Table Of Content

natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpagei-Press NATO AND WARSAW PACT TANKS OF THE COLD WAR natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpageii-Press natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpageiii-Press NATO AND WARSAW PACT TANKS OF THE COLD WAR MICHAEL GREEN natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpageiv-Press FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2022by PEN & SWORD MILITARY animprintof Pen&SwordBooksLtd 47ChurchStreet Barnsley SouthYorkshire S702AS CopyrightfMichaelGreen,2022 ISBN978-1-39900-431-2 TherightofMichaelGreentobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeenasserted byhiminaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinany formorbyanymeans,electronicormechanicalincludingphotocopying,recordingor byanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionfromthe Publisherinwriting. TypesetbyConcept,Huddersfield,WestYorkshireHD45JL. PrintedandboundinIndiabyReplikaPressPvt.Ltd. Pen&SwordBooksLimitedincorporatestheimprintsofAtlas,Archaeology,Aviation, Discovery,FamilyHistory,Fiction,History,Maritime,Military,MilitaryClassics, Politics,Select,Transport,TrueCrime,AirWorld,FrontlinePublishing,LeoCooper, RememberWhen,SeaforthPublishing,ThePraetorianPress,WharncliffeLocalHistory, WharncliffeTransport,WharncliffeTrueCrimeandWhiteOwl. ForacompletelistofPen&Swordtitlespleasecontact PEN&SWORDBOOKSLIMITED 47ChurchStreet,Barnsley,SouthYorkshireS702AS,England E-mail:[email protected] Website:www.pen-and-sword.co.uk natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpagev-Press Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Notes to the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix 1. Immediate Post-War Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Building Up the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3. Keeping Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 4. The Odds Get Worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 5. Keeping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 6. Height of the Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 7. NATO Catches Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpagevi-Press Dedication The author dedicates this book to the late US Army General William E. DePuy. TakenfromtheintroductionofaUSArmypublicationisthispassageonGeneral DePuy’s contributions: GeneralWilliamE.DePuychangedtheUSArmy.Asthefirstcommanderof the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), he created the mechanismstorestoretheArmy’sself-imageasaconventionalcombatforce trainedandconfiguredforcontinentalwarfare.HemadeitadoctrinalArmy for the first time in its 200-year history. He laid the foundation for the training revolution that followed in the 1980s and for the development and fielding of the extraordinary combat systems that proved themselves in Operation DESERT STORM. Personally, and as the leader of a major Army command, he took hold of a defeated and discouraged Army and put it on the road to victory. vi natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpagevii-Press Foreword Michael Green in this book once again shows the depth and breadth of his writingandresearchingaboutallaspectsoftanks.Forwelloverthirtyyears,the authorhaswrittendeftlyabouttanksandtankprogressthroughoutthetwentieth century, and that depth of knowledge and expertise culminates in this work on Cold War tanks. Randy R. Talbot Command Historian (Retired) US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) vii natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpageviii-Press Acknowledgements Thisbook’simagescomefromvarioussources,includingtheauthor’scollection, Department of Defense (DOD) websites, the former Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor, the US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) historical office and several stock photo agencies, as well as friends named in the caption credits. As with all published works, authors depend on many friends for assistance in reviewing their work. Those that contributed their thoughts include Joe DeMarco, Pierre-Olivier Buan, Peter Shyvers, Ed Webster and many others. viii natoandwarsawpacttanks...-prelimpageix-Press Notes to the Reader 1. Due to the publisher’s space and format restrictions, the book is a broad canvasofthosetanksthatservedintheirrespectiveperiod.Itisnotacompre- hensive guide to Cold War tanks. 2. Thechapterheadingsarearbitrary,andoverlapinsomecasesduetothelong service careers of many of the tanks described. The chapter headings also allow for the book’s division into manageable sections. 3. The number of tanks built and the time frames can vary depending on refer- ence sources. The same applies to various tanks’ armour protection levels, as some remain classified and others are conjecture by uninformed sources. 4. ThemainfocusofthisbookisonColdWartanksthatenteredserviceandnot thenumerousprototypesandexperimentalmodelsthatneverenteredservice. 5. Allweightsshownareapproximatedandlistedinshorttons(2,000lbperton), in contrast to long tons/imperial tons (2,240lb per ton). ix