T-55AMD-1
| This page is about the Soviet medium tank T-55AMD-1. For other versions, see T-54/55 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The T-55AMD-1 is a rank VI Soviet medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".
The T-55AMD-1 is a modification of the premium T-55AM-1 at the same battle rating. It has the same upgrades to the firepower, fire control system, engine, and hull armour compared to the original T-55A. However, what sets it apart is the "Drozd" hard-kill active protection system, a first for Soviet tanks. It replaces the add-on "brow" composite armour and intercepts incoming ATGMs with explosive charges. Because the turret is no longer capable of resisting contemporary tank guns, the T-55AMD-1 effectively trades turret armour for vastly improved protection against ATGMs, making it easier to counter IFVs and helicopters.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 100 mm (59°) Upper 100 mm (56°) Lower |
80 mm Top 20 mm Bottom |
45 mm (16°) | 30 mm |
| Turret | 200 - 350 mm Turret front (Variable) 200 - 250 mm Gun mantlet (Variable) |
170 - 200 mm | 60 - 80 mm | 30 mm |
| Cupola | 100 mm (cylindrical) | 30 mm | ||
| Composite armour | Frontal effective protection | Sides |
|---|---|---|
| Hull | Upper glacis: 300 - 360 mm Kinetic / 400 - 450 mm Chemical |
N/A |
Notes:
- Tracks and suspension wheels are 20 mm thick
The armour is not legendary, it will rarely block a serious shot. However, it is very thorough, with no real weak spots. The T-55AMD-1 can take a frontal beating from larger autocannons without losing anything important.
The turret armour is not sufficient at this rank, nor at any rank from even rank IV upwards. The composite armour seen in the T-55AM-1's turret has been completely removed, however this grants access to the 'Drozd' hard-kill Active Protection System. The gun shield itself mostly offers a 110-160 mm protection, which is mediocre at the battle rating.
The frontal glacis is in two parts, the upper area that is 100 mm RHA sloped at 59 degrees and the lower one being 100 mm RHA sloped at 56 degrees. Both the upper and lower plates will not stop anything but SPAA munitions at the battle rating. The lower glacis plate is not as strong since it is not sloped as much as the front plate, but penetrating this plate will often result in colossal damage.
Hull additional armour remains with its effectiveness against chemical munitions. The hull, however, is unlikely to stop penetration of most ATGMs. Also, it is noted that there is a fuel tank in the front of the tank protecting the ammo rack, which sometimes penetrating rounds will just set afire. The difference compared to its counterparts is that this rack is the first-stage rack, meaning there is no way to empty it to increase survivability. This is one of the main problems of post-war era Soviet MBTs. The composite armour offers a really good protection for chemical energy penetrators such as HEATFS, ATGMs and anti-tank grenades, having a protection of roughly 400 mm. This makes the tank capable of withstanding hits of almost all HEATFS of the BR (most of them penetrate between 320 mm to 430 mm) and even some ATGMs (between 400 mm to 650 mm). It is also able to reduce the penetration or stop ATGM like the 9M113 Konkurs (ATGM of the BMP-2) and 9M112 (ATGM of the T-64B) although do not expect it to happen all the time, it depends on your angling and where the missile impacts. The chassis should be angled most of the time to maximise the effectiveness with the 100 mm thick steel plate, capable of making the armour reach 703 mm of effective armour against CE penetrators.
'Drozd' Active Protection System
The T-55AMD-1 has access to a hard-kill protection system, the Drozd APS. It is a constantly active APS which provides protection against a wide variety of threats. It is composed of three major pieces: a Doppler radar array for target detection, eight launchers (four per side) on the sides of the turret, and an electronics piece on the turret's rear. It detects targets inside a 60° frontal arc and engages them inside a 7 m distance. The main disadvantage of this system is that it follows the direction of the turret, meaning it can only successfully destroy targets that in the line of sight.
Drozd can be used while on the move (although the turret must be facing the target as stated before). While on the move (especially horizontally), the detected ATGM has a risk of escaping the activation range of the Drozd. When moving towards an enemy who fired an ATGM, it will be affected by the APS but due to momentum, the ATGM can still damage the T-55 if when destroyed. Drozd must have a clear line-of-sight with the enemy threat (at least APS must be exposed). The T-55AMD-1 has no access to a Laser Warning Receiver (LWR), so the player must rely on visual contact with the ATGM and the launcher (no LWR makes the helicopter lock-on invisible). Thankfully, the usual attack angle of enemy projectiles are inside the protection arc when in LOS.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 56 | 9 | 41.5 | 1,069 | 1,316 | 25.76 | 31.71 |
| Realistic | 51 | 8 | 610 | 690 | 14.7 | 16.63 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
| 100 mm D-10T2S | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 42 | -5°/+16° | ±180° | Two-plane | 14.3 | 19.8 | 24.0 | 26.5 | 28.2 | 9.75 | 8.63 | 7.95 | 7.50 |
| Realistic | 8.9 | 10.5 | 12.8 | 14.1 | 15.0 | ||||||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| 3BM-8 | APDS | 336 | 332 | 317 | 299 | 282 | 265 |
| BR-412D | APCBC | 239 | 236 | 220 | 202 | 185 | 170 |
| 3BM25 | APFSDS | 335 | 330 | 307 | 290 | 275 | 260 |
| 3BK17M | HEATFS | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 | 390 |
| OF-412 | HE | 27 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 21 |
| 9M117 | ATGM | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| 3BM-8 | APDS | 1,415 | 4.13 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
| BR-412D | APCBC | 887 | 15.88 | 1.2 | 19 | 100.1 | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
| 3BM25 | APFSDS | 1,430 | 3.4 | - | - | - | 76° | 77° | 80° | |||
| 3BK17M | HEATFS | 1,085 | 9.96 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 1,170 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
| OF-412 | HE | 900 | 15.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1,460 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| Missile details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Range (m) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| 9M117 | ATGM | 370 | 4,000 | 18.8 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 4,770 | 80° | 82° | 90° | ||
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| 3D3 | 880 | 15.6 | 16 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 41 (+1) | 37 (+5) | 33 (+9) | 21 (+21) | 19 (+23) | 1 (+41) | No |
Notes:
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- If you pack 19 (+24) shells, it will fill only the frontal wet stowage ready rack.
- Rack 6 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 18 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
- This rack is also emptied early: the depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 5.
- Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-5 into rack 6. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm DShK | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 300 (50) | 600 | -10°/+60° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm PKT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 3,000 (250) | 700 | - | - |
Usage in battles
Do not be afraid to trust your armour, particularly when hull-down or against autocannons. However, avoid straying from your allies, as your reload can mean that a missed or poor shot is fatal. Do not count on knocking out crew to cripple opponents as your reload is long enough for knocked out members to be replaced. If you are reloading while under fire, remember to keep your gun moving to evade shots at it. The combination of APS and reliable armour means that IFVs such as the Begleitpanzer, Bradley, and Marder can do little to you without catching you off guard or getting a luck shot on your gun.
Notable opponents
- PUMA - This enemy is nearly harmless as it lacks missiles and cannot reliably penetrate your UFP and turret, but it is very difficult to knock out with one shot, frequently requiring two or three. When facing it frontally or angled, aim for the driver on the right side, as he has another crew member sitting behind him. APFSDS will penetrate the engine if necessary. When side-on, always shoot in front of the turret base, as the area under and behind it is an infantry seating area and will do no damage. If your main cannon is knocked out, it is possible to detonate the turret ammo with the roof mounted machine gun which will at least set a fire. It is dangerous sheerly due to the amount of time that it takes to knock out. If it gets your gun, or delays you until its friends arrive, you will probably be the one knocked out instead.
- TAM - Be careful with this enemy. It will rarely fail to penetrate your armour and will show up in unexpected places on account of its mobility. Do not rush shots at it and do not shoot at its hull frontally. You will usually destroy the engine but leave it otherwise unharmed. The turret front can also be difficult to penetrate effectively, so aim for the turret ring or barrel. If you must shoot the hull, aim for the right side which houses the driver and an ammo rack behind.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Consistent armour
- Very resistant to autocannons
- Drozd APS to block missiles
- APS has plenty of charges
- Adequate penetration on APDS and APFSDS rounds
- Decent mobility
Cons:
- Below average reload time
- Low post-penetration damage
- Slow gun and turret traverse
- Disappointing gun depression
- APS only protects 40 degrees to each side of the gun.
History
As one of the top-secret projects of the Soviet Army, the Kompleks 1030M-01 "Drozd" was the very first operational active protection system (APS), developed by Vasily Ivanovich Bakalov of the KPB Design Bureau as a counter to the abundance of RPGs and ATGMs. This project was first started by the Army but was dropped due to budget constraints; the Marines later completed the project as a cheaper alternative to ERA or new T-72 tanks to replace their T-55As. Around 250 of their T-55As were then converted to the AD standard by 1983. The version of T-55AMD-1 in-game was based on the enhanced T-55AM-1 with better engine (V-46-5M at 691hp), and new radio and fire control systems.
According to combat records during the Soviet-Afghan War, the system's interception rate was at around 80%; but the system itself also has some drawbacks such as being lethal to unarmoured friendlies in its frontal firing arc (later models installed a warning buzzer), and a very long reload time at around 15 minutes.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, some of these T-55ADs were in the hands of Ukraine and the system was reinstalled onto other tanks, while the remaining ones in Russia were stored elsewhere as reserve forces.
Media
- Skins
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;
- other literature.
| USSR medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| T-28 | T-28 (1938) · T-28 · T-28E |
| T-34-76 | T-34 (Prototype) · T-34 (1940) · T-34 (1941) · T-34 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-34 (1942) · T-34E STZ · T-34E |
| T-34-57 | T-34-57 · T-34-57 (1943) |
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| T-34-100 | T-34-100 |
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| T-54 | T-54 (1947) · T-54 (1949) · T-54 (1951) |
| T-55 | TO-55 · T-55A · T-55AM-1 · T-55AMD-1 |
| T-62 | T-62 · T-62M-1 |
| T-64 | Object 435 · T-64A (1971) · T-64B |
| T-72 | T-72A · T-72AV (TURMS-T) · T-72B · T-72B (1989) · T-72B3 · T-72M2 Moderna |
| T-80 | T-80B · T-80U · T-80UD · T-80UK · T-80UM2 · Т-80U-Е1 · T-80BVM · Object 292 |
| T-90 | Т-90А · T-90M |
| Trophies/Lend-Lease | |
| Germany | ▂T-III · ▂T-V |
| Great Britain | ▂МК-IX "Valentine" |
| USA | ▂M3 Medium · ▂M4A2 |
