Russian T-80 Main Battle Tank - Review

[Music] [Music] [Music] welcome guys Maximus here with you again thank you so much for joining me today I really do appreciate it as always guys I would love it if you could leave a comment if you did enjoy today's video and hit a like button and if you do wish to be notified of any future gaming or military review content videos from my channel coming out in the future please hit the notification bell by the subscribe button and if you do wish to support the channel go check out my patreon account it would be really appreciated as always thank you in advance so today we are talking about main battle tanks again and yes a Russian beast the t-80 main battle tank one tank of which I think gets a lot of hate just similar to the t90 and pretty much most Russian vehicles from the Western world we all know why the t-80 gets a little bit more hate than some of the other vehicles it's due to its gas turbine engine and today we're going to talk about history a bit of its specifications and my own personal opinion on this vehicle just to give you guys my stance on this incredible Russian main battle tank so first of all let's talk a little bit about the t-80s history and how it came to be the development of the t-80 main battle tank started in the soviet era with the tank entering service in 1976 the t-80 was the first production tank in the world to be equipped with a gas turbine engine at first Western analysts confused it with the t-72 as they look quite similar but actually the two tanks are rather different actually the two tanks were products of two different design bureaus the tank was designed and manufactured at the Leningrad Kirov plant or lkz under the direction of nickel is Popov with the production prototype being designated the object to 1-9 the t-80 is a development of the Russian main battle tank t-64 the t-72 and the t-80 are quite similar in superficial appearance but the t-80 is based on the earlier t-64 design whilst incorporating features from the t-72 the t-80 B and T 80 BV MBTs were used during the first Chechen war the first real combat experience of the TA and some of the biggest losses were suffered during the ill-fated assault on the city of Grozny the reasons that included the fact that the forces selected to capture Grozny were not really that well prepared for such an operation while the city was defended by among others veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan the t-80 tanks used in this operation either did not have reactive armor or it was not fitted before the start of the operation and the t-80 crews lack sufficient training for this particular kind of environment for the war at the end of the 40s gas turbine engines had gained a decisive victory in aviation it came to no surprise that when soon after the first attempts were made to install them into land vehicles special design bureau of the Kirov plant started in 1948 to 1949 for a gas turbine tank but the vehicle did not meet many of the military requirements especially fuel consumption and power-to-weight ratio which we've all pretty much designated the key fault of this main battle tank however there are some specifications that do need to be taken into consideration during the 50s there was a great interest in gas turbines both in the Soviet Union and in the West during this period there are many civil engineering projects with gas turbine motors and locomotives trucks and even cars the military industry did not stay behind and in 1955 plant started working on 250 255 ton heavy tanks the object 277 with a diesel engine and then object 2 7 8 with a gas turbine engine however the work was stopped in 1960 because the Soviet industry redirected its focus towards main battle tanks in addition the designers were unable to get rid of gas turbine teething problems including poor efficiency and air intake filtering problems for this reason there was no mass production of the gas turbine version of the t-64 t which is created at the same time as the diesel version the t-80 the world's first mass-produced main battle tank with a gas turbine engine was designed to break through enemy defenses and carry out strikes at the most protected areas using its excellent mobility speed to produce devastating firepower but increased mobility on the battlefield in addition the advantage of a low silhouette of this tank and the fact that the vehicle was therefore extremely hard to spot was a very very key attribute however the noise of the gas turbine entry could be the only thing so it be behind the tank many could also be used potentially for minor reconnaissance the original t-80 was powered by a 1,000 horsepower D 1000 C engine its armor was quite similar to the t-64a a welded body cast turret upper front plate and turret made of composite armor the main weapon was a 2 a 4 6-1 gun / launcher with an automatic loader system the loader system was borrowed from the t-64 and is different from the automatic loader of the t-72 and t90 tanks a major upgrade called the TA TB appeared in 1978 with a whole range of improvements compared to the basic models and since then many different modifications have been produced some special cases worth mentioning other ta tbv and the t-80u 1985 which became the main Soviets and later Russian tanks and the t-80ud 1987 produced in the Kharkov plant and serving as a basis for the modern Ukrainian tanks a total of over 10,000 t-80 tanks of various different modifications were produced many of which still serve in armies in several countries around the world despite the fact that CAE became one of the most numerous tanks after the Second World War has not been used that much really in combat these tanks were use in the first Chechen war and some reports did say they've been used during the 2015 conflict in Yemen one famous episode in which we saw the t-80 was the shelling of the house of government of the Russian Federation in 1993 the gas turbine engine proved to be a much sturdier than the diesel engine overall it was less vulnerable to temperature changes it was not knocked out by engine compartment flooding and was less likely to stall at the vehicle got stuck furthermore it provided the tank with a stomach dynamic characteristics 70 kilometers now on-road and 63 rough terrain for the t-80u and riding smoothness that served well when the vehicle was firing on a move but despite so many advantages it had a very serious shortcoming even with the most modern gas turbine engine it still consumes so much fuel these tanks with such engines are gradually being replaced by diesel models as we're seeing on mod tanks like the t14 are Martha the Russian army is currently and gradually decommissioning t-80 tanks the tanks that are still operational are graded and returned to service but it looks like these two soon will be replaced by more modern tanks some of the standard equipment included on this vehicle are snorkels for deep forwarding operations which are carried on the turret rear when not in requirement there is also the over type pressure NBC protection system with night-vision equipment also for all three crewmembers there is an unwitting being carried across the whole rear and a laser warning device activated by laser rangefinders if being raised mounted on the turret rear is a large circular container which carries two snorkels the larger one is the snorkel for the gas turbine with another being fitted onto the radiator grille by means of two adaptors this provides an air intake for the gas turbine to extend the operational range of the t-80 additional various drum type fuel tanks can be mounted on the back of the vehicle whole rear these fuel tanks were quite prominent on most main battle tanks of this era and were easily jettisoned if necessary each of these fuel drums carried around 300 litres of fuel and were connected to the main fuel supply all the time the main armament of the t-80 is composed with the 125 millimeter - a 46 smoothbore gun as the t-72 with a horizontal ammunition stowage system the t-80s automatic loader holds up to 28 rounds of two-part ammunition in a carousel located under the turret floor additional ammunition is stored within the turret and the ammunition comprises of the projectile of apfsds heat or haiti frag plus the propellant separated for each loading type the autoloader was quite effective and quite reliable and pretty much combat tested since the mid-1960s the loading process takes between seven point one and nineteen point five seconds depending on the initial position of the carousel with the TA TB it was its first evolution of the basic type and came quite quickly which was characterized by its new turret integrating new laser range binding systems fire control systems and even the new auto loader modified to operate the nine m112 - one cobra anti-tank guided missile system this is accredited for accuracy up to 80% hits the move on the protection side improved compensate armor was used the 125 millimeter ammunition is common to the t-64 t-72 ta t t 84 and t 90 MBTs 125 millimeter smoothbore gun is stabilized in both elevation and Traverse armament also includes a 7.62 pkt coaxial machine gun and a 12.7 millimeter UTA's n SVT - 12.7 air defense machine gun one bank of also 81 millimeter electrically operated smoke grenade discharges are mounted on either side of the turret 5m left and 4 on the right this vehicle only has a crew of three with the obvious auto loader system being in place there are many countries that utilize this tank including Belarus Cyprus Kazakhstan South Korea Pakistan Russia Ukraine Yemen to name a few the t-80 in its basic configuration weighed in at a roughly forty two and a half tonnes with a range of 335 kilometers and an extra 440 kilometers with the additional fuel drums the dimensions are nine point nine meters long three point four meters wide and 2.2 meters tall which increases its potential being nice and low in those hold down positions to engage other tanks so guys there you have it the t-80 an impressive tank that's really being given a bit of a stigma like most Russian tanks have been in the past honestly I do feel that they really took on some initiative and innovative thinking to try to put a more powerful engine and really trying to get more out of something that's a little smaller being gas turbine engines clearly it definitely has the power ratio I know that working with engines that I actually work in my everyday producing aircraft engines are extremely powerful however they do produce their own difficulties in terms of fuel consumption and sometimes that's quite important on the battlefield clearly that 125 millimeter gun is doing its job very very nicely and I love the fact that these guns can fire a long-range anti-tank guided missiles capable of knocking target cell from quite a distance and that's really imperative and it's a really good accurate results with those weapon systems - we're looking at a vehicle really that has unfortunately seen its day though and as we can see that the Russian Altria starting to replace them seems like it will go into the history books as a tank that was given a bit of a stigma from having not only the bad engine but unfortunately being put into situations where it wasn't really given its best heads-up it was noted that some of the explosive reactive bricks that were placed onto some of the vehicles that were fitted with it in campaigns that was placed in weren't even fitted with explosives or the correct equipment and to be able to defeat against RPGs and such hence why so many were lost in certain conflicts however I find this vehicle to be absolutely amazing considering what they've actually tried to do with it in terms of its mobility I really do think it's a very very key player in the main battle tank world for its day was it able to punch through as quickly as we think it would of back in the day who knows and that's these honest let's be glad that it never had to happen seeing hundred of these things charging towards a battle group of the Western world would be a pretty daunting thing to see and it would definitely charge the fear in the back of my mind seeing these things coming towards me if I was in any main battle tank crew potentially in the Cold War era and like I said I'm just glad it never happened but this would for sure be a formidable asset against any Western main battle tank and I think even still to this day but as the powers may be it seems as though the Russian military really did not want to stick to the gas turbine scene and going back to the heavy duty diesel engines which I am in love with also it's interesting guides because from a mechanical mindset I work with gas turbine engines in my day to day and used to work with heavy diesel engines you know back in my military career so it is interesting to see them trying to combine both tanks and turbines I must admit I really do feel that turbine engines are extremely extremely both reliable and powerful unfortunately they do have their own hindrances whether it be air filtration and trying to make sure those turbines are nice and clean or just the pure fuel that they do have to consume especially on a vehicle like this is that it's requiring so much torque and an on-demand power on and off on and off on and off it's really just not helping for fuel where as an aircraft you know it's a steady flow of fuel for the most part when cruising tanks need to go up hills slow down idle for a long time all these sort of things really do take a lot of few out of the system and provide for a really inefficient overall tank and drivable engine at the end of the day which I guess is why Russia really decided not to go with it anymore and I commend them for that which is really interesting seeing now that the t14 i'll martyr and such is coming out of that big old heavy diesel engine i guess they're just sticking to what's true and reliable to the tanks that they've always been used to the both the t-72 and all the vehicles and even some of the newer ones now you know it seemed the t90 is rolling with the diesel engine it's just interesting to see them going back to what's tried and tested for them a bath tanks but i really do admire the fact that they wanted to try something new overall guys I love this tank it always reminds me of the tank I used to play against in armored fist too which was a game I played as a kid and it was always the tank in the game that I was scared shitless off because it would always try and knock out my m1a2 Abrams and most the time if it got a round down target onto me it would knock me out so as a kid when I used to see these tanks in video games they used I think actually this is quite a formidable tank and honestly I still think to this day it is it is still capable of doing some serious damage with that 125 millimeter autoloading gun so there you have it guys the t-80 main battle tank in all its glory I thank you so much today for coming by and watching my video I really do appreciate it guys please hit that like button if you did enjoyed today's video leave me a comment of any future upcoming videos you want me to do or just how you felt about this video today or just your opinion on the tank itself thanks again for watching all the best take care [Music] [Music] Oh [Music]

Channel: Matsimus

Views: 429,964

Rating: 4.9055629 out of 5

Keywords: Russian T-80, Russian T-80 Main Battle Tank, T-80, third-generation main battle tank, Soviet Union, T-80 MBT, Russian T-80 Tank, t80 tank, T-64, T-80 tank, T-72, automatic loader, explosive reactive armor, anti-tank guided missile, 9K112 Kobra, AT-8 Songster, Russian army, APFSDS, T-80B, T-80UM, First Chechen War, Black Eagle tank, 125 mm smoothbore, T-90, gas turbine engine, gas turbine tank, USSR, T-80 Tank review, T-80 125mm gun, matsimus, 125 mm 2A46 tank gun, Nikolay Popov

Id: vbRo2oWTDfs

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Fri May 12 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Wiggles-McSwiggles]

Matsimus: "The T-80 tanks used in this operation either did not have reactive armor or it was not fitted before the start of the operation and the T-80 crews lacked sufficient training for this particular kind of environment"

Wikipedia: "The T-80 tanks used in this operation either did not have reactive armour or they were not fitted with explosive inserts before the start of the operation and the T-80 crews lacked sufficient training before the war."

 

Wikipedia: They are the products of different design bureaus; the T-80 is from the SKB-2 design bureau of the Kirov Factory (LKZ) in Leningrad while the T-72 is from the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil.

Matsimus:"the tanks were the products of 2 different design bureaus. The tank was designed and manufactured at the Leningrad Kirov plant or LKZ under the direction of Nikolai S. Popov"

 

Matsimus: "The T-72 and the T-80 are quite similar in superficial appearance but the T-80 is based on the earlier T-64 design whilst incorporating features from the T-72

Wikipedia: "They are similar in superficial appearance, but the T-80 is based on the earlier T-64, while incorporating features from the T-72"

[u/Wiggles-McSwiggles]

Compare the script of the video from 2:07 to the introduction of the article

Compare the script of the video from 2:25 to the production history subsection of the article

Compare the script of the video from 2:56 to the First Chechen war subsection of the article

I'm sure I could find a ton more plagiarism but I'm not wack enough to sit through this whole video

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-80

[u/MaslinuPoimal]

I hate those YouTube channels. It's literally some dude reading wiki articles and most of the time it's not even particularly engaging regarding tone of voice or anything else. Who watches this?

[u/The_Electric_Llama]

Damn

[u/ihatehappyendings]

Isn't that what most of these type of youtubers do?

[u/MoistLeopard]

Idk, it's pretty lazy and it would be better practice to declare the source.

But I think for most people it is probably much more engaging than reading the article themselves.

It's no secret that Matsimus and similar Youtube channels are not established academic experts on the things they talk about. But for people just getting in to the topic, stuff like this can still be interesting.

[u/maximus_galt]

I guess he plagiarizes all of his work. His Aug. 30 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwTS-tVUnpA

is clearly from http://www.sps-aviation.com/story/?id=1936

[u/Bigbluebuttonman]

So...this is pretty late, but...

The video is private now, along with...like, almost all his old military equipment videos (tanks, artillery, aircraft, etc).

...Is this the cause? Because I actually like those videos...