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 looked similar, but actually the two tanks were rather different. The T-80 was a direct descendant of the earlier T-64, which was a high-technology main battle tank designed by the Tank Design Bureau of Kharkiv that went to revolutionize the Soviet tank concept. This new tank design concepts, were developed under the leadership of Aleksandr A. Morozov, and the T-64 became the first main battle tank of the new generation of Soviet-designed tanks. The T-64 was the first tank in the world to feature an automatic loader, enabling the crew to be cut from four to three - commander, gunner and driver. |
