TO-55

This page is about the premium Soviet medium tank TO-55. For other versions, see T-54/55 (Family).

TO-55

TO-55

USSR

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.0	8.0	8.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:8 380

Description

The TO-55 was a modification of the T-55 fitted with a flamethrower, intended to assist infantry in pushing against enemy defensive positions during battle, while allowing for increased survivability of such a weapon system when compared to flamethrowers carried by infantry. The original tank turret was modified by incorporating an ATO-200 flamethrower coaxial with the main armament. The standard ammunition stowage in the bow next to the driver was modified to accommodate a flammable liquid tank with a capacity of 460 litres. The flamethrower was aimed by rotating the entire turret, and ignited by pyrotechnic charges. Instead of being manually controlled, the rate of fuel consumption was standard, averaging 36 litres per burst of flame. The flamethrower had a maximum effective range of about 200 metres and an initial muzzle velocity of about 100 meters per second.

Introduced in Update "Sons of Attila", the TO-55 resembles the standard T-55 variant in appearance, but its coaxial armament has been replaced by a flame projector. The flamethrower, while appealing, has a very limited range and is only useful for open/lightly armoured vehicles, making it a very situational armament. However, being built on the basis of the T-55, the TO-55 is a tried-and-true platform with dependable armour and adequate firepower, and can still shine in the right hands with good tactics and careful planning.

The TO-55 is much like the T-54 (1951) and T-55A sharing the same ammo. However, it is basically a better T-54 whilst being at the same BR. It can be considered as a direct upgrade, since the TO-55 is really just the T-55A with T-54 (1951) ammo. This brings some advantages compared to the T-54, for example, the T-55 series carries the D-10T2S compared to the T-54's D-10T. The biggest difference is that is has a two-plane stabilizer, giving it a good advantage when shooting on the move. It also has ESS capabilities and the 3D3 smoke shell, allowing it to confuse enemies or create a smokescreen. Another advantage it has is the V-55V diesel engine, which has more horsepower over the T-54's V-54 engine. The last difference is the addition of a NVD.

The only advantage the T-54 has over the TO-55 is a higher ammo capacity (34 > 25) and a larger ready rack (20 > 7) so keep in mind. However, with the potent D-10T2S cannon, ammo should not be too much of an issue. The flamethrower also replaces the PKT machine gun, but it is barely an issue.

The front of the TO-55. Note the flamethrower module on the left side, which looks like a circle.

General info

Survivability and armour

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull100 / 80 / 45

Turret200 / 160 / 66

Crew4 people

Visibility83 %

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB56 / 9 km/h

RB and SB51 / 8 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight36.0 t

Engine power

AB1 107 hp

RB and SB580 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB30.8 hp/t

RB and SB16.1 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	56	9	36	899	1,107	24.97	30.75
Realistic	51	8		513	580	14.25	16.11

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 904

RB3 180

SB4 350

Crew training10 000

Experts550 000

Aces1 300

Research Aces1 550 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 130 / 200 / 240 %

2 × 202 / 202 / 202 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment ESS	Horizontal Drive 100mm_APDS_ammo_pack 100mm_ussr_Smoke_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire Elevation Mechanism Artillery Support 100mm_HEAT_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

100 mm D-10T2S cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition25 rounds

First-order7 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

9.7 → 7.5 s

Vertical guidance-5° / 18°

100 mm D-10T2S					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	25	-5°/+18°	±180°	Two-plane	14.3	19.8	24.0	26.5	28.2	9.75	8.63	7.95	7.50
Realistic					8.9	10.5	12.8	14.1	15.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BR-412D	APCBC	239	236	220	202	185	170
OF-412	HE	27	27	26	24	23	21
3BM-8	APDS	336	332	317	299	282	265
3BK-5	HEATFS	380	380	380	380	380	380

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-412D	APCBC	887	15.88	1.2	19	100.1	48°	63°	71°
OF-412	HE	900	15.6	0.2	0.1	1,460	79°	80°	81°
3BM-8	APDS	1,415	4.13	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°
3BK-5	HEATFS	900	12.38	0.05	0.1	1,240	65°	72°	77°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
3D3	880	15.6	16	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
25	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Additional armament

Flamethrower

Ammunition800 rounds

Belt capacity800 rounds

Fire rate1 200 shots/min

Vertical guidance-3° / 16°

Flamethrower
Capacity (Belt)	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer
800 (800)	-3°/+16°	-	-

Machine guns

12.7 mm DShK machine gun

Ammunition300 rounds

Belt capacity50 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

Vertical guidance-10° / 60°

12.7 mm DShK
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	300 (50)	600	-10°/+60°	±180°

Usage in battles

The TO-55 is basically a better version of the T-54 (1951) by having a stabilizer, smoke screen options. So, it is generally best to use it as described in the tank's page. The added 3D3 smoke shell can prove useful in situations where repositioning or stealth is required.

The main highlight of the TO-55 is the flamethrower. With 800 units of incendiary mixture/napalm, the TO-55's flamethrower can coat an entire area in flames. It has a maximum range of about ≈ 200-225 meters. It is a very situational but deadly weapon, depending on the enemy's armor. It is similar to the Churchill Crocodile but is coaxially mounted instead of having a dedicated flamethrower port

Against vehicles with any semblance of all around armor, (even 3mm thick), the flamethrower will not do anything at all except coat the tank in fire. It could prove useful against an enemy by blinding them with the flamethrower, but is otherwise useless. However, it will absolutely shred open-topped vehicles to a crisp. Even one unit of incendiary mixture against an open top will set it on fire and destroy it in less than 10 seconds. The incendiary mixture also damages crew on a direct hit, and when the TO-55 can spit around 15 incendiary mixtures per second, it is practically impossible for an open top to survive the flamethrower.

Common open topped enemies such as exported ZSU-57-2s, the M113A1 (TOW), M163, M56 aswell as other occasional lower tier open tops are basically signing their death sentence once they are within close range to you. The flamethrower, when fully elevated, can arc over hills and obstacles and hit enemies behind cover, almost literally "raining fire". The most common enemy that you will probably fight is the ZSU-57-2. It is very deadly on a flank and must be dealt with before it can unleash havoc. However, if you are aware of one's presence, you can spray the flamethrower on the ground, walls or even above. This will likely trap the enemy or just burn them down to a crisp entirely.

In general, treat the TO-55 as a T-54 (1951) with the capability to shoot on the move and cause total area denial against open tops.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Wonderful APHECBC shell; one-shots enemies while flanking
• Has a stabilizer which helps you aim the gun faster and on the move. Good for corner peeking
• Various smoke options, with ESS that can be used when retreating and smoke shells to capture points in the open
• Better engine power than the basic T-54s
• Flamethrower can blind enemies in close combat
• Flamethrower is extremely lethal against open-tops

Cons:

• Low main gun ammo storage and ready rack compared to other T-54/T-55s
• First stage ammo rack gets moved to the turret, thus most of the time there will be ammo in the turret which increases the chance to be destroyed when hit even when you're hull down.
• APHECBC have hard time penetrating other MBTs from the front, requiring targeting of weak points.
• Subpar turret rotation
• Slightly weaker ammo compared to some Western tanks
• Low gun depression

History

The predecessor of the Soviet TO-55 was the TO-54 tank, developed on the basis of the T-54 medium tank at the Malyshev Factory. In 1957, a new flamethrower tank was developed on the chassis of the T-55 tank, which used the more advanced ATO-200 flamethrower. TO-55 successfully passed the tests and was put into service in 1960. The tank was mass-produced in Omsk and Kharkov, a total of 830 TO-55 units were produced. The flamethrower tank was in service with the army until 1997.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the TO-55 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• T-54/55 (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] TO-55: the Scorched Land