T-62 545 (China)

Т-62 №545

Т-62 №545

China

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.7	8.7	8.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

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Description

The Т-62 №545 is a gift rank VI Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

This Chinese vehicle is identical to the Soviet T-62.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour protection of the T-62 is very similar to that of the T-54. Unfortunately, the T-62 tends to face more powerful guns at its BR, so its armour is not nearly as effective for its BR as the T-54's is. The well-rounded turret and sloped hull can ricochet poorly aimed rounds when angled, but should not be relied upon to protect the T-62.

Like most Soviet tanks, the T-62 has a very compact layout, meaning that a single penetrating hit is will most likely cripple or outright destroy the tank. Of particular note of concern is the front hull ammunition rack inside the fuel tank situated next to the driver. This rack is the ready rack of the T-62 and cannot be emptied by reducing the number of rounds carried. A penetrating hit there is likely to result in an ammunition cook-off that will instantly destroy the tank.

Mobility

The T-62's mobility is somewhat similar to that of the T-54 medium tank, although the heavier weight makes it a little bit more sluggish. It can reach a respectable 50 km/h forward, and the maximum reverse speed is 8 km/h. Because the T-62 is longer than the T-54 and does not have neutral steering, its turning performance is noticeably worse, especially on rough terrain.

Armaments

Main armament

The 115 mm 2A20 smoothbore gun is a potent gun capable of firing APFSDS, HE-FS, and HEAT-FS ammunition. It is stabilised, allowing for accurate firing on the move. The turret traverse is also significantly improved over that of the T-54, and the turret also provides more gun depression, allowing for some use of hull-down tactics. It should be noted that the gun has limited depression when the gun passes over the hull fuel tanks (at roughly 45 degrees to each side). Due to the large size of the 115 mm ammunition and cramped space of the T-62, the reload is much slower than that of comparable NATO tanks (~10–12 s depending on crew skill level and training).

While the APFSDS ammunition is not as lethal as the APHE ammunition used on previous Soviet medium tanks and requires some degree of careful aim, it is still capable of one-shotting tanks, especially with frontal penetrations. There are two types of APFSDS ammunition: 3BM3 and 3BM4. The stock 3BM4 round has a pure steel rod penetrator while the unlockable 3BM3 penetrator is a steel rod with a tungsten slug inside the penetrator. The latter has substantially more vertical penetration and somewhat better post-penetration lethality, but its performance against highly sloped armour is significantly worse. Both rounds have outstanding muzzle velocities of over 1,600 m/s, allowing long-range shots to be made without much lead.

The 3BK4 fin-stabilised HEAT round has more penetration than either APFSDS round and retains its penetration at long ranges, but has a much slower muzzle velocity that makes aiming at long ranges significantly more difficult. It is more effective than APFSDS against lightly armoured targets since it can reliably hull-break them if it detonates.

The 3UOF11 fin-stabilised HE round is rather unremarkable and is only really useful against soft targets.

Machine guns

Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.

The T-62 is armed with a single coaxial 7.62mm SGMT machine gun with a single 2500 ammo belt.

Usage in battles

As with its Soviet counterpart, it is best used as a long-range sniper to take advantage of its excellent gun. However the two-plane stabilizer allows it to fight effectively on the move as well, so consider staying behind your team to cover their advances.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent APFSDS and HEAT-FS rounds, can cleave through almost any opponent at its BR
• Two-plane stabilizer makes it easy to fire on the move and land the first shot
• Slightly improved turret armor, gun depression, and traverse compared to earlier Chinese/Soviet medium tanks
• Has night vision systems

Cons:

• Only distinguishing features from the Soviet T-62 are the "545" markings on the sides of the turret, which are easily overlooked in Simulator battles
• Rather slow reload
• No heavy machine gun for use against soft targets or aircraft

History

After an initial period of cooperation between the Soviet Union and the fledgling People's Republic of China, the Sino-Soviet split of 1956 soured relations between the two countries, resulting in the former allies becoming regional rivals. In 1969 the tensions came to a head as the PRC and USSR clashed over the disputed Zhenbao/Damansky Island for seven months. During this period the Soviet Union deployed the T-62 tank in combat for the first time. A single T-62 (No. 545) was disabled by Chinese fire, and Soviet efforts to recover it were unsuccessful. The tank was recovered by the PLA and extensively studied; the new technology was reverse engineered and copied, with some of these advances making their way into the domestic Type 69 tank.

The tank still exists today and is currently on display in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.

China medium tanks
ZTZ59	Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
ZTZ69	Type 69 · Type 69-IIa
ZTZ88/96	ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B
	ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
ZTZ99	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
ZTZ99A	ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT
Export series	MBT-2000 · VT4A1
ROC	CM11
Other	Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC"
Bangladesh	T-69 II G
Japan	␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Pakistan	Al-Khalid-I
USA	␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS
USSR	␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545