T-80 Standard Tank

Steven J. Zaloga

The Soviet T80 Standard Tank was the last tank fielded before the Soviet collapse and the most controversial Like the US M1 Abrams tank the T80 used a turbine power plant rather than a conventional diesel Although the design was blessed with some of the most sophisticated armament fire controls and multilayer armor ever fielded on a Soviet tank its power plant remained a source of considerable trouble through its career It saw very little service in the Chechen War though T80 tanks were used in some of the regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union in the 1990sAlthough the collapse of the Soviet Union might seem the end of the story the T80 lived on in Ukraine where one of its tank plants was based A diesel powered version of the T80 was developed the T84 which was successfully exported including a major sale to Pakistan to counterbalance the Indian Armys Russian T90 tanks Steven J Zaloga charts the littleknown history of the T80 covering the initial construction through the development to the subsequent variants the T84 and Russias enigmatic Black Eagle Tank Accompanying detailed cutaway artwork illustrates the unusual design features that made the T80 so controversial