The T-62 is a Soviet Main Battle Tank, the so-called 2nd generation from the Cold War and modern times. The first prototypes of this vehicle were built in the late 1950s, and it entered service in 1961, although it was first presented to the public in 1965. Probably about 20,000 vehicles of this type were produced during the series production! The combat weight of the tank was 37-40 tons. The drive was provided by a single W-55 engine with a capacity of 580 HP. The primary armament was the 115mm 2A20 smoothbore gun, and the secondary armament consisted of a 7.62mm PKT machine gun and a 12.7mm DSzK machine gun.
The T-62 tank was a kind of supplement to the line and a technological successor to the T-54 / T-55 family vehicles. It is also worth adding that despite the external similarity, it did not constitute their simple, evolutionary development. The main change in relation to the T-62 was the introduction of a completely new cannon with a larger caliber, and moreover a smoothbore cannon, which was a phenomenon on a global scale at the time! The use of such a cannon, along with new types of anti-tank ammunition, made the T-62 capable of destroying any NATO tank, including the Centurion and M48 Patton vehicles, without any problems when it was put into service. However, it was not without flaws - above all, it was characterized by average maneuverability and driving dynamics, as well as a low rate of fire of the main armament. In the course of production, several variants of this tank were created, among them: T-62K (command vehicle), T-62D (tank with Drozd active defense system) or T-62D-1 (tank with W-46-5M engine). The vehicle was also widely exported and licensed in many countries around the world. It was used in combat in many armed conflicts after 1945, including the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989), the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and the war in the Persian Gulf (1990-1991).
