T-80是俄罗斯最高估的坦克 [美国媒体]

The T-80 Is Russia’s Most Overrated Tank

T-80是俄罗斯最高估的坦克



The T-80 is a glaring lesson in why heavily-armored tanks can hide major weaknesses. Once considered a premium tank by the Russian military establishment, T-80s suffered savage losses to lightly armed guerrillas during the First Chechen War. The tank's reputation never recovered.

T-80一个明显的教训就是作为拥有厚重装甲的坦克没能隐藏自己的重大弱点。被俄罗斯军方视为主力坦克，但T-80在第一次车臣战争期间面对只有轻武器的游击队遭受重大损失。

It wasn't supposed to be this way. The T-80 was the last main battle tank to come out of the Soviet Union. It was the first Soviet tank to mount a gas turbine engine, giving it a top road speed of 70 kilometers per hour and an efficient power-to-weight ratio of 25.8 horsepower per ton.

这不应该是这样。 T-80是最后一个苏联时代设计定型主战坦克。这是第一个安装燃气涡轮发动机的苏联坦克，它的最高时速为70公里/小时，有效功率/重量比为每吨25.8马力。

This made the standard T-80B one of the most nimble tanks to come out of the 1980s.

这使得标准型号T-80B成为20世纪80年代最灵活的坦克之一。

The Chechen rebels' combat prowess and poor Russian tactics was more responsible for the T-80's losses than the inherent design. Though, it did have one major flaw. But in the end, it was too expensive and guzzled too much fuel. The Russian military grew to favor the more economical T-72 series instead.

对T-80的损失到底是车臣叛乱分子的战斗能力还是俄罗斯的恶劣战术更应负责任 ，而不是固有的设计。虽然，它确实有一个主要缺陷。但说到底，T-80太昂贵了，消耗燃料太多。俄罗斯军方渐渐倾向于更经济的T-72系列。

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The T-80 was an evolution over its predecessor, the T-64. As the most modern tank design of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the T-64 was a departure from the Soviet penchant for simple armored vehicle designs, such as the T-54/55 and T-62.

T-80是对其前身T-64的改进。作为20世纪60年代末和70年代初期最现代化的坦克设计，T-64与苏联人对于简单装甲车辆设计的喜爱背道而驰，比如T-54/55和T-62。

For instance, the T-64 was the first Soviet tank to replace human loaders with mechanical autoloaders, reducing the crew from four to three. The T-64's second trend-setting innovation was the introduction of composite armor, which layered ceramics and steel together to provide superior resistance compared to only steel.

例如，T-64是第一个用机械式自动装填机取代人力装弹的苏联坦克，使机组人员从四人减少到三人。 T-64的第二个引领潮流的设计创新是引入了复合装甲，它将陶瓷和钢材层压在一起，与单一钢材相比，提供了出色的防护性能。

Further, the T-64 had lightweight, small diameter all-steel road wheels in contrast to the large, rubber rimmed ones on the T-55 and T-62.

此外，与T-55和T-62上的大型橡胶边缘车轮相比，T-64具有轻质的小直径全钢公路车轮。

The first mass produced variant, the T-64A, mounted the huge 125-millimeter 2A46 Rapira main gun, which was so popular that it came included on all subsequent Russian tanks … up to the T-90. Remarkably, the T-64A packed all of this potential into a petite 37-ton package?relatively light for a tank of this size.

第一个大规模生产改进型号T-64A装备了巨大的125毫米2A46 Rapira主炮，它非常受欢迎，以至于它被安装到了随后的所有俄罗斯坦克中......直到T-90。值得注意的是，T-64A将所有这些潜力都打造成了一个小巧的只有37吨重的坦克中，对于这种尺寸的坦克来说相对较轻。

But as marvelous as these innovations were, the T-64 had a sensitive 5TDF engine and unusual suspension?both prone to breaking down. As a result, the Soviet army deliberately assigned the tanks to units stationed close to its manufacturing plant in Kharkov.

但是，正如这些创新产品一样奇妙，T-64拥有敏感的5TDF发动机和独特的悬架，两者都容易出故障。结果，苏联军队被迫将坦克分配给驻扎在哈尔科夫制造厂附近的部队。

Even worse, rumors circulated that the T-64's new autoloader chomped off the arms of crew members who strayed too close. It's a plausible scenario given the T-64's tiny internal space.

更糟糕的是，有传言说，T-64的新型自动装载机裁减掉了距离乘员组人员太近的武器。这给了T-64一个看似合理的微小内部空间。

While fixing the T-64A's automotive maladies, the Soviets developed an interest in developing a new tank with a gas turbine engine. Gas turbines have high acceleration and an efficient power-to-weight ratio, can start quickly in cold weather without prior warm-up?a necessity in Russia's frigid winters?and they're lightweight.

在修复T-64A的汽车故障时，苏联人饶有兴趣的开发了一种带有燃气涡轮发动机的新型坦克。燃气轮机具有高加速度和高效的功率重量比，可以在寒冷的天气中快速启动，无需事先预热，这在俄罗斯寒冷的冬季是必不可少的，而且它们比较轻巧。

On the downside, gas turbines guzzle fuel and have higher susceptibility to dirt and dust owing to their voracious air intake compared to conventional diesels.

不利的一面是，与传统柴油机相比，燃气轮机消耗燃料过程中需要吸入大量的空气而对污垢和灰尘更易感。

The original base model T-80 didn't enter active service until 1976?much later than planned. The Soviet tank industry had its hands full working out the T-64A's kinks and gearing up for producing the T-72 as a cheaper backup option. At the same time, the Soviets were building more T-55s and T-62s for Arab allies which had lost hundreds of tanks during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

最初的基础型号T-80直到1976年才进入现役，比计划晚得多。苏联坦克工业部门已经完全解决了T-64A的悬挂和变速箱的问题，并且准备将T-72作为更便宜的备份选项。与此同时，苏联人正在为1973年赎罪日战争期间损失数百辆坦克的阿拉伯盟友制造更多的T-55和T-62。

The early-model T-80s also had their problems. In November 1975, the USSR's then defense minister Andrei Grechko blocked the tank's production because of its wasteful fuel consumption and few firepower advancements over the T-64A. Five more months passed before Grechko's successor, Dmitriy Ustinov, authorized the new tank to go into production.

早期型号的T-80也存在问题。 1975年11月，当时的苏联时任国防部长安德烈·格列奇科阻止了坦克的生产，因为其浪费的燃料消耗和火力相比T-64A上几乎没有提升。在Grechko的继任者Dmitriy Ustinov上任5个月后授权新坦克投入生产。

The original T-80's production line continued for two years?not long?as it was already outclassed by the T-64B tank, which featured a new fire control system that could fire 9M112 Kobra missiles from its main gun. More serious, the T-80 was nearly three-and-a-half times more expensive than the T-64A.

最初的T-80生产线持续了两年，不久之后它被T-64B坦克所取代，后者配备了一种新的火控系统，可以从主炮中发射9M112 Kobra导弹。更糟糕的是，T-80比T-64A贵了近三成半。

The T-80B succeeded the baseline model in 1978. As the most advanced “premium tank” in the East, the Soviets beginning in 1981 assigned most T-80Bs to its highest risk garrison?the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.

T-80B于1978年成功实现了基础定型。作为东部最先进的“高级坦克”，1981年开始苏联将大部分T-80B分配给其面临北约最高军事威胁的驻军 - 苏联驻东德的军队。

Its high speed earned it the nickname “Tank of the English Channel.” In Soviet war game calculations, T-80Bs were able to reach the Atlantic coast within five days?assuming that they didn't run out of fuel.

它的高速度赢得了它的绰号“英吉利海峡的坦克”。在苏联的战争模拟演练中，T-80B能够在五天内抵达大西洋海岸，假设它们没有用完燃料。

This new variant borrowed from the T-64. In addition to firing conventional sabot, shaped charge and anti-personnel fragmentation shells, the T-80B's 125-millimeter 2A46M-1 smoothbore gun could launch the same 9K112 Kobra missiles.

这个新的改进型号借鉴了T-64。 T-80B的125毫米2A46M-1滑膛枪除了发射常规弹头，塑形弹药和杀伤人员碎片弹外，还可以发射相同的9K112 Kobra导弹。

Since this anti-tank guided missile was considerably more expensive than regular tank shells, the tank only carried four missiles compared to 38 shells. The missiles were intended to swat down attack helicopters or ATGM-capable vehicles beyond the range of the T-80B's conventional gun rounds.

由于这种反坦克导弹比普通坦克炮弹贵得多，坦克只装载了四枚导弹，而不是38枚炮弹。这些导弹打算用于击落攻击直升机或超出T-80B坦克炮射程以外装备反坦克导弹的地方车辆。

A coaxial 7.62 x 54-millimeter PKT and 12.7 x 108-millimeter NSVT Utes machine gun for the commander's cupola rounded off the tank's anti-personnel weapons.

炮塔上的同轴7.62 x 54毫米PKT和12.7 x 108毫米NSVT Utes机枪是坦克装备的反步兵武器。

While the T-80B boasted advanced composite armor, it had even greater protection through its Kontakt-1 explosive reactive armor, or ERA. Arranged in the same horizontal layers as late production T-72A tanks, ERA-equipped T-80Bs were called T-80BVs.

虽然T-80B拥有先进的复合装甲，但它通过Kontakt-1爆炸反应装甲或ERA获得更大的保护。与后期生产的T-72A坦克相同的防护能力，配备ERA的T-80B被称为T-80BV。

In 1987, the T-80U succeeded the T-80B in production, if not absolute numbers.

在1987年，脱胎于T-80B的T-80U成功的投入生产，这不仅仅是字母的改变，性能提升是全面性的。

Externally, the T-80U mounted Kontakt-5 reactive armor. This was an improvement over Kontakt-1?which used an add-on array of explosive filled shingles. Instead, Kontakt-5 was a factory applied set of plates pointing forward to maximize the deflection angle of incoming rounds. Kontakt-1 was only useful against shaped charge warheads, while Kontakt-5 added resistance to kinetic energy sabot rounds as well.

在外部，T-80U安装了Kontakt-5反应式装甲。与Kontakt-1相比，这是一个改进，它使用了一个装满炸药的反应装甲的附加阵列。相反，Kontakt-5是反应装甲的前面板指向偏转角度以最大化优势抵消了前方来袭弹药的侵彻力。 Kontakt-1仅用于对付异形弹头，而Kontakt-5对动能弹头也增加抵抗力。

Internally, the T-80U traded the T-80B's 1A33 fire control system for the more advanced 1A45. The engineers swapped out the Kobra missiles with the laser-guided 9K119 Refleks guided missile?a more reliable, longer range and harder hitting weapon. T-80Us crammed in seven more rounds of 125-millimeter shells than the T-80B.

在内部，T-80U替换了T-80B的1A33火控系统，用于更先进的1A45。工程师用激光制导的9K119 Refleks导弹替换了Kobra导弹，这是一种更可靠，射程更远，射程更远的武器。与T-80B相比，T-80U又多了七发125毫米炮弹。

But the T-80U didn't last long in production. Its new GTD-1250 turbine was still too fuel hungry and maintenance heavy. In its place came the diesel powered T-80UD. This represented the last T-80 variant to be produced in the Soviet Union. It was also the first of its kind to see action outside of a training school … if “action” meant blasting tank shells into the Russian parliament to settle the October 1993 constitutional crisis.

但T-80U在生产中并没有持续太久。其新型GTD-1250涡轮机仍然燃料过多，维护量很大。取而代之的是柴油动力T-80UD。这是苏联生产的最后一款T-80型号。这也是首次在培训学校之外看到它的行动......如果“行动”意味着向俄罗斯议会发射爆破坦克炮弹以解决1993年10月的宪法危机。

The December 1994 separatist war in Chechnya was the first action for the T-80 where the shooting was going both ways … and it was an epic disaster.

1994年12月的车臣分离主义战争是T-80的第一次行动，交战双方互相射击......这是一场史诗般的灾难。

When rebels in Chechnya declared their country's independence, Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered troops to bring the former Soviet republic back to the fold by force. These troops took T-80Bs and BVs with them. The soldiers had never trained with the T-80 before. Ignorant of the new tank's gluttony for fuel, they ran their engines dry while idling.

当车臣的叛军宣布他们的国家独立时，俄罗斯总统叶利钦下令部队将这个前苏维埃共和国加盟国强行带回来。这些部队装备了T-80B和BV。但士兵从未接受过T-80训练。士兵对新坦克对燃料的消耗量巨大毫不知情，在怠速的时间也让发动机空转，直到燃料耗尽。

The Russian advance into the Chechen capital Grozny was a near massacre for the invaders?nearly 1,000 soldiers died and 200 vehicles were destroyed from Dec. 31, 1994, to the following New Year's Day evening. As the most advanced vehicle in the Russian assault force, the T-80B and T-80BVs suffered horrific losses.

俄罗斯向车臣首府格罗兹尼进攻几乎是对入侵者的大屠杀，从1994年12月31日到接下来的元旦晚上，将近1000名士兵死亡，200辆车被摧毁。作为俄罗斯突击部队中最先进的战车，T-80B和T-80BV遭受了可怕的损失。

While impervious to direct frontal hits, dozens of these tanks were destroyed in catastrophic explosions, their turrets blowing off after sustaining multiple strikes from the Chechen rebels' RPG-7V and RPG-18 rocket launchers.

尽管没有直接的正面命中，但数十辆这种坦克在灾难性爆炸中被摧毁，在遭受车臣叛乱分子的RPG-7V和RPG-18火箭发射器多次袭击后，它们的炮塔被炸毁。

It turned out?the T-80's Korzhina autoloader had a fatal design flaw. The autoloader stored ready propellant in a vertical position, with only the tank's road wheels partially protecting it. RPGs striking the T-80 in the sides above the road wheels were likely to set off the propellant, resulting in the tank's explosive decapitation.

事实证明T-80的Korzhina自动装弹机有一个致命的设计缺陷。自动装弹机将推进剂储存在垂直位置，只有坦克的车轮部分地保护它。RPG击中T-80车轮上方的位置很可能会引燃推进剂，导致坦克炮塔殉爆。

In this respect, the T-72A and Bs?which received the same kind of punishment?had a marginally higher probability of surviving flanking strikes because their autoloaders stored propellant in a horizontal position below the rims of their road wheels.

在这方面，受到同样打击的T-72A和B在侧翼被击中幸存的可能性略高，因为它们的自动装载机将推进剂储存在其车轮轮辋下方的水平位置。

A second major fault of the T-80, like previous Russian tanks, was minimal gun elevation and depression. The tank's gun could not fire back at rebels shooting from upper story rooms or basements.

与之前的俄罗斯坦克一样，T-80的第二大缺点是较小的炮口仰射和俯射角度。坦克炮不能打击从上层的房间或地下室射击的叛军。

To be fair, T-80 casualties were more likely the fault of ill-prepared crews, inadequate training and disastrous tactics. Such was the haste of Russia's rush to war that T-80BVs entered Grozny without the explosive filler in their reactive armor panels, making the armor useless. It was even alleged that some soldiers sold off the explosive inserts to supplement their salaries.

公平的说，T-80伤亡惨重更可能是没有充足准备应对惨烈战斗的士兵，训练不足和灾难性的战术。由于俄国急于开战，T-80BV在反应式装甲面板中没有装填炸药的情况下进入格罗兹尼，使得装甲无用。甚至有人说，一些士兵卖掉了爆炸性的装甲以补充他们的工资。

The Soviet army had long forgotten the hard lessons of urban warfare from World War II. During the Cold War, only Spetsnaz commandos and the Berlin garrison had trained for serious city fighting. Expecting little resistance, Russian forces drove into Grozny with infantry buttoned up inside their BMP and BTR transports. Their commanders got lost because they didn't have proper maps.

苏联军队早已忘记了第二次世界大战中城市战争的艰难教训。在冷战期间，只有特种部队突击队和柏林驻军有应对激烈城市战斗训练。预计抵抗力量不大，俄罗斯部队开车进入格罗兹尼，步兵坐在他们密封的BMP和BTR装甲运兵车内。他们的指挥官因为没有合适的地图而迷路了。

Since Russian soldiers were reluctant to exit their transports and clear buildings room by room, their Chechen adversaries who knew the weaknesses of Russian vehicles from Soviet-era conscription were free to turn the tanks and other armored vehicles into crematoriums.

由于俄罗斯士兵不愿意下他们的运输车并逐个房间地清理建筑物，从苏联时期退役的他们的车臣敌人知道俄罗斯装甲车辆的弱点，可以自由地将坦克和其他装甲车辆变成火葬场。

It was easy for the Russian high command to blame the T-80's design for the Chechen disaster?as opposed to clumsy operational planning and tactical inadequacies. But ultimately, it was a lack of money which caused the cheaper T-72 to displace the T-80 as the preferred choice for Russia's export sales and its post-Chechen wars.

俄罗斯高级指挥部很容易把T-80在车臣灾难性损失归咎于设计，而不是笨拙的作战计划和战术不足。但最终，还是缺钱导致更便宜的T-72取代T-80作为俄罗斯出口销售和后车臣战争的首选。

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia lost the T-80UD production plant in Kharkov to the newly independent Ukraine. The T-80U factory at Omsk declined into bankruptcy, while the Leningrad LKZ plant no longer made the earlier T-80BV.

当苏联解体时，俄罗斯将哈尔科夫的T-80UD生产工厂交给了新独立的乌克兰。鄂木斯克的T-80U工厂拒绝破产，而列宁格勒LKZ工厂不再生产早期的T-80BV。

For Russia to have three tank types?the T-72 (A and B), T-80 (BV, U and UD) and T-90 (a rebrand of the T-72BU) made no financial or logistical sense. Each tank had the same 125-millimeter 2A46M gun and similarly performing gun-launched missiles. But they all had different engines, fire control systems and chassis.

对于俄罗斯来说，有三种坦克类型：T-72（A和B），T-80（BV，U和UD）和T-90（T-72BU的重新命名的型号）没有任何财务或后勤意义。每个坦克有相同的125毫米2A46M炮和类似的执行炮射导弹。但他们都有不同的引擎，消防系统和底盘。

In simpler terms, these tanks offered commonality in capabilities but diversity in spare parts, rather than common spare parts and diversity of capabilities. Since the T-80U was far more expensive than the T-72B, it was only logical for a cash-strapped Russia to favor the T-72.

简单地说，这些坦克在能力上提供了通用性，但备件多样化，而不是通用的备件和能力的多样性。由于T-80U比T-72B昂贵得多，因此对于一个资金匮乏的俄罗斯支持T-72来说，这是合乎逻辑的。

But Moscow continued to experiment with its T-80s, adding active protection systems?which use millimeter-wave radar to track incoming missiles before launching explosive countermeasures. The resulting T-80UM-1 Bars was revealed in 1997 but did not enter production, probably again because of budget cuts.

但是莫斯科继续试验其T-80，增加了主动保护系统，它使用毫米波雷达追踪来袭导弹，然后发射弹药将其引爆。由此产生的具有T-80UM-1"雪豹"(俄文БАРС，英文Bars)于1997年公布，但没有投入生产，可能再次因为预算削减。

Russia did not use the T-80 during the Second Chechen War of 1999-2000, or the brief 2008 conflict with Georgia?as far as we know. T-80s have so far not joined the war in Ukraine.

就我们所知，在1999年至2000年的第二次车臣战争期间，俄罗斯没有使用T-80，或者2008年与格鲁吉亚发生短暂的冲突。迄今为止，T-80还没有参加乌克兰的战争。



Raptor
...and this is why it is so hard to be scared of any of Putin's new wonder weapons. Russia is attempting to move to a Western style professional army but it is not going well and is behind schedule. They still depend on an undisciplined conscript army. The T-80 was the wonder weapon of the time and once in battle its shortcomings came out.

......这就是为什么要害怕普京的新奇迹武器的原因。俄罗斯正试图转向西方式的职业军队，但进展不顺利，进度落后。他们仍然依靠一支无纪律的征兵队伍。 T-80是当时的优秀的武器，曾经在战斗中出现缺陷。