Combat vehicles / Main battle tanks / T-62
T-62
General Facts
- TYPE
Main battle tank - ORIGIN
USSR - NICKNAMES
Tiran-3 (Israeli service) - DESIGNED
Late 1950's - DESIGNER
Uralvagonzavod - PRODUCTION
1961 - 1975 (USSR)
1975 - 1978 (Czechoslovakia) - PRODUCERS
USSR - Uralvagonzavod - QUANTITY
Over 22.700 - UNIT COST
Unknown - CHARACTERISTICS
Powerful cannon
Rugged and reliable
Rudimentary fire controls
Limited crew comfort
Twice as expensive as T-55
Introduction
The T-62 is a main battle tank of Soviet origin. It was developed in the late 1950's as a follow on to the succesful T-55. The T-62 was produced in large quantities in the 1960's and played an important role in the Cold War. The T-62 is an improvement over the T-55 but the slight increase in performance is does not justify the production costs that are twice that of the T-55. The introduction of newer tanks made the T-62 quickly obsolete as the primary Soviet tank, a role which would be fulfilled by the later T-72.
Layout
The T-62 is a further development of the T-55 that is mainly characterized by its new cannon. The driver is seated in the longer and wider chassis with distinct gaps between the last two sets of roadwheels not found on the T-55 series. The larger dome shaped turret houses the remaining three crew members and is fitted with a larger and longer 115mm smoothbore cannon. Many features found on late model T-55's are also present on the T-62, such as an NBC system, stabilization in both axis and infrared searchlight.
Firepower
The main armament of the T-62 is the 115mm U-5TS smoothbore cannon for which 40 rounds are carried. The 115mm smoothbore cannon is much more powerful than the 100mm rifled cannon on the T-55, although this gap was reduced by the introduction of new types of 100mm ammunition. Fired while standing still against stationary targets the cannon is as accurate as the NATO 105mm L7 cannon. When on the move the accuracy is reduced significantly due to the low quality fire controls and stabilization system. A 7.62mm PKT machine gun is installed as a coaxial weapon an many T-62's have a 12.7mm DShKM heavy machine gun on the turret roof.
Protection
The standard T-62 has slightly thicker hull armor and better turret armor over the frontal arc than the T-55. The 105mm L7 cannon used on Western tanks is still able to pierce the armor when using improved rounds. On various variants the protection level has been improved by adding bra armor, appliqué armor or ERA blocks. Late production models feature smoke grenade dischargers and all T-62's are capable of laying a smoke screen by injecting diesel fuel in the exhaust.
Mobility
The T-62 uses the same V-55 diesel engine as used in the T-55, but the increased weight has lowered the power to weight ratio. This makes the T-62 slightly less maneuvreable than the T-55. The tracked chassis allows the T-62 to cross any terrain but the cross country speeds are somewhat limited and the steering is not precise. A large snorkel can be attached for deep wading across rivers.
Users
The T-62 was produced in large quantities but not as much as the earlier T-55. The T-62 was replaced as the primary Soviet tank by the later and much more capable T-72. In Russian service the T-62 is held in reserve, in the Middle East and Africa it remains in active service.
T-62
The original models of the T-62 feature only minor differences and look rather similar. They can be identified by the lack of appliqué armor.
T-62 Model 1962: Original production version of T-62 with SGMT coaxial machine gun.
T-62 Model 1967: T-62 with new engine deck and PKT coaxial machine gun.
T-62 Model 1972: Version that adds the 12.7mm DShKM machine gun lacking on older models and new tracks.
T-62 Model 1975: Version that adds a laser range finder over the main armament.
T-62K: Command version of the T-62 introduced in 1962 which has additional radios and reduced ammunition load.
- Specifications:
- T-62
Type | Main battle tank |
---|---|
Crew | 4 (commander, driver, gunner, loader) |
Length | 6.63 m (hull), 9.34 m (gun forward) |
Width | 3.3 m |
Height | 2.40 m |
Ground clearance | 0.43 m |
Weight | 38 t unloaded, 40 t combat load |
Ground pressure | 0.77 kg/cm2 |
Wheelbase | Tracked chassis, 5 roadwheels, idler front, drive sprocket rear, 4.15 m length, 0.58 m width, 2.64 m track |
Turn radius | Skid turns |
Engine | V-55-5 V12 diesel, 580 hp at 2.000 rpm |
Power ratio | 14.5 hp/t |
---|---|
Transmission | Manual, 5 forward, 1 reverse |
Speed | 50 km/h forward, 7 km/h reverse |
Fuel | 675 L + 400 L drums |
Range | 450 km on road, 320 km on dirt roads, 650 km with external fuel |
Wall | 0.8 m |
Trench | 2.85 m |
Gradient | 60% gradient |
Fording | 1.4 m, 5 m with snorkel |
Armor | Steel |
NBC equipment | Yes |
Night vision | Yes |
---|---|
Smoke | exhaust diesel injection |
Remarks | - |
Armament | 115mm 2A20 cannon 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun |
Weapon1 | 115mm 2A20 cannon in turret 40 rounds -6 to +16° elevation, powered 360° traverse, powered stabilized in both axis |
Weapon2 | 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun 2.500 rounds traverse and elevation as main armament stabilized in both axis |
Weapon3 | - |
Weapon4 | - |
Weapon5 | - |
Weapon6 | - |
T-62M
The T-62M is a modernized version of the T-62 which features a wide variety of improvements. The armor is improved with the BDD armor package consisting of rubber skirts, BDD bra armor, appliqué armor on the glacis plate and mine protection under the belly. A more powerful engine compensates the increase in weight. An improved fire control system increases the chance to hit and creates the ability to launch guided missiles from the gun barrel. The night vision system is upgrades as well.
T-62M: Original and most common variant of the T-62M which features all the improvements listed above.
T-62M1: T-62M without additional armor and lacking ability to launch anti-tank missiles.
T-62MK: Command version of the T-62M with additional radios, no ability to launch anti-tank missiles and reduced ammunition load.
T-62MV: A small number of T-62M's were fitted with Kontakt-1 ERA instead of the BDD armor package.
- Specifications:
- T-62M
Type | Main battle tank |
---|---|
Crew | 4 (commander, driver, gunner, loader) |
Length | 6.63 m (hull), 9.34 m (gun forward) |
Width | 3.34 m |
Height | ? |
Ground clearance | 0.43 m |
Weight | 41.5 t combat load |
Ground pressure | 0.80 kg/cm2 |
Wheelbase | Tracked chassis, 5 roadwheels, idler front, drive sprocket rear, 4.15 m length, 0.58 m width, 2.64 m track |
Turn radius | Skid turns |
Engine | V-55U V12 diesel, 620 hp at 2.000 rpm |
Power ratio | 14.9 hp/t |
---|---|
Transmission | Manual, 5 forward, 1 reverse |
Speed | 45 km/h forward, 7 km/h reverse |
Fuel | 675 L + 400 L drums |
Range | 450 km on road, 650 km with external fuel |
Wall | 0.8 m |
Trench | 2.85 m |
Gradient | 60% gradient |
Fording | 1.4 m, 5 m with snorkel |
Armor | Steel |
NBC equipment | Yes |
Night vision | Yes |
---|---|
Smoke | 8x 81mm smoke grenade dischargers, exhaust diesel injection |
Remarks | - |
Armament | 115mm 2A20 cannon 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun 12.7mm DShKM heavy machine gun |
Weapon1 | 115mm 2A20 cannon in turret 35 rounds plus 5 guided missiles -6 to +16° elevation, powered 360° traverse, powered stabilized in both axis |
Weapon2 | 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun 2.500 rounds traverse and elevation as main armament stabilized in both axis |
Weapon3 | 12.7mm DShKM heavy machine gun on turret roof 300 rounds, 50 ready to fire manual traverse and elevation non-stabilized |
Weapon4 | - |
Weapon5 | - |
Weapon6 | - |