T-62 / TR-580 / Tiran

The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank developed by the OKB-520 design bureau at Uralvagonzavod as a successor to the T-55 series. Introduced in 1961, the vehicle was designed to address the inability of the T-55’s 100mm rifled gun to penetrate the frontal armor of Western tanks like the Centurion and M48 Patton with standard ammunition. Development resulted in the 115mm smoothbore gun, which required a larger turret ring and a lengthened hull compared to its predecessor. Production prototypes included the Obiekt 165, accepted as the T-62A, and the Obiekt 166, which became the standard T-62.

The tank utilizes a four-man crew layout with a cast, egg-shaped turret. The primary armament is the 115mm U-5TS smoothbore gun, which was the first of its type to enter serial production. This weapon fires armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds, high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shells, and fragmentation-high explosive (Frag-HE) rounds. The main gun is supported by a two-axis stabilizer and a manual loading system that includes an automatic ejection port for spent shell casings at the rear of the turret. Secondary armament consists of a coaxial 7.62mm PKT machine gun and, on later models, a 12.7mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. Protection is provided by cast armor on the turret and rolled steel plates on the hull. Mobility is derived from a V-55V 12-cylinder diesel engine and a torsion bar suspension system with five pairs of road wheels. Later modernizations, such as the T-62M, added BDD appliqué armor and improved fire control systems.

The T-62 entered Soviet service in 1961 and saw initial combat during the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict. It was utilized extensively by Soviet forces during the war in Afghanistan and by Russian forces in Chechnya and the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. The tank was widely exported to countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Egypt and Syria operated the T-62 during the 1973 Yom Kippur War; hundreds of these tanks were captured by Israel and modified into the Tiran-6. Iraqi T-62s saw service in the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War. Cuban-manned T-62s were deployed in Angola and Ethiopia, while North Korea produced licensed versions and indigenous derivatives. Since 2022, Russia has reactivated stored T-62M and T-62MV units for deployment in Ukraine. Ukraine also operates captured units, some of which have been modified into infantry fighting vehicles or armored recovery vehicles. The vehicle remains in service with several countries in various modernized configurations.