Military Power

When in 1965 the T62 MBT first appeared in public it must have come as something of a shock to the NATO alliance.

Developed by Nizhnyi Tagil as a replacement for the ageing T55 series the new tank came with an advanced 115mm smoothbore main armament which was superior to any gun then in service with western armies. This gun was capable of firing APFSDS with a muzzle velocity of 1680m/sec at the rather slow rate of four or five rounds per minute, HEAT with a muzzle velocity of 1000m/sec and two types of HE fragmentation. The T62 held 40 rounds of main gun ammunition. This gun was also copied by the Chinese for later models of their Type 69 tank, when a number of T62 fell into their hand following border clashes with the USSR.

In addition, the new tank was equipped as standard with a full NBC system; a fire direction and suppression system; a facility to fit a snorkel which would allow the tank to ford to a depth of 5 metres; IR night fighting equipment for the commander, driver and gunner; and a unique smoke screen creation system.

The T62 was powered by a V12 Diesel engine developing 700 bhp at 2,200rpm which could achieve a maximum speed of 50 kph and gave a range of 500 Km. This was the same engine which stemmed from an Italian FIAT aero engine had been used in the T34, and later, in an uprated version had powered the T54 and T55 Tanks.

Produced between 1961 until the early 1970s the T62 (Initially accepted for service by the USSR in 1962) was widely used by all WARPAC nations, and was also built in Czechoslovakia for the export market and was accepted for service by Afghnistan, Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Libya, Mongolia, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen. It saw its first Combat action in the Armies of Egypt and Syria during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

The T62 does however suffer from some faults. A poor gearbox, liability to shed tracks, thin armour, vulnerable ammunition and fuel storage, and poor crew operating conditions.

Other variants of the T62 included; The T62K Command vehicle; The T62D with Drozd anti-missile system; The T62M with T72 track and drive sprocket and Sheksna laser beam riding missile (The T62M is also called the T62A in some publications) introduced in 1972; The TO-62 flame thrower armed version; and the M1977 ARV. Other variants include the T62M1 with thicker armour used by Afghanistan, and the Egyptian T62s fitted with the British Royal Ordnance 115mm Smoothbore Gun (c.1985).