model) | USSR (they are mostly on the Chines border and used for driver training) | USSR | 1937-40 | 1940-58 | On roads: 330 km (210 mi) Cross-country:200 km (120 mi) | 53 km/h (33 mph) | 0.4 m (16 in) | 26.5 tonnes (29.2 short tons; 26.1 long tons) | Hull front 47 mm /60° (upper part)and Turret top 16 mm | Out of date |
| The Type 59 | Albania | PRC | 1956-59 | 1959-1985 | 450 km, 600 km with external tanks | 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) | N/A | 36 tonnes (35 long tons; 40 short tons) | 20–203 mm | Ageing |
| The TR-77-580 | Romania (both tanks) | Romania (both tanks) | 1974-77 (TR-77-580) | 1977-1985 (TR-77-580) | 400 km (250 mi) (TR-85) | 60 km/h (37 mph) (TR-85) | N\A | 50 tonnes (55.12 tons) (TR-85) | turret: 320 + 20 mm add-on composite armour, hull: 200 mm composite armour (TR-85) | In date |
| The T-55 | Romania | *USSR, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania, GDR, Yugoslavia | 1954–1956 | 1958–1983 | 325 kilometres (202 mi), 610 kilometres (380 mi) with extra tanks (on unpaved roads) | Maximum speed 51 kilometres per hour (32 mph) | 0.425 m (16.7 in) | 36 metric tons (35.4 long tons; 39.7 short tons) | 205 mm turret front/20 mm hull bottom and hull lower sides | Ageing |
| The T-62 | *USSR and **Bulgaria | USSR | Late 1950s-1961 | 1961–1975 | 450 km (280 mi) on road (650 km (400 mi) with two 200 L (53 US gal; 44 imp gal) extra fuel tanks) 320 km (200 mi) cross-country (450 km (280 mi) with two 200-liter extra fuel tanks) | Maximum speed 50 km/h (31 mph) (road), 40 km/h (25 mph) (cross country) | 425 mm (16.7 in) | 37 t (41 short tons; 36 long tons) | 214 (242 after 1972) mm turret front, 15 mm hull lower sides | Ageing |
| The T-54 | USSR | *USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, GDR, Albania | 1949-51 (T-54) | 1954-57 (T-54) | 325 kilometres (202 mi), 610 kilometres (380 mi) with extra tanks (on unpaved roads) (T-55) | Maximum speed 51 kilometres per hour (32 mph) (T-55) | 0.425 m (16.7 in) (T-55) | 36 metric tons (35.4 long tons; 39.7 short tons) (T-55) | 205 mm turret front/20 mm hull bottom and hull lower sides | Ageing |
| The T-80 | *USSR | USSR | 1967–1975 (T-80B) | 1975-2001 (T-80B) | 335 km (208 mi) (road, without external tanks), 415 km (258 mi) (road, with external tanks) | 80 km/h (50 mph) (T-80U), 48 km/h (30 mph) (cross country) | 0.38 m (1.2 ft) (T-80B) | 42.5 tons (T-80B) | Hull 440–450 mm vs APFSDS 500–575 mm vs HEAT, Turret 500 mm vs APFSDS 650 mm vs HEAT (T-80B) | Top notch |
Also see[]
- Cold War
- Tank desant
- Seven days to the River Rhine (1979)
- A hypothetical 1981 East-West war as it could be for days 1-10