Soviet Tanks - Cold War Developments

year	name	tons	gun	built
Medium tanks
1951	Object 416	24	100mm	1
19_	T-54	..	mm	16,885
19_	T-55	..	mm	36,000
Main Battle Tank
19_	T-62	..	mm	19,479
19_	T-64	..	mm	13,000
19_	T-72	..	mm	20,544
19_	T-80	..	mm	6,000
19_	T-84	..	mm
19_	T-90	..	mm	2,125
1957	Object 430	36	100mm	1
19_	Object 476	..	mm
19_	Object 488	..	mm
Heavy tanks
19_	IS Tank Series	..	mm
19_	Object 277	..	mm
19_	Object 278	..	mm
19_	Object 279	..	mm
19_	Object 432	..	mm
19_	Object 757	..	mm
19_	Object 770	..	mm
Rocket tanks [raketnyy tank]
1968	Object 150 IT-1	35	mm	220
1961	Object 282	51	125mm
19_	Object 287	37	mm
19_	Object 757	..	125mm
1962	Object 775	..	125mm
Flame Thrower Tank [ognemetnye tank]
19_	Object 481 OT-54	..	mm	110
19_	Object 482 TO-55	..	mm	830
19_	Object 483	..	-	1

To understand the development of Soviet tank technology during the Cold War, it is important to have a general understanding of the lessons of the Great Patriotic War. An underlying issue is the genesis of the "tank mentality" that shaped Soviet post-war tank engineering. During the Great Patriotic War campaigns, the Soviets quickly learned that the combined arms team of tanks, infantry, and artillery could be decisive. Accordingly, after the Great Patriotic War they increased their armor strength while America was conducting its postwar demobilization in both men and machines.

Two basic types of Soviet armor formations resulted from the Great Patriotic War — the tank division and the mechanized division. The mechanized division is comparable to the US armored division in that it is approximately a balanced combined arms team with like quantities of tanks, infantry, and artillery. In contrast, the tank division is strongly tank heavy.

The tank division was built around an armored shock element of three medium tank regiments and one heavy tank and assault gun regiment. Infantry support was provided by a mechanized regiment and fire support by a division artillery of two artillery regiments, an antiaircraft regiment, and a rocket battalion. These units are the basic building blocks in both the tank and mechanized divisions.

The tank regiment was a combined arms team heavy in tanks. It had three tank battalions, a motorized rifle company, a reconnaissance company, and an antiaircraft artillery battery. It is interesting to note that the Soviets continued to place antiaircraft artillery at both division level and regimental level, whereas the US Army had eliminated these elements from its structure. The basic weapon of the tank regiment was the T-54 tank. Each tank battalion had 34 T-54s.