“Black Eagle” - features of the tank that are still relevant today
“Object 640” or “Black Eagle” is perhaps one of the most famous projects of domestic tank building, developed by Omsk Transmash in the 90s. First presented to the general public more than a quarter of a century ago, it still arouses increased interest today, thanks to design solutions that could be very useful in modern combat.
Indeed, over the past couple of years, “Black Eagle” has been mentioned in the media unusually often. They glorify its characteristics and spread frank tales about the supposed arrival of these machines at the front and putting them into mass production. And the icing on the cake was the recent statement from Military Watch magazine about Omsk’s intention to produce a completely new tank, which was perceived by many as a hint at the revival of the Object 640.
Well, all that remains to be noted here is that there is no mass production of the Black Eagle, and never has been. As there were no government orders for its production and research work on development tank, as reported by the Ministry of Defense in 2009. All activities on “Object 640” were carried out exclusively within the framework of an independent initiative of the Omsk “Transmash”.
A running model of the Black Eagle tank, made on a T-80U chassis with six road wheels on board. Introduced in 1997.
The tank project itself, after the bankruptcy of the enterprise and its subsequent absorption by Uralvagonzavod, was finally shelved along with the well-known unified fighting compartment, designed on the Burlak theme. So there is no talk about the present “Eagle” - only about the probable future, if the developments on it will be used in the production of “eighties”, which they plan to establish in the future.
By the way, these developments really deserve attention and implementation.
And it’s not a matter of electronics, protection systems or the engine, which, according to patents published in the public domain, looked quite decent compared to the equipment of existing domestic tanks. Much more important are the basic things in the form of structural elements, thanks to which the Omsk team managed to eliminate the largest shortcomings inherent in the current Soviet-style combat vehicles, and at the same time seriously increase the security of their product.
There are at least three of them.
A prototype of the Black Eagle tank, built on a chassis with seven road wheels on board. Introduced in 1999.
Transport-charging module
Perhaps one of the main problems of Soviet-type tanks, including the T-64, T-72 and T-80, is the lack of any isolation of the ammunition from the manned compartments. All separately loaded shots in the form of projectiles and propellant charges in combustible cartridges are located inside the body - in tank racks, an automatic gun loading mechanism and additional stowage.
On the one hand, such a solution made it possible to increase the protection of ammunition racks at heading maneuvering angles by reducing the likelihood of their destruction.
On the other hand, it turned the tanks into natural powder kegs, leaving practically no chance for the crew to survive if this defeat did occur. However, for this reason the vehicles themselves often turn into a pile of scrap metal with turrets torn off and hulls blown to shreds.
View of the Black Eagle transport-loading module from the stern
In the Black Eagle, this flaw was solved by moving all the ammunition into a removable transport-loading module in the rear of the turret, completely isolated from the fighting compartment. It also houses an automatic longitudinal-type loading mechanism with a conveyor belt with a capacity of more than 30 shots, which are loaded through a hatch in the roof of the module.
The shots in the conveyor are laid in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the gun and are connected to the breech by a hole closed by an armored shutter and opened only during loading of the projectile. Therefore, the crew’s contact with the open ammunition rack is minimal - in fact, a kind of automatic analogue of the “armored blinds” in American tanks.
Top view of the TZM: 1 – gun, 2 – turret, 4 – turret roof, 27 – additional loading hatch with a cover, 28 – two hatches with covers for directing the blast wave in an emergency explosion, 93 – armored housing of the conveyor stopper drive mechanisms and opening the cassettes.
Side view of the TZM: 1 – gun, 4 – turret roof, 8 – front wall of the turret structure, 9 – rear wall of the turret structure, 10 – shot, 11 – receiving tray body, 43 – cassette frame, 92 – ramming mechanism body, 93 – armored housing of the drive mechanisms of the conveyor stopper and opening of the cassettes, 94 – movable guide.
Also in the roof of the transport-loading module there are two ejection panels, which are designed to relieve pressure and direct the propagation of a shock wave in the event of combustion of powder charges and detonation of shells containing explosives.
It is worth noting that similar modules (containers) were offered by the Omsk "Transmash" in a variety of variations, including the "Burlak" for the T-72 and T-80. And they were offered for good reason, since with their help you can significantly increase the chances of crew survival, and reduce the irretrievable losses of tanks by 5–7 times.
In addition, turreted containers also completely eliminate the problem of classic machine guns/loading mechanisms in terms of limiting the length of sub-caliber projectiles.
So these designs have a future, the only question is implementation.
Fuel tank insulation
Generally speaking, fuel tanks are a source of increased danger in absolutely any tank. Moreover, a fire caused by fuel ignition is one of the most common causes of armored vehicle losses and crew deaths. This is especially true for Soviet tanks, the fuel tanks of which, as well as the ammunition, are located in the habitable compartments.
In the Black Eagle, this problem, although not completely solved - the probability of a fire in any case will not be zero - was minimized by completely isolating the fuel from the crew. This was realized by moving the fuel containers into large compartments in the hull to the right and left of the driver, separated by armored partitions.
Section of the bow of the hull: 39 – sheets of anti-radiation material, 24 – left side, 35, 36, 37 – isolated compartments, 27 – upper frontal sheet; 33, 34 – vertical armor plates installed parallel to the axis of the tank, 25 – starboard side, 38 – sheets of anti-fragmentation material, 26 – bottom.
A similar solution was used, for example, in the American Abrams - it also has two large tanks behind steel plates on either side of the driver. And this decision is completely justified, since it can significantly increase the likelihood of crew survival and the survivability of the tank.
In addition, in “Object 640” the fuel compartments also serve as additional protection. As in the sense that diesel fuel or kerosene themselves are an additional screen that reduces the armor penetration of a cumulative jet. This is also due to armored partitions equipped with anti-fragmentation lining, which protects the crew and internal equipment of the tank from secondary fragments when the armor is penetrated.
Tower with roof protection
The turret of the “Black Eagle” is also interesting, radically different from those of any domestic or foreign tank. Omsk engineers developed it taking into account the increase in armor penetration of classic anti-tank weapons, as well as the proliferation of new missiles at that time that attack the roof of the tank.
In fact, it is part of a completely redesigned fighting compartment of the Soviet T-80, in which the gunner and commander, due to the automatic loader located outside the body, can be located both in the turret in the stowed position, and below the turret shoulder strap in the combat position using height-adjustable seats.
This approach, on the one hand, reduced the likelihood of the crew being hit, since, according to statistics, the turret received the largest number of shell hits. On the other hand, it made it possible to reduce its height and direct the released mass reserve to strengthen the armor.
As for the design, it is made in the form of three compartments isolated from each other. On the left and right, respectively, there are places for the gunner and commander (in the stowed position). On average, there is a “seat” for the main armament in the form of a smoothbore gun. It is worth noting that in “Eagle” it was planned to be completely sealed in order to exclude contact of the turrets with powder gases and to provide additional protection in the event of a projectile hitting one of the compartments.
Plan view of the tank turret
Cross section of the tower. 1 – niches for armor filler, formed by external and internal steel sheets, 2 – crew compartments, 3 – gun embrasure
As you can see from the drawings provided above, the armor of the left and right compartments is formed by external and internal steel sheets spaced apart. They are distributed from the cannon embrasure in the frontal part to the transverse axis of the tower and are presented in the form of coaxially truncated pyramids with an inclination angle of 20–30 degrees.
Inside there are stiffening ribs that protect the outer sheets from bending and breaking when hit by a projectile. And also an armor filler that covers not only the frontal and side projections, but also the roof of the turret, giving it additional protection from “roof-breaking” ammunition. Of course, not absolute - the armor size will not allow this - but very significant relative to serial turrets with 40-mm roofs, which are often not helped by either “reactive armor” or visors, the height of which does not always take into account the residual penetration of cumulative projectiles.
At one time, this version of the tower was rated quite highly, and the authors themselves directly stated the following:
...In the proposed turret design, due to the selection of optimal shapes of armor parts, their relative position and dimensions, an increase in protection by 1,7–2 times is ensured with an increase in the total mass by 20–30%, and the specified level of protection is achieved at heading angles of fire ±35– 40 degrees.
It is still relevant today, both due to the possibility of further strengthening the reservation, and due to the wide distribution drones and other anti-tank weapons capable of hitting a combat vehicle in vulnerable places.
It is noteworthy that low-profile turrets of this kind have some advantages over uninhabited combat modules, since they do not make the crew completely dependent on electronics and provide the opportunity to use optical sights and surveillance devices.
Conclusions
Of course, the innovations of “Black Eagle” do not end there. According to plans, this tank was supposed to have other advantages.
These include redesigned hull protection (using a platform on seven rollers), a new fire control system with multifunctional control panels for the gunner and commander, the Drozd-2 (Afganit) active countermeasures complex, dynamic, hydrodynamic protection, etc.
And it would be good if this car went into serial production entirely, and not partially.
But, unfortunately, most of the innovations cannot currently be implemented due to the lack of a production base and the corresponding burden on industry associated with a special operation in Ukraine.
However, these solutions, tested on the tank in Omsk, in one form or another can clearly serve as the basis for the resumed production of the T-80.
Information