T-62

For the gas turbine engine, see Solar T62.
T-62

A T-62 tank on display at the Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II in Kiev.

A T-62 tank on display at the Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II in Kiev.
Type Main battle tank
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1961–present
Production history
Designer OKB-520 design bureau
Manufacturer Uralvagonzavod
Produced 1961–1975 (USSR)
1975–1978 (Czechoslovakia)
–1980s (North Korea)
Number built More than 22,700
Specifications (T-62)
Weight 37 t (41 short tons; 36 long tons)
Length 9.34 m (30 ft 8 in) with barrel in forward position
6.63 m (21 ft 9 in) hull only
Width 3.30 m (10 ft 10 in)
Height 2.40 m (7 ft 10 in)
Crew 4 (commander, driver, gunner, loader)
Armor Cast turret[1][2]
214(242 after 1972) mm turret front[3][1][2]
153 mm turret sides[3][1][2]
97 mm turret rear[3][1][2]
40 mm turret roof[3][1][2]
102 mm at 60° hull front[3][1][2]
79 mm hull upper sides[3][1][2]
15 mm hull lower sides[3][1][2]
46 mm at 0° hull rear[3][1][2]
20 mm hull bottom[3][1][2]
31 mm hull roof[3][1][2]
Main
armament
 115 mm U-5TS (2A20) smoothbore gun (40 rounds)[3]
Secondary
armament
 7.62 mm PKT coaxial general-purpose machine gun (2500 rounds)
12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 antiaircraft heavy machine gun (optional until T-62 Obr.1972)[4]
Engine V-55 12-cylinder 4-stroke one-chamber 38.88 liter water-cooled diesel
581 hp (433 kW) at 2,000 rpm
Power/weight 14.5 hp/tonne (10.8 kW/tonne)
Suspension torsion bar
Ground clearance 425 mm (16.7 in)[4]
Fuel capacity 960 l[4]
1360 l with two 200-liter extra fuel tanks[4]
Operational
range
 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)[5]
Speed 50 km/h (31 mph) (road)
40 km/h (25 mph) (cross country)

The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that first entered production in 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 incorporated many armament features that would become standardized in subsequent Soviet tanks. Notably, its adoption of 115 mm unrifled cannon started of a long line of Soviet and Russian mass-produced smoothbore tank guns. While the T-62 became the standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, it did not fully replaced the T-55 in export markets due to its higher costs of manufacturing and maintenance compared to its predecessor. While still used in some countries, the T-62 was replaced by the T-72 service in the Russia and successor states of the Soviet Union.

Development history

The initial requirements

By the late 1950s, Soviet commanders realized that the T-55's 100 mm gun was incapable of penetrating the frontal armor of newer Western tanks like the Centurion and M48 Patton with standard armor-piercing shells. While 100 mm HEAT ammo could have accomplished the task, they were considerably more expensive and required more training of tank crews for proper use. It was decided to up-gun the T-55 with a 115 mm smoothbore cannon, capable of firing APFSDS rounds. Experimental trials showed that the T-55 was inherently unsuited to mount the larger new cannon, and work therefore began on a new tank. The bigger gun required a bigger turret and turret ring to absorb the higher recoil. This in turn necessitated a larger hull, as the T-55 hull was simply too small to accept the new turret. The T-62 thus took shape, marking an evolutionary improvement upon the T-55.[6]

Ob'yekt 140

At the time when Alexander Morozov was working on his Ob'yekt 430 tank (a T-64 prototype), a young engineer, Leonid N. Kartsev, was the head of the OKB-520 design bureau of Uralvagonzavod factory (UVZ) in Nizhny Tagil. He was responsible for the T-54A (Ob'yekt 137G) and T-54B (Ob'yekt 137G2) modernizations of T-54 main battle tank. After work on the T-54M (Ob'yekt 139) modernization was abandoned he and his design team started working on a new tank, called Ob'yekt 140. The new tank had a suspension with six light roadwheels made of aluminium. The turret was cast and armed with a 100 mm D-54TS tank gun with the Molniya two-plane stabilization system. The tank carried 50 rounds and was powered by a V-36 diesel engine developed by engineer Artiemejev. The engine was placed on the bottom of the hull, a solution which reduced the height of the engine compartment. The Ob'yekt 140 weighed 37.6 tonnes.

Morozov's Ob'yekt 430 tank had a hull of welded rolled steel plates and a turret of cast and forged steel. The turret had three-layer armour with an overall thickness of 185 mm to 240 mm. It was armed with the same D-54TS tank gun as Kartsev's Ob'yekt 140. In 1957 Uralvagonzavod built two Ob'yekt 140 prototypes which were put on trials soon after. The trials showed that because of the complicated construction of many of the tank's systems, Kartsev's tank would be expensive in serial production and hard to maintain.

Forced to abandon the Ob'yekt 140 project, he started working on yet another T-54 main battle tank modernization called the T-55 (Ob'yekt 155) in which he included one of the key features from his Ob'yekt 140 tank: the upper fuel tanks were fitted with mounts for tank gun ammunition. This increased the ammunition load carried by the tank to 45 rounds.

T-62A (Ob'yekt 165)

At the end of 1958 Kartsev decided to modernize the Ob'yekt 140 turret. He fitted it with a cartridge-case ejector and mounted it onto a stretched T-55 chassis with a new suspension. He also considered that designs based on already produced vehicles had higher chance of acceptance. The Ob'yekt 140 turret diameter, bigger than the T-55 turret by 249 mm, made redesigning the central part of the hull necessary. Kartsev changed the arrangement of the torsion beams, which was necessary to keep the tank's weight balanced. The tank received the designation "Ob'yekt 165" and in November 1958 three prototypes were built. In January 1962 the Ob'yekt 165 was accepted for service under the name T-62A. In the same year 5 tanks were produced by Factory #183 which were put into experimental service.[7]

Ob'yekt 166

While working on a new tank, Kartsev was looking for a more powerful tank gun. The 100 mm D-10T and D-54 tank guns had a fierce opponent in the form of the British L7A1 tank gun. The Soviets decided to "recaliber" the already existing 100 mm D-54TS tank gun. The modifications done to the gun included removing the rifling of the gun, reducing the profile of the bullet chamber, removing the muzzle brake, lengthening the gun tube, adding an automatic cartridge-case ejector, and adding a bore evacuator in the middle of the gun tube (as opposed to the D-45TS tank gun, which had a bore evacuator in the base of the gun tube). The new 115 mm tank gun was designated U-5TS "Molot" Rapira, which was the first Soviet 115 mm smoothbore tank gun. When it went into serial production it received the designation 2A20. It was put in trials against the D-10TS tank gun, which armed the T-54B as well as some T-55 and T-55A main battle tanks. These trials showed that the undercaliber projectiles shot out of the U-5TS had a 700 km/h higher muzzle velocity. It became apparent that the maximum range of the new tank gun was almost double that of the D-10TS. The only serious drawback of the U-5TS tank gun was the fact that it was not as accurate as the D-10TS, because of the lack of rifling. However, the greater range of the gun and its extremely high muzzle velocity made the poor accuracy less of an issue.

The new 115 mm U-5TS "Molot" (2A20) Rapira smoothbore tank gun was fitted into the Ob'yekt 140 turret at the end of 1960. The new tank received the designation "Ob'yekt 166". In 1960 both Ob'yekt 165 and Ob'yekt 166 prototypes passed their trials. The Uralvagonzavod was preparing to start serial production of the new tank, though the General Armoured Directorate (GBTU) was paying much more attention to Morozov's Ob'yekt 430, which was in development since early 1952. Morozov was supported by general Ustinov, who was in charge of Soviet military industry at the time. He didn't see it as necessary to produce the new tank from Uralvagonzavod but soon the situation changed dramatically with the appearance of a new American main battle tank, the M60. According to S. Zaloga, in January 1961 an Iranian officer defected with his new US-made M60A1 main battle tank across the border into the Soviet Union.[8] The M60A1's armour layout and its 105 mm M68 tank gun infuriated the chief of the Soviet tank force. Coincidentally the British 105 mm was adopted by NATO after British officials examined a T-54A acquired through a similar event, where a T-54A was driven to the British embassy grounds in 1956.[8] This situation caused great concern in the Soviet armoured forces. In 1961 the Soviet intelligence discovered that the British were working on a new main battle tank armed with a 120 mm tank gun. Because of this, Marshal Vasily Chuikov, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Army's Ground Forces, demanded an explanation of the "Kartsev's tanks" case. At a conference of GBTU and the Soviet ground forces committee it became apparent that Morozov's Ob'yekt 430 tank was only 10% better than the serial T-55. Because of this, Morozov's project was deemed a complete failure. Though the representatives of Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau disclosed their work on the improved Ob'yekt 432 (which would ultimately become the T-64), Chuikov demanded that production of the Ob'yekt 166 main battle tank be started immediately.

The OKB-520 design bureau of Uralvagonzavod provided another design, the Ob'yekt 167, which was the Ob'yekt 166 with a new more powerful V-26 engine using a charger, developing 700 hp (522 kW). Two prototypes were built in the middle of 1961 and passed the trials. This time the GBTU decided not to wait for the new main battle tank to pass trials and send the Ob'yekt 166 into mass production on July 1961. The Ob'yekt 165 also entered service in very small numbers, under the designation T-62A.[9]

Design

US Army recognition poster

The T-62 has a typical tank layout: driver's compartment at the front, fighting compartment in the centre and engine compartment in the rear. The four-man crew consists of the commander, driver, gunner and loader. Although the T-62 is very similar to the T-55 and makes use of many of the same parts, there are some differences. Those include the hull, which is a few centimetres longer and wider, the different road wheels, and differences in characteristic uneven gaps between roadwheels. Unlike the T-54 and T-55 main battle tanks, the gaps between the last three pairs of roadwheels are larger than the rest.[10]

A T-62 armed with the 12.7 mm (0.50 in) DShK 1938/46 antiaircraft heavy machine gun

Armament

The armament consists of the 115 mm U-5TS "Molot" (2A20) Rapira smoothbore tank gun with a two-axis "Meteor" stabilizer and 7.62 mm PKT coaxial general-purpose machine gun mounted on the right of the main gun. The 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 antiaircraft heavy machine gun is mounted on the loader's hatch. It was optional until 1972 when all newly built tanks were fitted with the AA heavy machine gun. The tank carries 40 rounds for the main gun (although only 4 are placed in the turret while the rest are stored in the back of the fighting compartment and in the front of the hull, on the right of the driver) and 2500 rounds for the coaxial machine gun. All of the vehicle's armament is mounted in or on the round cast egg-shaped turret from the Ob'yekt 140 prototype main battle tank, mounted over the third pair of roadwheels. The T-62 was armed with the world's first smoothbore tank gun, giving it considerably greater muzzle velocity than the Western 90 mm and 105 mm tank guns of its time.[11][12] It can fire BM-3 APFSDS-T, BK-4, BK-4M HEAT and OF-18 Frag-HE rounds. The 115 mm gun introduced the first successful APFSDS ammunition, albeit with a steel penetrator. A smoothbore gun allowed a significantly better performance (from 10% to 20%) from HEAT ammunition, which was considered the main ammunition type for fighting enemy armour at medium and long ranges.[1][2] The gun can be elevated or depressed between −4° and +16°. It is reloaded manually and gets automatically reset to +3.5° of elevation after it is fired if the stabilizer is enabled. Empty cartridges are automatically ejected outside the vehicle through a small hatch in the rear of the turret. The gun has range of fire of about 4 km during day conditions and 800 m (with the use of night vision equipment) at night. This tank was the fitted with a Meteor two-axis stabilizer, it allows the T-62 to aim and fire while moving, according to tests conducted by the US army the Meteor gave the T-62 a first hit probability of 70% for a moving target at 1.000 with the tank moving up to 20 km/per hour. This gave the tank a good advantage in dynamic battlefields and breakthrough operations especially in Central Europe were most of tank battles would take place under the 1.500 meters range.[13][14]

Side view of a T-62. The tank in the picture has either damaged or disassembled torsion bars and its hull lies on the ground.
Rear view of a T-62. Notice the two optional 200 litre drum-type fuel tanks.

Mobility

The T-62 uses torsion bar suspension. It has five pairs of rubber-tired roadwheels, a drive sprocket at the rear and idler at the front on each side, with no return rollers. The first and last roadwheels each have a hydraulic shock absorber. The tank is powered by the V-55 12-cylinder 4-stroke one-chamber 38.88 litre water-cooled diesel engine developing 581 hp (433 kW) at 2,000 rpm. This is the same engine as the one used in the T-55. Because the T-62 weighs more than the T-55, it is less maneuverable. Like the T-55, the T-62 has three external diesel fuel tanks on the right fender and a single auxiliary oil tank on the left fender. The tank carries 960 litres of fuel in its internal and external fuel tanks. Two optional 200-litre drum-type fuel tanks can be fitted on the rear of the vehicle for an increased operational range.[4][15]

Countermeasures

A T-62 laying a smokescreen.

The T-62 has 5% thicker armour on the front of the hull (102 mm at 60°) and 15% thicker armour on the front of the turret (242 mm) than the T-54/T-55. The turret armour is 153 mm thick on the sides, 97 mm thick on the rear and 40 mm thick on the roof. The hull armour is 79 mm thick on the upper sides, 46 mm thick at 0° on the rear and 20 mm thick on the bottom. Although the armour on the front of the hull is thicker than in the T-55, the lower side armour (15 mm) and the roof armour (31 mm) are actually thinner.[1][2]

Equipment

Front view of a T-62
Rear view of a T-62

One of the many similarities between the T-54/T-55 and T-62 tanks is their ability to create a smokescreen by injecting diesel fuel into the exhaust system. Like the T-54 and T-55, the T-62 has an unditching beam mounted at the rear of the hull. The tank can be fitted with a thin snorkel for operational usage and a large diameter snorkel for training. The thin snorkel can be disassembled and carried in the back of the turret when not used. The commander's cupola is located on the left of the top of the turret. The loader has a single piece hatch located on the right side of the turret and further back than the commander's cupola. The loader's hatch has a periscope vision block that can be used to view the areas in front of and behind the vehicle. The commander's copula has four periscopes, two are located in the hatch cover while the other two are located in the forward part of the cupola. The driver has a single piece hatch located on the left front of the vehicle, directly in front of the left side of the turret.[15] The tank uses the same sights and vision devices as the T-55 except for the gunner, who received a new TSh-2B-41 sight which has x4 or x7 magnification. It is mounted coaxially with an optic rangefinder.[1][2] The gunner has two periscope vision blocks, one of which is used in conjunction with the main searchlight mounted coaxially on the right side of the main armament. There are two other smaller searchlights. One of these is used by the commander and is mounted on his cupola. The tank has two headlights on the right front of the vehicle, one of which is infrared while the other one is white. Curved hand rails around the turret allow easier entry for the commander, the gunner, and the loader. They also help the infantry to mount and dismount the tank while performing a tank desant. The tank has a box-shaped radiation detector/actuator mounted on the right hand side of the turret, behind the compressed air tanks. While the T-62 did not feature an automatic loader (as would become characteristic of later Russian tanks), it had a unique "ejection port" built into the back of the turret, which would open as the main gun recoiled, ejecting spent shell casings outside. This was considered advantageous since the spent casings would otherwise clutter the floor of the tank and fill the interior with noxious burnt-propellant fumes.[6] There is a blower mounted in the rear of the turret, to the left of the spent cartridge ejection port.[15]

Limitations

The T-62 shares some of the T-55's limitations: a cramped crew compartment, crude gun control equipment, whereas it had the Meteor stabilizer but it only gave a 70% hit probability at 1.000 moving at 20 km/h (on most early models), limited depression of the main gun and vulnerable fuel and ammunition storage areas.[6] Opening the ejection port under NBC (nuclear, biological, or chemical) conditions would expose the crew to contamination.[5]

Each time the gun is fired, the tube must go into détente for cartridge ejection; though the system can be deactivated making this unnecessary or in case of facing a NBC environment. The T-62 maximum average rate of fire is limited to 10 rounds per minute, which falls behind the capabilities of Western 105 mm gun equipped tanks.[5][14][16]

It takes 20 seconds for the T-62's turret to rotate through a full 360°, which is 5 seconds longer than the time needed by the US M60A1 Patton tank.[17]

The turret also cannot be traversed with the driver's hatch open. Although the tank commander may override the gunner and traverse the turret, he cannot fire the main gun from his position. He is unable to override the gunner in elevation of the main gun, causing target acquisition problems.[5]

The US Army considered the T-62's gun more accurate than that of the M60A1 within 1500 meters, but less accurate at greater ranges.[18]

To fire the 12.7 mm antiaircraft heavy machine gun, the loader must be partially exposed, making him vulnerable to suppressive fire, and he must leave his main gun loading duties unattended.[5]

According to military author Bryan Perrett, the T-62 never enjoyed the commercial success of the T-54/T-55 series for numerous reasons. First, the T-62 was more than twice as expensive as the T-55, and many Warsaw Pact nations passed on the new tank because they did not feel that the improvements inherent in it warranted the cost. Secondly, in 1968, a 100 mm HVAPDS tank shell capable of piercing Western armor was developed. Use of this shell made the T-55 gun almost as effective as the T-62s, undercutting the T-62's original selling point: a bigger, more powerful gun. Third, the T-62 was, according to Perrett, almost immediately surpassed upon its introduction by the new Western MBTs like the Chieftain and M60.[19] However, the T-62 was introduced as an answer to these last development, during the Iraq-Iran war it had a good performance knocking out M-60s and Chieftain serving in the Iranian side, even the US Army considered the T-62 generally comparable to its M60 tanks.[20] Finally, the T-62 could not keep up with the new Soviet BMP-1 – the principal infantry fighting vehicle which the T-62 was supposed to accompany. All of these factors combined to ensure that long term investment in the T-62 was not viable and a new Soviet MBT had to be developed.[19]

Production history

In July 1961, Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil, Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine and Omsk Factory No. 183 replaced part of their T-55 production with the T-62.[5][21] The original plans were that the T-62 would be produced until Morozov's Ob'yekt 432 tank was developed. T-62 production was maintained at Uralvagonzavod until 1973 when it was replaced on the production lines by the T-72. Until the end of production 20,000 T-62 main battle tanks were produced by Uralvagonzavod.[9] Production in the Soviet Union was stopped in 1975.

North Korea produced the T-62 under license until the 1980s. In the early 1990s the North Korean Second Machine Industry Bureau designed a lighter copy of the T-62 which is mass-produced and is known locally as the Ch'ŏnma-ho I (Ga).[22]

Models

Former Soviet Union

Front view of T-62M of the Afghan National Army in Kabul, 2004.

Egypt

Bulgaria

France

Israel

Tiran-6

North Korea

Ukraine

Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau is offering three T-62 conversions:[25]

United States

Service history

MAZ-537 tractor-trailers transporting T-62 tanks, 23 May 1984

Soviet Union

The T-62 entered service with the Soviet Army in July 1961. Because of the firepower of the new 115 mm gun, it was considered to be a formidable tank for the time, despite its drawbacks.[1][2] Along with the T-55, the T-62 was one of the most common tanks in the Soviet inventory. The two tanks together once comprised approximately 85% of the Soviet army's tanks.

Sino-Soviet border conflict

T-62 tank captured by the PLA during the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict.

The T-62 saw combat for the first time during the 1969 Sino–Soviet border conflict during which one was disabled and captured by the People's Liberation Army. The T-62 (No. 545) was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from the Type-56 (Chinese copy of RPG-2) RPG launcher on the morning of 15 March 1969 during a PLA counterattack. The RPG penetrated the left side of hull, killing the driver. This tank was later studied and the information gathered from those studies was used for the development of the Type 69 main battle tank.

Soviet war in Afghanistan

Soviet T-62M of the "Berlin" tank regiment which was a part of the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division, leaving Afghanistan, 1 January 1987

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the T-62 was a primary tank used by the Soviet army.[26] The Soviets used tanks in a similar way to what the US Army did in Vietnam, with the use of many in fire support bases. Towards the end of the war T-62Ms, using the BDD appliqué armor, appeared in large numbers. Numerous T-62s fell victim to Mujahideen attacks, especially from anti-tank land mines. Others fell into the hands of the Afghan Mujahideen after they were left behind by withdrawing Soviet forces.

Russia

The T-62 and T-55 are now mostly used by Russian reserve units for a possible secondary mobilization while some are kept in storage. The active duty and primary mobilization units mainly use the T-80, T-72, and T-64, with a smaller number of T-90 tanks in service in active units.

War in Chechnya

The Russian army used both T-62s and T-62Ms in combat in Chechnya. The T-62M is still being used for counterterrorism operations in this region.

2008 South Ossetia war

Were used in the war against Georgia.[27]

Foreign service

T-62s of the Afghan National Army in Kabul, 27 April 2004

Angola

The Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) began ordering T-62s from the Soviet Union in 1980 and received them by late 1985.[28] Most of the tanks were delivered in the wake of Operation Askari, which saw Angola's older T-54s and T-55s bested by South African expeditionary forces equipped with Eland and Ratel-90 armoured cars. Following Askari, a meeting between Angolan, Cuban, and Soviet representatives concluded with a pledge to drastically accelerate the transfer of new weaponry to FAPLA. This was to include T-62s.[29]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Angola may have received up to 175 former Soviet Army T-62s in second hand condition by 1985.[28] South African intelligence reported only 30 of these in active service.[29] They first appeared in Operation Congresso II, a 1986 FAPLA offensive aimed at expelling rebels loyal to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) from Mavinga, and several were abandoned or destroyed.[30] Some were also deployed alongside T-55s against UNITA the following year, although there is no indication that they were encountered by South African armour during the ensuing Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.[30]

FAPLA also ordered another 135 T-62s in 1987, but these apparently arrived too late to take part in the fighting. Another 24 examples modernised in Bulgaria were received by the new Angolan Armed Forces in 1993.[28]

Bulgaria

The only other Warsaw Pact member to operate T-62s on a mass scale was Bulgaria which bought 250 T-62s, which were delivered between 1970 and 1974.[28] After the war in Afghanistan, Bulgaria received a number of T-62s from the Soviet Union in the 1980s. These were modified, but due to several problems, they were quickly withdrawn from service and some were sold to Angola and Yemen. Many were converted into TV-62 and TV-62M armoured recovery vehicles and their turrets were scrapped. The TV-62M is the standard armoured recovery vehicle of the Bulgarian Army.[22]

Other Warsaw Pact members

Both Poland and Czechoslovakia evaluated the vehicle but refused it because of the high price and low update value compared to the T-55.

Israel

Soldiers assigned to the 1st Afghanistan National Army Armored Battalion, stand in formation with 7 of their T-62s and two of their T-62Ms during their graduation ceremony held at Polycharky, Afghanistan, 15 May 2003

Before 1973 Israeli intelligence confirmed T-62 tanks had arrived in Egypt and Israeli commandos raided Egyptian positions in order to capture T-62 tanks and analyze them. During the Yom Kippur war, the T-62 was an effective adversary for Israeli Patton and Centurion main battle tanks armed with 105 mm tank guns. The T-62 had an advantage in its better night-fighting capability, but Syrian losses were heavy. The Israelis captured hundreds of these tanks from the Syrians in 1973, and put some of them into service as the Tiran-3. About 120 Tiran-3 were modernized and received the designation Tiran-6. Only a small number was converted because the new US made M60 main battle tanks started arriving in Israel.[31] A small tank brigade consisting of two enlarged tank regiments, each equipped with 46 Tiran-6 tanks, was formed.[31] The Tiran-6 is used by reserve units. The Israelis have sold the rest to assorted countries, many in Latin America.

Israel sent a number of captured T-62 tanks to the U.S. Army and Germany for examination purposes. The firing tests done on these tanks helped to develop new ammunition and the German 120mm gun to be used in Leopard 2 tank.

Iraq

The Iraqi T-62s performed well against opposing Iranian tanks such as M48s, M60A1s and Chieftains in the Iran–Iraq war. Iraqi T-62 participated in the biggest tank battle of the war in early 1981. According to the Iraqis Iran lost 200 Chieftain and M60A1 tanks during that battle with a loss of 50 T-62 and T-55/54 tanks on the Iraqi side. The remaining Iranian armor turned about and withdrew.[32]

Chadian–Libyan conflict

In 1982, when Libya invaded Chad the T-62 tanks were faced with militiamen who had made technical fighting vehicles from Toyota pickup trucks, most of them still in their civilian paint. The technicals were essentially makeshift tank destroyers, as the militiamen had mounted MILAN ATGM firing posts and welded tripod mounts for assorted recoilless rifles onto the beds of the trucks.[33]

Cuba

The first T-62s arrived in Cuba in 1976.[28][34] Currently approximately 400 are in service with the Cuban armed forces and about 100 are in storage.[1][2] They are modernized to the T-62M standard with additional armour, laser equipment and fire control systems.[34]

Cuban T-62s were deployed to Angola during Havana's lengthy intervention in that country. Along with T-55s and T-54Bs, they were initially utilitised for defending strategic installations, such as Matala, the site of an important Angolan hydroelectric plant manned by Soviet engineers.[35] The more ubiquitous T-55 was favoured for combat duty, and during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale only a single battalion of Cuban T-62s took part in the fighting.[35] This was altered in March 1988, when Cuba began marshalling a combined arms division to carry out a flanking manoeuvre towards the South-West African (Namibian) border.[30] It included a brigade with at least 40 T-62s, identified alternatively as 40 Tank Brigade, 80 Tank Brigade, or the "Havana Tank Regiment".[29] The Cuban tanks clashed with defending South African armoured units at Cuamato and again at Calueque without sustaining serious losses.[29]

Ethiopian Civil War

Cuban T-62s

The Ethiopian Army purchased T-62s and used them against guerrillas.

1st Gulf War

The T-62 tank was badly outperformed by the American M60 Patton and M1 Abrams tanks. The Iraqi 3rd Armored Division alone lost hundreds of T-62 tanks.[36]

Operators

Map of T-62 operators in blue with former operators in red

Current operators

Former operators

Iraqi T-62 destroyed near Ali Al Salem Air Base during Operation Desert Storm, 18 April 1991
Iraqi T-62 wreckage at Khorramshahr, Khuzestan, Iran, from the Iran–Iraq War

Evaluation-only operators

Combat history


See also

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 "T62". softland (in Polish). Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Igor Witkowski. Czołgi Świata (in Polish). W-wa.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "T62". Pancerni.pl (in Polish).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "T62". pancerni.abajt.pl (in Polish).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "T62 Series Tanks". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 Perrett 1987, p. 38
  7. 1 2 Domestic Armored Vehicles 1945–1965
  8. 1 2 Zaloga 2004, p 13.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Czołgi Świata" (World's Tanks or Tanks Of The World) magazine issue 20
  10. ↑ Perrett 1987, pp. 37-38
  11. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 3
  12. ↑ Baryatinskiy 2013, p. 231
  13. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 17
  14. 1 2 Baryatinskiy 2013, pp. 231-232
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "T-62 Main Battle Tank". Gary's Combat Vehicle Reference Guide. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  16. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 16
  17. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 18
  18. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 11
  19. 1 2 Perrett 1987, p. 41
  20. ↑ US ATDC 1979, p. 1
  21. ↑ Zaloga 2004, pp 13–14.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 "JED The Military Equipment Directory"(registration required)
  23. ↑ "Czołgi Świata" (World's Tanks or Tanks Of The World) magazine issue 19
  24. ↑ "Morozov T-55AGM". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  25. ↑ "Morozov T-62 conversions". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  26. ↑ "The Soviet armored machines in the Afghanistan". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  27. ↑ "Танковые потери российской армии - afivedaywar". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "SIPRI Arms Transfers Database". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Scholtz, Leopold (2013). The SADF in the Border War 1966-1989. Cape Town: Tafelberg. ISBN 978-0-624-05410-8.
  30. 1 2 3 George, Edward (2005). The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965-1991: From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale. London: Frank Cass. pp. 180–200. ISBN 0-415-35015-8.
  31. 1 2 "Tiran". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  32. ↑ The Iran–Iraq War Efraim Karsh pp.29–30.
  33. ↑ A. Clayton, Frontiersmen, p. 161
  34. 1 2 3 Rubén Urribarres. "Cuban tanks". Cuban Aviation. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  35. 1 2 Tokarev, Andrei; Shubin, Gennady, eds. (2011). Bush War: The Road to Cuito Cuanavale: Soviet Soldiers' Accounts of the Angolan War. Auckland Park: Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. pp. 128–130. ISBN 978-1-4314-0185-7.
  36. ↑ Nordeen&Isby P.73
  37. ↑ Angolan army armyrecognition.com
  38. ↑ Egyptian army armyrecognition.com
  39. 1 2 defenceindia.com
  40. ↑ John Pike. "Iranian Ground Forces Equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  41. ↑ Iranian army armyrecognition.com
  42. ↑ "shex ja3far puk". YouTube. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  43. ↑ Kazak Ground Forces Equipment
  44. ↑ Middle East Military Balance, (2005), "Libyan Military", Libya, Accessed 24 April 2007
  45. ↑ John Pike. "Equipment Holdings – Korean People's Army". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  46. ↑ John Pike. "Syria – Army Equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  47. ↑ Brown Moses. "Video Evidence of Free Syrian Army using T-62 tank". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  48. ↑ John Pike. "Tajikistan Army equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  49. ↑ John Pike. "Uzbek-Army Equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  50. ↑ John Pike. "Belorussian Army equipment". GlobalSecurity. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  51. ↑ John Pike. "Iraqi Army equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  52. ↑ John Pike. "Israeli Army Equipment". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  53. ↑ "Статьи: Lenta.ru: Наука и техника: Полный распил". lenta.ru. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  54. ↑ John Pike. "Russian Army equipment". GlobalSecurity. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  55. ↑ Ukrainian army armyrecognition.com
  56. ↑ John Pike. "Ukrainian Army equipment". GLobalSecurity. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  57. ↑ "Type 69/79 Main Battle Tank". Sinodefence.com. Retrieved 13 December 2009.

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