A rare factory modification of the T-62 was spotted in the ranks of the armed forces of the LDNR
Most recently, a video was published in one of the telegram channels, as a column tanks T-62M is moving along the road near the village of Vrubovka near Severodonetsk. In principle, nothing unusual, if not for a car with a proper name "FartoVy", which fell into the camera lens. Unlike other tanks, this one was clearly distinguished by the absence of additional armor on the hull and turret.
T-62M
The T-62 tanks, along with the T-72 and T-90, can already be called the workhorses of the Russian army. And indeed, just yesterday they were in Syria, and just recently they came to light during a special military operation in Ukraine, which caused a lot of discussion about the appropriateness of their use in modern conflicts. However, it is immediately worth noting that the vast majority of the warring “sixty-twos” are a deep modification under the T-62M index.
The official decision to upgrade the T-62 tanks to the T-62M level was made in the USSR on July 25, 1981. As part of the work on this topic, it was ordered to increase the firepower and bring the armor of these aging vehicles to the level of the early T-64A and T-72 while maintaining their previous mobility.
The most recognizable feature of the T-62M tanks was the additional armor on the frontal parts of the hull and turret, consisting of an external steel sheet and a structure installed behind it in the form of steel plates and polyurethane filler. Mine protection has also been strengthened: 20-mm steel sheets are welded in the bottom part under the driver's seat.
The firepower of the vehicle was increased by installing the Volna automatic fire control system and the 9K116-1 Sheksna guided weapon system with the ability to launch guided missiles through a cannon barrel.
Soviet T-62M on the march. Source: arsenal-info.ru
In addition to the above, the T-62M acquired anti-cumulative screens on the sides of the hull, a new 620-horsepower engine, the Tucha smoke screen system, Soda napalm protection, a heat-insulating cannon casing, an upgraded undercarriage, enhanced radiation protection and new radio equipment. Also, some tanks received the NSVT machine gun instead of the DShKM.
Not all T-62Ms are the same
A characteristic feature of the T-62M tanks was the lack of a clear implementation of all modernization measures, since work on them was sometimes carried out in an emergency mode. Often, some structural elements or electronics simply did not appear at the factories, so some machines of this series, for example, did not have additional armor on the forehead of the hull, Tucha smoke grenade launchers and even ballistic computers - the list is quite wide. There were also no special requirements for the tanks that were sent for revision, so the factory shops could have copies of different years of production with different equipment. An example is the very tank that lit up in the zone of the NWO.
Upgraded "Object 169"
Even a cursory examination of the freeze frame from the video shows that the tank is not equipped with any additional protection and, most interestingly, Tucha launchers are installed in the frontal part of its turret in almost the same way as on the T-72A turrets. This gives some reason to believe that the so-called "Object 169" could serve as the base machine for this modification.
"Object 169" was released in an extremely limited series, consisting of only a few units, somewhere towards the end of the 70s of the last century. Its main differences from the massive "sixty-twos" were in those same smoke grenade launchers, which at that time were not yet installed on tanks and were in development. Also, the 169th was equipped with anti-cumulative rubber-fabric screens on the sides of the hull and a heat-insulating casing of the gun, which protected the barrel from the influence of the external environment and evenly distributed heat during firing. In fact, the car was a kind of intermediate option for testing new design solutions.
One of the basic variants of the "Object 169". Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
The tank turned out to be so rare that practically nothing was known about its distribution among the troops, except for one unit, which was in the Kazan Tank School.
"Object 169" in its original version, although it was equipped with a laser rangefinder, could not boast of either an automatic fire control system or a guided weapon system. However, the sources indicate that a certain number of these tanks still underwent modernization and received automation and missiles. One of them fell under Severodonetsk.
If all the necessary components were “delivered” to the tank, and as we know, this was not always done even on “emkas” equipped with additional armor, then its fire capabilities, although inferior in gun caliber, are comparable in accuracy to hitting targets with T-72A and T-64B due to the use of a ballistic computer and a laser rangefinder working in pairs, which automatically issue all the necessary corrections for firing.
Additional opportunities are provided by the Sheksna guided weapon system. Its anti-jamming missiles are capable of penetrating more than 600 mm of steel armor behind ERA.
Conclusion
Of course, one can talk a lot about whether T-62s are needed in the zone of a special military operation, but this particular specimen would look good in some museum like Kubinka or the Zadorozhny collection. And not because the tank itself is already quite old, but simply because it is rare.
As for its effectiveness on the battlefield, the lack of additional armor can make itself felt, but the use of this vehicle in secondary areas with a small saturation with heavy anti-tank weapons can be fully justified.
In addition, 115-mm "high explosives" are also quite weighty, and sub-caliber shells developed in the 80s can quite confidently hit Western peers of the T-62M in the face of the T-72M.
Information