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T-55
The T-55 Main Battle Tank.
By Staff Writer
The T-55 Medium Tank is probably the most internationally prolific piece of tracked armor as it can be found in dozens of military inventories across the globe. It has seen military frontline service from the invasion of Hungary in 1956 to the Arab wars with Israel of the late 1960's and early 1970's.
The T-55 features a 100mm D-10 rifled main gun. Two 7.62mm defensive machine guns are provided, one coaxially and one in the bow front-hull. A 12.7mm air defense machine gun is provided in later models of the T-55.
Development of the T-55 stems from the base T-54 Main Battle Tank design, which itself can trace it's roots back to the World War Two-inspired T-34 tank design. The T-55 was superceeded by the T-62 detailed elsewhere on this website.
In all essence, the T-55 shares many common features, components and systems with the T-54, thus many sources may group their histories together as such (sometimes shown as T-54/T-55).
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No Reproduction Without Permission • Corrections / Comments to MilitaryFactory at Gmail dot com
Last Updated: 1/25/2009
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Armored Vehicle Quick Profile |
Image Courtesy of the United States Department of Defense..
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| 1958 |
Designation: T-55
Classification Type: Main Battle Tank
Contractor: State Factories - Soviet Union
Country of Origin: Soviet Union
Number Built: Not Available |
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Operators: Afghanistan; Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Guinea, Hungary, India, Iran, North Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Ukraine, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen and Zambia.
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| Variants |
T-55 - Base production model. Basic T-54 with new turret and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
T-55A - Added radiation protection and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
T-55M - New 580hp engine sans cupola for loader; Ability to fire AT-10 Stabber ATGW missiles through main gun.
T-55M-1 - Passive armor protection
T-55MV - Explosive reactive armor protection
T-55AM-1 - Standardized to T-55A specifications with passive armor protection and AT-10 firing ability.
T-55K - Command Vehicle
T-55AK - Command Vehicle
T-55MK - Command Vehicle
T-55MVK - Command Vehicle
T-55AM2B - Czech-produced variant
T-55AM2P - Polish-produced variant
T-55AM2PB - Russian-produced variant
T-55AD - T-55M standardized specifications with specialized countermeasures system installed.
T-55AD-1 - Upgraded engine; Laser-rangefinder.
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Dimensions:
