Tanker's Tuesday: T-64 Main Battle Tank

Development of the T-64 main battle tank commenced in 1954. First production tanks were delivered to the Soviet Army in 1963. Officially it was adopted only in 1967. It was publicly revealed in 1970. Over 6 000 of these MBTs off all versions were built. During its introduction the T-64 was a very advanced tank, but had a number of significant drawbacks. It was never exported outside the Soviet Union. Currently it is in service with Ukraine (~ 1 500) and Uzbekistan (100). Russia had a couple of thousands T-64 tanks in storage, however some sources report, that by 2013 most of them have been scrapped. Some sources also report that in the early 2000s about 10 of these tanks were supplied from Uzbekistan to Angola, however this sale is not confirmed. In 2014 Ukraine sold 50 tanks to Congo. It was the first ever official export sale of this tank. In 2014 upgraded Ukrainian Army T-64 tanks have seen combat during ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. Also since 2014 a large number of Russian T-64 tanks have been supplied to Russia-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

T-64 Main Battle Tank