T-64A
T-64A: Main Battle Tank
Statistics
Main Gun: 125mm 2A46
Ammunition Stowage: 28 ready/9 stowed
Default Ammunition 'A': 9/3 3BM15 APFSDS-T, 6/2 3BK14M HEAT-T, 13/4 OF-19 HEF-T
Coaxial machine gun: 7.62mm PKT
Ammunition Stowage: 250 ready/1000 stowed
Default Ammunition: 250/1000 7.62x54mm
AAMG: 12.7mm NSVT
Ammunition Stowage: 150 ready/150 stowed
Default Ammunition: 150/150 12.7mm B-32 AP
Grenade Dischargers: N/A
Ammunition Stowage: 0 ready/0 stowed
Default Ammunition: 0/0 Smoke
Armor Protection:
Frontal Turret Armor: 280mm-450mm vs KE, 330mm-510mm vs HEAT
Frontal Hull Armor: 200mm-340mm vs KE, 200mm-420mm vs HEAT
(no information in SB documentation)
Combat Weight: 38 tonnes
Length: 6.45m
Width: 3.37m
Height: 2.17m
Engine Power: 700hp 5TDF diesel
Top Speed: 45kph
General
Developed in parallel with the T-62 in response to the appearance of the British 105 mm L7 cannon, the original 115mm armed T-64 entered service with the Soviet army in December of 1968. A revolutionary design, the T-64 tank combined high firepower with good speed, a low silhouette, and first-generation composite armor. Only an approximate 600 T-64s were built when the upgraded T-64A entered production in 1967. Improvements included fitting of the 125mm D-81T (2A46) gun, new mechanical 6ETs10 autoloader, NBC protection system, altered armor composition, and the addition of light “gill” armor plates along the front side-skirts. A further 1970 update added an electrically guided stabilized turret for the commander armed with an anti-aircraft NSVT 12.7mm machine gun, TPD-2-49 day sight with coincidence rangefinder, TPN-1-49-23 night sight, enhanced stabilization system, and the possibility of mounting a KMT-6 mine-plow. It is this version simulated in Steel Beasts Professional.
With perhaps the exception of the British Chieftain series, the T-64's weaponry and armor protection levels were superior to that of contemporary NATO tanks, and parity was not reached until the late 1970's with the introduction of the Leopard 2. Considered technically complex, and produced in much smaller numbers than the later T-72, the T-64 series equipped only “elite” armored formations stationed in East Germany and the far east, with most being held in reserve to support a potential war in Europe.
Production of the T-64 ceased in 1987, but modernized versions, along with the T-64B continued in Soviet/Russian service into the late 1990s, and is in current use by the Ukrainian military in various guises.
Thermal Signature
