the world following the end of the second world war had seen huge technological advances along
with the rise of two superpowers that would define world history for over 40 years even prior to the
end of the second world war humanity had developed first generation jet aircraft world-ending weapons
in the form of atomic bombs and many others one of the advancements that had resulted from the
war was that of armored warfare which had seen the rise and fall of heavy tanks as viable weapons and
the emergence of the medium tank as the optimal vehicle for the battlefields of both the pacific
and europe this concept of a fast decently armored and armed vehicle that could act as
a spearhead for an army had proved its worth in the armies of the allied powers while germany
was forced to develop heavier and heavier vehicles for defensive usage nations like the soviet union
were mass-producing tanks that could outnumber and out-speed their german counterparts without
the need for heavy armor and heavy guns the idea of the main battle tank arose out of this calling
for a tank that could carry a heavy gun while also fulfilling every necessary role on the battlefield
having a gun that is able to defeat enemy armor having armor capable of sustaining fire and most
of all having the mobility to advance alongside or ahead of a moving army vehicles such as the
british centurion the soviet t-54 and the american m48 are some of the most well-known examples of
early mbts today with the help of our sponsor armored warfare we'll be taking a look at one of
these projects namely the t-64 over a century ago the first tanks entered combat in the battle of
the somme since then hundreds of designs have seen use in every conflict from small local battles to
the largest wars some of these are destined for failure cursed by their own design those
that succeed went on to shape warfare in ways no one could have imagined prepare to dive into the
complex stories of tank development as we peel back the pages of history on some of the world's
most iconic designs through ingenuity sweat and blood these machines have been forged for battle
huge thanks to armored warfare for sponsoring this video and the entire forge for battle series so
far armored warfare is a free-to-play online game built around armored vehicles from the
early cold war to the newest main battle tanks from around the world sign up for the game for
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inside you'll find 7 days of premium time and a free premium type 59 2a pause the video right now
and get the download started so you can join my in-game clan the cult of cone once you've
done that come right back and we'll get right into the video the development of the british
105 millimeter l7 rifled cannon had changed the nature of tank design for western powers
delivering a gun capable of defeating soviet armor from a significant distance using the most modern
rounds available the lightweight nature of the gun gave it a versatility that would allow tank
designers to move towards lighter tanks that would have great speed combined with great firepower at
the expense of heavier armor the most well-known mbt that displayed excellent speed and firepower
was the german leopard 1 which has seen service since 1965 and over 16 countries around the world
however one of the most recognizable and widespread mbts would be the american m60
which has been in service since 1959 with over 27 countries in a multitude of conflicts the m60
would be the mainstay mbt for the united states armed with the deadly l7 known as the m68 and had
respectable armor with advancements in anti-tank weaponry and armored vehicles such as the leopard
m60 and centurion it is logical that one would see nato as being the leading force in the world in
terms of armored warfare however what if i was to tell you that this was not always the case
by the mid-1950s the soviet union had already started to realize the drawbacks of their current
mbts the t-54 and t-55 while its 100 millimeter gun had been an effective weapon it was beginning
to have trouble with the armor of the newest nato vehicles such as the centurion and m48 this
resulted in the soviets starting to experiment with higher velocity shells which resulted in the
115 millimeter u5ts smoothbore cannon the first smoothbore tank gun it was found that the t-55
itself was unable to mount the gun and as such a larger turret and hull were made resulting in the
t-62 while the armor of the t-62 was essentially the same as the t-55 the gun was arguably the most
advanced when it was deployed in 1961. while the t-62 on its own is an example of the flip-flop
of technological advancements that would be seen throughout the cold war this video is focused on
the tank that can be said to have caused an even more significant advancement for the soviet union
over nato the t-64 was the brainchild of the designer of the t-54 alexander morizov who started
to design a vehicle known as the nst or new medium tank in the 1950s this original vehicle was first
envisioned as a medium tank similar to the t-54 but with significantly better armor and firepower
this development would see the first prototypes being produced in 1958 known
as object 430. already what would become the t-64 was showing radical differences from the t-54/55
object 430 was armed with the new d54 ts cannon 120 millimeters of frontal armor and a different
engine in the form of a compact opposed piston design object 430U a further development was
different in that it was armed with a 122 millimeter gun and had 160 millimeters of angled
frontal armor which made it essentially a heavy tank but on a medium tank chassis the object 430
and 430u did not proceed further as they were not enough of an improvement over the already widely
used t55 the true predecessor to the t64 that we know is the object 432 whose development started
just after the object 430 u this tank would see many technological advancements which started
with the usage of the new 115 millimeter gun of the t62 while the 115 millimeter was a change
in design an even more radical design element within the object 432 was the incorporation of an
automatic loader for the gun this autoloader was beneficial as it allowed the tank to be smaller
lighter and have less crew necessary to operate the vehicle compared to the t55 and t62 however
the gun and the autoloader were not what made the object 432 and the t64 the most technologically
advanced tanks in the world that would be the armor unlike the t62 that changed the game with
the first smoothbore cannon equipped to a tank the t64 changed it even further with the second
application of composite armor on a tank the composite armor used on the object 432 was
known as combination k and according to steven zaloga was designed to survive heat as well as
tactical nuclear weapons the first generation of combination k consisted of a sandwich
design in which a layer of steel surrounded two layers of reinforced plastic and ceramic plates
there was also attempts to use ceramic balls within the armor but this was abandoned due to
the balls not being able to retain their shape well this composite armor was reportedly capable
of withstanding the heat shells of the l7 giving the tank the equivalent armor of 410 millimeters
against APFSDS and 450 millimeters against heat this armor allowed the tank to retain its smaller
stature but increased the weight to 34 tons the object 432 was approved for production which
started in 1963. in december of 1966 the tank was deployed in the soviet army and redesignated as
the t-64 the paint was barely dry on the new mbts before the designers sought to improve the tank
not many of the 115 millimeter equipped t64s were built before the 125 millimeter d81t was ordered
to be fitted to the tank the new gun required a new autoloader due to the larger size of the
ammunition this tank designated the object 434 was also equipped with night vision and fiberglass to
replace the aluminum that was previously used in the armor the 434 was tested between 1966 and 1967
and was officially accepted into the soviet army in 1967 as the t-64a the t-64-a was assigned to
elite units that formerly operated the is-3 and t-10 essentially replacing the last operational
heavy tanks in active service in the soviet army t-64s that were built prior to the t-64a
were modernized to the a standard and named the t-64-r between 1977 and 1981. the t-64a was first
received by the 14th guard's motor rifle division in east germany and this deployment was the first
time that nato became aware of the vehicle's existence according to multiple sources the
t64a would remain in service for quite some time but it would eventually be upgraded to the t64b
the t64b is the most produced variant of the t64 being the basis of nearly every variant of the
tank after this upgrade as with how the t-64a started the b began with the study into how to
improve the vehicle resulting in the object 476 and 447. the 476 had a different 1000 horsepower
engine while the 447 had a new fire control system that combined a laser rangefinder with
the ability to fire missiles from the gun the 447 won the competition and was ordered
for production as the t-64b in two variants one with the capability of launching missiles t64b
and one without the equipment to launch a missile t64b1 these two variants entered
service in 1976 and were given upgrades for their guns stabilizers and smoke launchers in 1981.
when developed and deployed the t-64 was arguably the most advanced tank in the world it combined
both advancements in armor with superior firepower in the form of its 125 millimeter gun the
inclusion of the autoloader in a basket formation at the bottom of the fighting compartment meant
that it could hold more ammunition 28 rounds and even allow for apfsds rounds to be longer
improving their penetration the tank was more mobile than the t-72 which gave it significant
value in strategic planning it was also easier to drive due to the assisted controls and better
suspension it boasted exceptional armor protection that was capable of withstanding the most commonly
fielded anti-tank round by nato 105 millimeter heat fs and penetrate the armor of every nato
tank with its exceptional 125 millimeter main gun at the time of deployment of the t-64a in 1967 the
united states fielded its m-60 patent while the united kingdom france and west germany had just
started fielding their newest main battle tanks these included the chieftain the amx 30 and the
leopard 1 respectively studies were conducted on captured vehicles that found that the chieftain
mark v and the m60a1 were incapable of surviving fire from the t-64 the chieftain was able to
be penetrated by the 125 millimeter apf sds from over 3000 meters and the m60a1 performed similarly
this meant that essentially no nato tank at the time of deployment of the t64 was able to compete
effectively in addition there are not many reports available that detail the ability
of western tanks in defeating the t-64 near the time of nato's learning of the tank's existence
however there were positives that were present in nato tanks that gave them a chance primarily
their rate of fire speed and the doctrines of their native armies on a realistic battlefield
the t-64 would have a strong upper hand but western tanks had a good chance of competing
due to their effective weaponry combined with their speed specifically the leopard 1 and amx
30. the t64 certainly had many positives towards its design but this does not mean that it did not
have its own share of problems one of the main problems is that the gun utilized two-piece
ammunition as compared to nato's one-piece ammunition with britain being the exception
although the autoloader was fast restocking the ammo is very slow and the presence of charges
presents a danger of cook-off if the tank is penetrated in fact the danger of ammo cook-off
is worse in the t-64 than in the later t-72 due to the size of the placement of charges vertically
rather than horizontally the autoloader itself was a hazard to crew members as there were no
safety features present in early versions of the mechanism it was actually possible to get a limb
caught on the mechanism and cause a crew member to be dragged into the autoloader upon firing
if the autoloader were to break in battle then it is extremely difficult to manually load the gun
it's been reported that the rate of fire could drop to one round per minute due to the turret
being too cramped to effectively reload the gun in terms of the protection of the tank while its
composite armor was excellent its side armor was not as stellar it only had 85 millimeters of side
armor which was made even more vulnerable due to the small road wheels on the tank
even worse is that the ammunition was in such a location that it was not able to enjoy protection
from either the wheels or the side skirts of the tank while the engine of the vehicle was indeed
an impressively powerful machine it suffered from repeated malfunctions and fires this was so bad
in fact that even just starting the engine could result in a fire finally the tank suffered from
problems not commonly found within nato tanks the lack of a fourth crew member generally this crew
member would be available if someone were to be hit such as a driver or gunner however in the t-64
this was more difficult as there were only three people present in addition maintenance of the
tank would be more difficult due to the daily work requiring more effort on three individuals
rather than four the t-64 was one of the most technologically advanced tanks in the cold war
bringing significant innovations to the table that completely outclassed many of its western
contemporaries at the time its armor was completely immune to the most common heatfs
used at the time by the west while its gun was capable of defeating even the heaviest armor
from immense distance while not being the most widely produced soviet tank over 13 000 had been
built t-64s primarily were deployed in eastern europe and was unique in that it was one of the
only tanks developed by the soviets that was never exported until its replacement arrived through its
lifetime the t-64 has seen a significant amount of modernization and upgrades and has been the
basis of many designs later on one of the most significant is the t-80 which is a direct variant
of the t-64 with the incorporation of a gas turbine engine the t-64 remains in service with
three nations and also with three internationally unrecognized states despite its lower numbers
of production and deployment the t-64 proved its worth with its significant technological
innovations that made it more advanced than even the t-72 that came after it the tank gave the
soviets an advantage in armor and firepower that could only be beaten by nato in the late 70s with
the development of tanks such as the leopard 2 m1 abrams and challenger 1. due to its effect on nato
tank development it can be said that the t-64's legacy remains to this day this concludes the
story of the t-64's development if you enjoyed the video don't forget to leave a like and subscribe
for more content like this in the future a huge thanks to armored warfare for sponsoring this
video and to lord captain teapot for working on the script in part 2 of this video we'll be taking
a look at some of the later variants of the t64 as well as the combat history of it so if that sounds
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