T-64

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T-64
T-64BV model 2017 in 2021
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1966–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Transnistria War Angolan Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Russian invasion of Ukraine Kamwina Nsapu rebellion
Production history
Designer	KMDB
Designed	1951–1962
Manufacturer	Malyshev Factory
Produced	1963–1987
No. built	≈13,000
Specifications (T-64A[2])
Mass	38 tonnes (42 short tons; 37 long tons)
Length	9.225 m (30 ft 3.2 in) (gun forward)
Width	3.415 m (11 ft 2.4 in)
Height	2.172 m (7 ft 1.5 in)
Crew	3 (driver, commander, gunner)
Armour	Glass-reinforced plastic sandwiched between layers of steel. ERA plates on later versions Hull & turret – 370 mm to 440 mm vs APFSDS 500 mm to 575 mm vs HEAT[1]
Main armament	125 mm smoothbore gun 2A26(M/M-1) (T-64A), 125 mm smoothbore gun D-81T (aka 2A46)
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKMT coaxial machine gun, 12.7 mm NSVT anti-aircraft machine gun
Engine	5TDF 5-cylinder diesel 13.6 litre 700 hp (522 kW)
Power/weight	18.4 hp/tonne (13.7 kW/ton)
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	500 km (310 mi), 700 km (430 mi) with external tanks
Maximum speed	45–60 km/h (28–37 mph) depending on version

The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Alexander Morozov. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while the T-62 supported infantry in motor rifle divisions. It introduced a number of advanced features including composite armour, a compact engine and transmission, and a smoothbore 125-mm gun equipped with an autoloader to allow the crew to be reduced to three so the tank could be smaller and lighter. In spite of being armed and armoured like a heavy tank, the T-64 weighed only 38 tonnes (42 short tons; 37 long tons).

These features made the T-64 expensive to build, significantly more so than previous generations of Soviet tanks. This was especially true of the power plant, which was time-consuming to build and cost twice as much as more conventional designs. Several proposals were made to improve the T-64 with new engines, but chief designer Alexander Alexandrovich Morozov's political power in Moscow kept the design in production in spite of any concerns about price.^{[citation needed]}

The T-64 formed the design basis of the Soviet T-80,^[3] which entered service in 1976. The tank is in use in a few nations or regions as of 2023. The T-64 is undergoing significant factory overhauls and modernization in Ukraine.