OVERVIEW: The T-80 was a Soviet medium tank/main battle tank.
DETAILS: The T-80 tank was developed as a refinement to the T-64. The T-80 features the same 125mm main gun, auto-loader, and ammunition stowage as the T-64, and many of the early experimental T-80 designs were born out of modified T-64's until after many upgrades the tank became the T-80. The T-80 was the first tank to be equipped with a gas-turbine engine, although some later designs of the T-80 have reverted to a diesel engine. The T-80 has evolved significantly over many upgrades and is now equipped with thermal imaging, composite armor and explosive reactive armor (ERA); passive and active countermeasures systems such as Shtora-1 (a passive laser ECM system) and Arena APS, which is an active countermeasure system designed to defeat top-down attack ATGM's. The T-80 can fire the AT-8 Songster ATGM through the main gun tube. The T-80 is operated by several nations but has not been exported as widespread as the T-72. In CMANO, The T-80 could also be used to represent the Ukrainian produced T-84, which is essentially a T-80 with a diesel engine and re-designed turret.
NOTES: The Soviet tank company consists of 10 tanks with three platoons of three tanks each and one tank for the company commander. The Soviet tank battalion consists of 31 tanks in three 10-tank companies and one tank for the battalion commander. Soviet tank battalions can be independent or are part of the tank regiment (three tank battalions). Each motorized rifle regiment also has an organic tank battalion and each motorized rifle division has an organic tank regiment. Until the mid to late 1980's when Soviet tank battalions were standardized across the board to 31 tanks each, the tank battalions in the motorized rifle division had four tanks in each platoon which gave the battalion a total of 40 tanks (13 x 3)+ 1.
SOURCES: FM 100-2-3. Washington D.C.: Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1991 ; Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "T-80." Accessed November 14, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-80.
