Eastern Suburbs Scale Modelling Club Pat McCumiskey's 1/35 Tamiya Iraqi T-55 Enigma

.: Pat McCumiskey's 1/35 Tamiya Iraqi T-55 Enigma

Although the T-55 was simply a modernized T-54, it received a new designation for political reasons. It entered production at Uralvagonzavod in 1958 and entered service with the Red Army on 8 May 1958.

After 1959 the tank also served as a basis for T-55K command tank which was equipped with additional R-112 radio set, AB-1-P/30 fuel powered accumulator charging unit and TPN-1-22-11 night vision sight. All this additional equipment made it necessary to decrease the carried ammunition load for the main gun to 37 rounds and eliminate the bow machine gun. In the beginning of 1960s a T-55K was experimentally fitted with "Uran" TV relay apparatus used for battlefield observation. The tank was fitted with an external camera, the picture from which was relayed to a receiver in a BTR-50PU command vehicle.

Additionally, there was an observation camera mounted on a folding mast which was in turn mounted on a UAZ 69 car. The range within which the picture could be relayed varied between 10 km and 30 km. In 1961 a T-55 tank was used to test the "Almaz" TV complex which was supposed to replace the standard observation devices right after a nuclear explosion or while fording a body of water. There was a camera mounted on the hull for the driver and two cameras mounted on the turret, one for aiming and one for observation, and the picture from the cameras was relayed to two control screens. The tank had removed the front hull fuel tanks and bow machine gun. Also the commander was seated in the driver's usual position while the driver sat next to him. The cameras allowed battlefield observation and firing during daytime at ranges between 1.5 km and 2 km.

However because of the low quality of the equipment the trials gave negative results. In the beginning of 1960s the OKB-29 design bureau in Omsk was working on adapting the tank to use a GTD-3T gas turbine engine developing 700 hp (522 kW). One T-55 tank fitted with this gas turbine engine passed trials but was deemed unsatisfactory and did the design did not go into production. The Omsk OKB-29 group also tested three experimental T-55 tanks (designated Ob'yekt 612) between 1962 and 1965 fitted with an automatic gearbox controlled by electro-hydraulic systems. These trials found that such gearboxes were prone to frequent breakdowns in tanks.

At the same time the Ob'yekt 155ML, a T-55 fitted with a launcher for three 9M14 "Malyutka" (NATO code: AT-3 Sagger) ATGMs mounted on the rear of the turret, was tested. Along with standard tanks a flamethrower armed version was designed (designated TO-55 (Ob'yekt 482)), which was produced until 1962. It was fitted with 460 litre tanks filled with flammable liquid instead of the frontal hull fuel tanks. The flamethrower itself replaced the coaxial machine gun. This was a much better way to mount a flamethrower than in the experimental Ob'yekt 483, based on the T-54 tank, where the flamethrower replaced the main gun. TO-55 flamethrower tanks were withdrawn from service in 1993.

During the 1950s, the T-55 remained a significantly smaller and lighter tank than its NATO contemporaries—the U.S. M48 Patton and the British Centurion—while maintaining good firepower, protection, and reliability.[6] Its 100-mm D-10T tank gun had a larger bore than its Western counterparts. This advantage lasted until the tank began to be surpassed by newer Western developments like the M60 Main Battle Tank[7] and upgraded Centurions and M48 Pattons- the three using the 105 mm rifled Royal Ordnance L7 gun. Due to the 100 mm D-10T round's low velocity and the tank's simple fire-control system, however, the T-54/55 was forced to rely on HEAT shaped-charge ammunition to engage tanks well into the 1960s, despite the relative inaccuracy of this ammunition at long ranges.[6] The Soviets considered this acceptable for a potential European conflict, until the development of composite armor began reducing the effectiveness of HEAT warheads.

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