T-64A Soviet main battle tank MBT T-64 mod 1/35 SKIF 202

T-64A Soviet main battle tank MBT
1/35 scale plastic model kit
SKIF 202

Package include:
Decals
Gum tracks
Plastic parts
Assembly guide

Manufacturer: SKIF (Ukraine)
Scale: 1/35
Material: Plastic
Unpainted, Unassembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box

T-64A

Obyekt 447 at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Kiev, Ukraine

The T-64 has a characteristic exhaust vent in the rear

Even as the first T-64s were rolling off the assembly lines, the design team was working on a new version which would allow it to keep firepower superiority, named obyekt 434. The brand new and very powerful 125 mm D-81T gun, from the Perm weapons factory, was fitted to the tank. This gun was merely a scaled-up version of the 115mm smoothbore cannon from the T-62. The larger size of the 125mm ammunition meant less could be carried inside the T-64, and with a fourth crewman loader taking up space as well, the tank would only have a 25-round capacity. This was unacceptably low for the Soviet designers, but strict dimensional parameters forbade them from enlarging the tank to increase interior space. The solution was to replace the human loader with a mechanical autoloader, cutting the crew to three and marking the first use of autoloaders in a Soviet MBT.(Perrett 1987:42) The 6ETs10 autoloader has 28 rounds and can fire 8 shots per minute; the stabiliser, a 2E23, was coupled to the new TPD-2-1 (1G15-1) sight. Night driving was also adapted with the new TPN-1-43A periscope which would benefit from the illumination of a powerful infrared L2G projector, fitted on the left side of the gun. The shielding was improved, with fibreglass replacing the aluminium alloy in the armour, and small spring-mounted plates fitted along the mudguards (known as the Gill skirt), to cover the top of the suspension and the side tanks. They were however extremely fragile and were often removed. Some small storage spaces were created along the turret, with a compartment on the right and three boxes on the front left. Schnorkels were mounted on the rear of the turret. A NBC protection system was fitted and the hatches were widened.

Prototypes were tested in 1966 and 1967 and, as production began after the six hundredth T-64, it entered service in the Soviet Army under the T-64A designation. Chief engineer Alexander Morozov was awarded the Lenin Prize for this model's success.

Designed for elite troops, the T-64A was constantly updated as available equipment was improved. After only three years in service, a first modernisation occurred, regarding :

• fire control, by replacing the sights with a TPD-2-49 and a TPN-1-49-23, and stabilisation by mounting a 2E26 system.
• the radio by mounting a R-123M
• night vision with a TBN-4PA for the driver and a TNP-165A for the tank leader. His battlepost was transformed by mounting a small stabilised turret with an anti-aircraft NSVT 12.7 mm x108 machine gun, electrically guided through an optical PZU-5 sight, and fed with 300 rounds. It could be used from within the tank so that the tank leader could avoid being exposed (as on previous tanks). The possibility of mounting a KMT-6 anti-mine system was also added.

A derived version appeared at the same time, designed for the commanding officer, and named T-64AK. It comprised a R-130M radio with a 10 m telescopic antenna which could be used only in a static position as it required shrouds, an artillery aiming circle PAB-2AM and TNA-3 navigation station, all of those could be supplied by an auxiliary gasoline-fired generator.

In 1976, the weapons system was improved by mounting a D-81TM (2A46-1), stabilised by a 2E28M2, supplied by an automatic 6ETs10M. The night sight is replaced by a TNPA-65 and the engine can accept different fuels, including diesel fuel, kerosene or gasoline. The production, first carried on the B variant, stopped in 1980.

But the majority of T-64A's were still modernised after 1981, by mounting a six smoke grenade-launcher 81mm 902A on each side of the gun, and by replacing the gill plates by a rubber skirt for a longer life. Some of them seem to have been fitted after 1985 with reactive bricks (as the T-64BV), or even with laser TPD-K1 telemeters instead of the TPD-2-49 (1981). Almost all T-64's were modernised into T-64R, between 1977 and 1981, by reorganising external storage and snorkels, similar to the T-64A.

T-64
T-64A rebuilt
Type	Main battle tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1966–
Used by	Soviet Union, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Production history
Designer	Morozov Design Bureau
Designed	1951–62
Manufacturer	Malyshev Factory
Produced	1963–85
Specifications (T-64A)
Weight	38 tonnes
Length	9.225 m
Width	3.415 m
Height	2.172 m
Crew	3
Armour	20–450 mm of Glass reinforced plastic sandwiched between layers of steel
Primary armament	D-81T 125 mm smoothbore gun
Secondary armament	7.62 mm PKMT coax machine gun, 12.7 mm NSVT antiaircraft machine gun
Engine	5DTF 5-cyl. diesel 700 hp
Power/weight	18.4 hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	500 km, 700 km with external tanks
Speed	60.5 km/h