new realities emerging in the second half of the 1940s the bipolar world and the confrontation between East and West, which led to the Cold War, was forced to rethink just received military experience.As a result, there are new models of weapons and military equipment.They build a special place occupies the T-54 - one of the best tanks in the world, created in the postwar years.
This medium tank - the direct heir of the legendary models of the T-34 and T-34-85.Initially, it was created in the years of the war as a means of combating the enemy heavy armored vehicles at long ranges.Ranged weapon D-10C mounted on self-propelled artillery SU-100, well proven on the battlefield, but the mission was the 34th for him weak.It was being developed enhanced T-44-100, is also not without drawbacks.Lapping new version was delayed, but in the end resulted in the creation of a new model.
under the designation T-54 tank was adopted armored forces into service in April 1946 - a month with a small after Churchill's speech in Fulton, which is considered the starting point of the Cold War.
designers have ensured that the new combat vehicle has a maximum reliability and at the same time was quite easy to maintain.In addition stomillimetrovogo guns on a tank installed on two machine guns 7.62 mm DShKM - anti-aircraft machine gun.Housing, borrowed from the T-44, mostly left unchanged.In this design, the two innovations applied in the future to extend to all the armored vehicles: the replacement driver on the lookout slit prism periscopes and the presence of suspension preheater, helps to quickly start the engine in the cold tank.The engine B-54 with a capacity of 520 "horses", gave road speed of 50 km / h and less than half - cross country, having, however, the power reserve on it.
In sum combat characteristics, the T-54 for as many as 12 years remained the most powerful medium tank in the world.
his most famous was the modification of the T-55, created in response to the arrival in the US Army nuclear weapons.The main difference between the T-55 was the anti-nuclear defense system.In general, during the release of the tank (basically - before 1967, in part - until 1979) was made many modifications and upgrades, including outside the USSR.Based on more than good design, such variations have been developed: the commander's tank, flamethrower tank, self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, minesweeper, an armored truck, fire truck, and other vehicle-launched bridge.
first real baptism of the T-54 was in the Six Day War (1967) as part of the Egyptian and Syrian troops.A large number of tanks, wrecked or abandoned crew, was seized by the Israeli army, and after modernization of the adoption.Characteristically, the Soviet Union, being an ideological antagonist of Israel, in the 1981-1982 biennium.it sold 50 T-54.
most active period of combat use of T-54 accounts for 1979-1991 .: conflict between China and Vietnam, the war in Afghanistan (one of the main tanks, along with T-62, in the Southern Group of Forces of the USSR), "Operation Peace for Galilee"in Lebanon (in the Syrian and Israeli armies) in the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf War (in the Iraqi army).
tanks T-54 and T-55 is actively delivered and sold their Soviet allies in the socialist camp, friendly countries and some others.For example, Finland.We also supply tanks T-54, manufactured in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
industry produces T-54/55 for more than 30 years.This is a record figure for the modern tank.
