T-10 Heavy Tank

T-10 Heavy Tank

T-10 at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War
Type Heavy tank
Place of origin  Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1953–late 1970s
Used by Soviet Union
Wars 1973 October War
Production history
Designer Zhozef Kotin
Designed 1948–52
Manufacturer Factory 185, Factory 174
Produced 1953–66
Number built 8,000
Specifications
Weight 52 tonnes
Length 7.41 m, 9.87 m over gun
Width 3.56 m
Height 2.43 m
Crew 4
Armour 250 mm
Main
armament		 122 mm D-25TA
Secondary
armament		 2 × 12.7 mm DShKM machine guns
Engine 39-l 12-cyl. diesel model V-2-IS
700 hp (522 kW)
Power/weight 13 hp/tonne
Suspension torsion-bar
Operational
range		 250 km
Speed 42 km/h
MBTs
Light
Medium
Heavy

The T-10 (also known as Object 730) was a Soviet heavy tank of the Cold War, the final development of the KV and IS tank series. It was accepted into production in 1952 as the IS-10 (Iosif Stalin, Russian form of Joseph Stalin), but due to the political climate in the wake of Stalin's death in 1953, it was renamed T-10.

The biggest differences from its direct ancestor, the IS-3, were a longer hull, seven pairs of road wheels instead of six, a larger turret mounting a new gun with fume extractor, an improved diesel engine, and increased armour. General performance was similar, although the T-10 could carry more ammunition.

T-10s (like the IS tanks they replaced) were deployed in independent tank regiments belonging to armies, and independent tank battalions belonging to divisions. These independent tank units could be attached to mechanized units, to support infantry operations and perform breakthroughs.

Contents

Demise of Soviet heavy tanks

The mobile nature of armoured warfare in World War II had demonstrated the drawbacks of the slow heavy tanks. In the final push towards Berlin, mechanized divisions had become widely split up as heavy tanks lagged behind the mobile T-34s. The Soviets continued to produce heavy tanks for a few years as part of the Cold War arms race (compare the heavier U.S. M103 and British Conqueror), but the more flexible T-54 and T-62 medium tanks already had armour and armament comparable to the T-10's.

In the 1960s, the Soviets embraced the main battle tank (MBT) concept, by replacing heavy tanks with mobile medium tanks. In the late 1960s, the independent tank battalions with heavy tanks were re-equipped with the higher-technology T-64s, and later, the very fast T-80, while regular tank and mechanized units fielded the more basic T-55s and T-72s. T-10 production was stopped in 1966, and heavy tank projects were cancelled, such as the auto-loaded, 130 mm-armed Obiekt 770.[1]

Antitank guided missiles (ATGMs) started to be deployed widely during this period, and would become an effective replacement for the heavy tanks' long-range firepower. The Soviets made use of them first on BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, and later on the T-64 and other MBTs. Eventually, light, sophisticated reactive armour was used to give the MBTs a further edge in protection without slowing them down.

According to Bryan Perret, "the engagements of the Six-Day War, especially that at Rafah, merely emphasised what the Soviet Army already knew, namely that the heavy tank had had its day".

Production history

The T-10 served with the Soviet Union but was not known to have been provided to Warsaw Pact nations, though Soviet heavy tank regiments stationed in those countries may have been equipped with them. T-10Ms were "in the unhappy position" of simultaneous production by two factories (Kirov as Object 272 and Chelyabinsk as Object 734) "with incompatible parts".[2] Not until 1962 was Kirov's version standardized upon.[3]

The T-10 is known to have been exported to Egypt and Syria.[4] It was used in combat during the 1973 October War, where it normally provided long-range fire support to the T-55/T-62 tanks, with little success.[5] Heavy tanks were withdrawn from Soviet front-line service by 1967, and completely removed from service in 1993. Many of the tank chassis were converted to missile vehicles.

It is estimated that some 6,000 Soviet heavy tanks were built after the end of WWII, including IS-2s, IS-3s, and T-10s.

Models

Notes

  1. ^ Sewell, Stephen ‘Cookie’, Why Three Tanks?, Armor, vol. 108, n 4 (July–August 1998), Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center, p. 21
  2. ^ Sewell, p.27.
  3. ^ Sewell, p.27.
  4. ^ Tucker, Spencer, Tanks: An Illustrated History of Their Impact, ABC-CLIO (2004), p.148
  5. ^ Miller, David, The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World (Zenith Imprint Press, 2000), p.251

References

External links

Russian, Ukrainian, and former Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after World War II