T-80

T-80

ASU-57

T-80

ASU-57

USSR

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.3	2.3

Class:

Light tank

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

This page is about the Soviet light tank T-80. For the medium tank version, see T-80B.

Description

The T-80 is a rank II Soviet light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. An upgrade over the T-70, the T-80 introduces better armour and an extra crew member to increase the tank's survivability in the battlefield.

Just like the previous T-70, the T-80 boasts strong frontal armour and high mobility in a compact package. However, several notable upgrades are present. These upgrades include an increased crew count, fire rate, and cannon traverse range. The only downsides are that turret armour is reduced, and a somewhat large shot trap now exists all around the turret.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	35 mm (62°) Front glacis 35 mm (33-71°) Driver's port 45 mm (31°) Lower glacis	25 mm	15 mm (70°) Top 25 mm (43°) Bottom	15 mm
Turret	35 mm (4-67°) Turret front 45 mm (12-59°) Gun mantlet	35 mm (6-23°)	35 mm (28°)	15 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	51	7	11.6	263	324	22.67	27.93
Realistic	46	6		150	170	12.93	14.66

Armaments

Main armament

45 mm 20-K
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
94			-8°/+65°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	3.6	4.9	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	3.6	4.2	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
3.3	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
BR-240	APHEBC	69	68	59	50	42	35
O-243	HE	4	4	4	4	4	4
BR-240SP	AP	73	71	62	52	44	37
BR-240P	APCR	103	94	64	40	21	17

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
BR-240	APHEBC	760	1.4	1.2	15	32.3	+4°	48°	63°	71°
O-243	HE	343	2.2	0.4	0.3	118	+0°	79°	80°	81°
BR-240SP	AP	757	1.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
BR-240P	APCR	985	0.85	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-70 (identical to T-80).

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
94	85(+9)	75(+19)	1(+93)	Yes

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity each)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,071 (63)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

The T-80 is a little different from most light tanks. Like all light tanks, it has excellent speed and mobility. Unlike most light tanks it has great, sloped frontal armour and good turret armour, making it highly resistant to most tier 1 gun. Pair this with its fast firing 45mm gun and it becomes an excellent vehicle for hunting lightly armoured foes. The addition of APCR allows you to fight more heavily armoured vehicles. You may come across Matilda and Valentine tanks, which are highly resistant to the APHEBC round but can be more easily penetrated by the APCR (at the expense of less damage).

In order to take full advantage of this tank's strengths, you should aim to use one of two distinct tactical options. Option one is to operate as a frontline tank in urban combat. Your frontal armour is of great use here. However, this strategy should be avoided if you are not near or at the top of this tank's matchmaking range. The other option is to work as a flanking tank. Your gun is more than capable in this role, and unlike most flanking role tanks, the surprise isn't always necessary for survival. Thanks to your strong frontal armour, you can do well under incoming fire if your attempt at flanking is discovered, or if your opponent is determined to survive and providing stiff resistance. Few tanks offer the level of flexibility in terms of combat approach that is granted to the T-80.

When taking the tank into battle, a mix of APHEBC and APCR is favourable. The BR-240 AP shells against flanked opponents and structural weaknesses (e.g. Pz.4 E turret), while the BR-240P APCR role is for close range combat (<400m, due blunt nose cone) and engaging heavy armoured box tanks, especially the M3 Lee, StuG and up-armoured T-28E. As usual, having a few rounds of pure HE is great against any SPAAG.

In battle, you must beware of some of the high calibre guns found at the tier. Tank Destroyers such as the Panzerjäger I, 75mm Gun Motor Carriage M3 and the Japanese Ho-Ni will all be able to take the T-80 out easily. SPGs armed with howitzer type guns like the Type 4 Ho-Ro also pose a high threat. Also, beware German vehicles armed with the long barreled 50mm gun, like the Panzer III J and Sd.Kfz. 234/2 Puma. The best way to play the T-80 is to use it as a light tank. Do not be overconfident. Avoid direct combat and assume that enemy tanks will be able to penetrate you. Attacking from an advantageous position will allow your tanks great armour and gun to shine.

Modules

The T-80 is damaged very easily, and, as such, having the "parts" modification should be the first priority. After that, researching AP and APCR rounds is very useful, since it allows the tanker to be much more of a threat to well-armoured opponents, being much more versatile.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fastest reload speed in the game for a non-automated cannon
• Small target
• Co-axial MG suitable against unarmoured vehicles
• Capability to shoot APCR rounds
• Frontal turret and hull armour is surprisingly good, and can easily bounce shots from same Br opponents
• First Soviet light tank to feature more than two crew, meaning you can now afford to lose a crew member
• Awesome vertical traverse limit of 65°, allows for some anti-air potential, though it is unreliable in this role
• Some guns will really struggle to penetrate your armour at this tier. Japanese 37/57 mm and other 45 mm guns (without APCR) pose very little threat.
• Often underestimated. Many players will aim poorly and their shells will ricochet
• Ability to scout in low rank

Cons:

• Very slow traverse speed for turret (hand cranked)
• Slow gun elevation speed
• Front shot trap, although decently protected, is a serious weak point
• Low calibre gun
• Easily damaged by careless driving
• Gun is inaccurate at long range.
• Tank wobbles when you stop, meaning you will have to wait a few seconds before you can fire accurately.
• Easily one-shotted due to the small crew number

History

The T-80 light tank was a redesign of the T-70 light tank in an attempt to make the design relevant again.

During World War II, the concept of the light tank was deemed obsolete, they were too lightly armoured, too lightly armed, and sometimes don't go that much faster than the 1940s medium tank designs which had better armour and guns. Plus, the smaller profile of the tank meant that the crew are not necessarily given enough comfort room and the constraint would force turret design to be a one or two-man turret, restricting the commander to perform other duties as well.

The T-80 tried to remedy this by giving the tank more armour and a two-man turret so the commander could coordinate more efficiently than the one-man turret on the T-70. However, the role of the light tank in the Soviet Union could be fulfilled by the incoming supplies of Lend-Lease equipment available from Britain and America in the form of M3 Stuarts and Valentine tanks, which are better than the T-70 and T-80 designs. In October of 1943, the light tank production were all cancelled, resulting in only 120 T-80s being produced in its brief production life.

In-game description

This tank was created based on the T-70M, with the aim of eliminating its main flaws. An analysis of the use of this tank in battle showed that a tank equipped with a cannon needs more than two crew members: the tank commander had to fulfill the role of both a driver and a loader, which negatively affected the tank's manoeuvrability and firing rate in battle. In addition, the constantly developing array of anti-tank weapons meant that stronger armour was required. So in 1943, the GAZ design bureau developed the new T-80 light tank with stronger armour and a three-man crew.

One of the tank's key elements was its 45 mm cannon's high angle of fire. To allow for high-angle firing, e.g. during battles in urban conditions, the tank was equipped with a K-8T collimator sight. This sight provided the ability to fire at both air and ground targets.

By September 1943, factory No. 40 in the town of Mytishchi had produced 81 vehicles of this type in total.

The T-80 tank had an assembly typical of Soviet-produced light tanks. The transmission compartment was located at the front, and the engine at the back. This caused increased vulnerability, since it was the front of the tank that was most often subjected to fire from the enemy. The T-80's fuel tanks were located outside of the fighting compartment in an armoured partition, which reduced the risk of a hit starting a fire. This arrangement increased the survivability of the tank's crew.

The tank's effectivity in combat was reduced by the unreliability of its high-powered engines and its low mobility due to its increased weight. The new vehicles entered service in self-propelled artillery regiments as command tanks and were used until 1945.

Media

Skins and camouflages for the T-80 from live.warthunder.com.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

ETC.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.