Design Overview & Tactical Role
The T-62 holds a monumental milestone in military technology as the world's very first mass-produced tank armed with a smoothbore cannon: the 115 mm U-5TS. By discarding barrel rifling, the U-5TS attained an astonishing muzzle velocity of 1,615 m/s, firing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds that could penetrate any NATO armor of the 1960s.
Combat History & Battle Records
Spearheaded by Leonid Kartsev at Uralvagonzavod, the T-62 first saw combat against Chinese troops in the Sino-Soviet border conflict at Damansky Island (1969), and later formed the primary Syrian and Egyptian armored spearheads attacking the Golan Heights and Sinai during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Related Armored Vehicles (Cold War)
Cold War
1948
Cold War
1964
Cold War
1973
Cold War
1985