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KV-8

KV-8

The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet defense commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov. At the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II these were amongst the large number of Soviet tanks that were superior to German tanks.

History

After disappointing results with the multi-turreted T-35 heavy tank, Soviet tank designers started drawing up replacements. The T-35 conformed to the 1920s notion of a 'breakthrough tank' with very heavy firepower, but poor mobility and armor protection. The Spanish Civil War demonstrated the need for much heavier armor on tanks, and was the main influence on Soviet tank design just prior to World War II. Several competing designs were offered, and even more were drawn up prior to reaching prototype stage. All had heavy armor, torsion-bar suspension, wide tracks, and were of welded and cast construction. One of the main competing designs was the SMK, which lowered the number of turrets from the T-35's five to two, mounting the same combination of 76.2mm and 45mm weapons. When two prototypes were ordered though, it was decided to create one with only a single turret, but more armour. This new single-turret tank was the KV. The smaller hull size and single turret enabled the designer to add more armor while keeping the weight within managable limits. When the Soviets entered the Winter War, the SMK, KV and a third design, the T-100, were sent to be tested in combat conditions. The heavy armour of the KV proved highly resilient to Finnish anti-tank weapons, making it more effective than the other designs. It was soon put into production, both as the original 76-mm-armed KV-1 Heavy Tank and the howitzer-mounting assault gun, the KV-2 Heavy Artillery Tank. assault gun.]] The 45-ton KV outweighed most other tanks of the era, being about twice as heavy as the heaviest contemporary German tanks. The KV's strengths included armor that was inpentrable by any tank-mounted weapon then in service except at pointblank range, good firepower, and good floatation on soft ground. Along with these strengths, it's flaws were quite serious. It was very slow and difficult to steer. The transmission was unreliable. The ergonomics were poor, with limited visibility and no turret basket. Later, by 1942, when the Germans were fielding large numbers of long-barrelled 50-mm and 75-mm guns, the KVs armor was no longer invicible, and other flaws came to the fore. While it's 76.2mm gun was adequate, it was the same gun as carried by smaller, cheaper T-34 medium tanks. It was much more difficult to manufacture and thus more expensive than the T-34. In short, its advantages no longer outweighed its drawbacks. When Operation Barbarossa began, the Red Army was equipped with 639 KV-1s. So effective was its armour that the Germans were incapable of destroying it with their tanks or anti-tank weapons and had to rely on air support and anti-aircraft artillery (flak) to knock them out. At one point, a large German armoured group was delayed for 2 days by a single KV-1 near Ostrov. Because of its superior performance, the KV-1 was chosen as one the few tanks to continue production following the Soviet reorganization of tank production. Due to the new standardization, it shared the same engine, gun and transmission as the T-34, was built in large quantities, and received frequent upgrades. When production shifted to the Ural mountain 'Tankograd' complex, the KV-2 was dropped. The KV-2, while impressive on paper, had been designed as a slow-moving bunker-buster. It was less useful in the type of highly mobile, fluid warfare that developed in WW2. The turret was so heavy it was difficult to traverse on non-level terrain, and it was expensive to produce. Only about 250 KV-2s were made, all in 1940-41, making it one of the rarer Soviet tanks. As the war continued, the KV-1 continued to get more armour to compensate for the increasing effectiveness of German weapons. This culminated in the KV-1 model 1942 (KV-1C), which was protected by very heavy armour, but lacked a corresponding improvement to the engine. Tankers complained that although they were well-protected, their mobility was poor and they had no firepower advantage over the T-34 medium tank. In response to criticisms, the lighter KV-1S (Russian language: КВ-1С) was released, with thinner armour and a smaller, lower turret in order to reclaim some speed. Importantly, the KV-1S also had a commander's cupola with all-around vision blocks, a first for a Soviet heavy tank. However, the thinning-out of the armor called into question why the tank was being produced at all, when the T-34 could seemingly do everything a KV could do, much more cheaply. The Soviet heavy tank program was close to cancellation in mid-1943. The appearance of the German Panther tank in the summer of 1943 convinced the Red Army to make a serious upgrade of its tank force for the first time since 1941. Soviet tanks needed bigger guns to take on the growing numbers of Panthers and the few Tigers. A stopgap upgrade to the KV series was the short-lived KV-85. This was a KV-1S with a new turret designed for the KV-13, mounting the same 85 mm D-5T gun as the SU-85 and early versions of the T-34-85. Already-high demand for the gun slowed production of the KV-85 tremendously, and only 130 were built before the KV design was replaced. The KV-85 was produced in the fall and winter of 1943-44, and most were expended that spring and summer. A new heavy tank design entered production late in 1943 based on the work done on the KV-13. Because Kliment Voroshilov had fallen out of political favour, the new heavy tank series was named IS, after Iosif Stalin. The KV-13 program's IS-85 prototype was accepted for production as the IS-1 heavy tank. After testing with both 100mm and 122mm guns, the 122mm gun was selected as the main armament of the new tank. Proving-ground tests showed that the larger A-19 122mm gun could defeat the armour of the German Panther tank. The 122mm fired a much larger HE round than the 100mm and there was a surplus of production capacity for th egun and ammunition. The IS-122 design replaced the IS-85, and began mass production as the IS-2. The 85mm gun saw service in the lighter SU-85 and T-34-85. Some KVs remained in service right up to the end of the war, although in greatly diminishing numbers as they wore out or were knocked out. The 260th Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment, based on the Leningrad front, operated a number of 1941-vintage KV-1s at least as late as the summer of 1944 before re-equipping with IS-2s. A regiment of KVs saw service in Manchuria in August 1945, and a few KV-85s were used in the Crimea in the summer of 1944. The Finnish forces had two KVs, a Model 1940 and Model 1941, both of which received minor upgrades in their service, and both of which survived the war. A single captured KV-2 was used by German forces in 1945 against US forces in the Ruhr.

Models

Note: the Soviets did not recognize production models of KV-1 during the war, therefore designations like model 1939 (or M1939, Russian: Obr. 1939) were introduced later in military publications. These designations however are not strict and describe leading changes, while other changes might be adapted earlier or later in specific production batches. Designations like KV-1A were applied by the Germans during the war.
- KV-1
- Model 1939regiment – First production models, these tanks were prone to frequent breakdowns, but were highly resilient to anti-tank weapons during the Winter War. These tanks were armed with the 76 mm L-11 tank gun, recognizable due to a recuperator above a barrel. Most tanks were lacking the hull machine gun. 141 were built.
- Model 1940 (German designation: KV-1A) – Used the F-32 76 mm gun and a new mantlet. The main production model by the time of the German invasion.
- Model 1940 s ekranami ("with screens") or KV1-E – with additional bolted-on appliqué armour and F-32 gun.
- Model 1941 (KV-1B) – Up-armoured with 25 to 35 mm added to the turret, hull front and sides. Turret was now cast instead of welded. Later versions of this tank used the 76 mm ZiS-5 tank gun with longer barrel.
- Model 1942 (KV-1C) – Fully cast turret with thicker armour or welded turret with thicker armour, again up-armoured and used an improved engine and the 76 mm ZiS-5 tank gun.
- KV-1S – A lighter variant of late 1942 with higher speed, but thinner armour. A new, smaller, cast turret and redesigned rear hull were used. 1370 were built.
- KV-85 – A KV-1S with the 85 mm D-5T gun in an IS-1's turret, 130 of these tanks were produced in September-October 1943 as a stopgap until the IS tank series entered production.
- KV-13 - Prototype designation for an advanced redesign of the KV series, which was renamed and resulted in the production of the IS-2.

Variants

- KV-2 (334) – A heavy assault tank with the M-10 152 mm howitzer, the KV-2 was produced at the same time as the KV-1. Due to the size of its heavy turret and gun, the KV-2 was slower and had a much higher profile then the KV-1. The extra weight also increased the breakdown rate of the vehicle and production was soon halted. The original KV-2 was built on the chassis of the KV-1, while the improved KV-2B was built on that of the KV-1 M1940.
- KV-8 (42) – A KV-1 fitted with the ATO-41 flame-thrower in the turret, beside a machine gun. In order to accommodate the new weapon, the main gun was restricted to a smaller 45 mm Gun M1932, though it was disguised to look like the standard 76 mm.
- KV-8S (25) – A KV-1S with the coaxial turret machine gun replaced by an ATO-41 flame-thrower, and the main gun restricted to a 45mm.
- KV-14 – Prototype designation for a 152mm self-propelled gun, accepted for service as the SU-152.

References

External links

- [http://users.swing.be/tanks.tanks/complet/589.html#666 LemaireSoft]
- OnWar specifications [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv1m39.htm KV-1 M39] [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv1em40.htm KV-1e M40] [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv1m41.htm KV-1 M41] [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv1s.htm KV-1S] [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv85.htm KV-85] [http://www.onwar.com/tanks/ussr/fkv2m40.htm KV-2]
- Russian Battlefield [http://www.battlefield.ru/kv1.html KV-1] [http://www.battlefield.ru/kv1s.html KV-1S] [http://www.battlefield.ru/kv2.html KV-2] [http://www.battlefield.ru/kv8.html KV-8] [http://www.battlefield.ru/kv85.html KV-85]
- [http://www.wwiivehicles.com/html/ussr/kv.html World War II Vehicles] Category:Heavy tanks Category:World War II Soviet tanks ja:KV-2

Tank

: This article is about armoured fighting vehicles. For other meanings, see Tank (disambiguation). Tank (disambiguation) A tank is a tracked, armoured combat vehicle (armoured fighting vehicle), designed primarily to engage enemy forces by the use of direct fire. A modern main battle tank is distinguished by its high level of firepower, mobility and armour protection relative to other vehicles of its era. It can cross comparatively rough terrain at high speeds, but is fuel, maintenance, and ammunition-hungry and is logistically demanding. It has the heaviest armour of any vehicle on the battlefield, and carries a powerful weapon able to engage a wide variety of ground targets. It is among the most versatile and fearsome weapons on the battlefield, valued for its shock action against other troops and high survivability. Tank organisations (or armoured units) are usually employed with infantry in combined arms warfare, supported by engineers, artillery, aircraft, and other support arms. If not properly protected, tanks can be vulnerable to attack by infantry, mines, artillery, and aircraft strikes. Tanks were first used in the First World War, to break the deadlock of the trenches, and they evolved to take the role of cavalry on the battlefield. The name tank first arose in British factories making the hulls of the first battle tanks: the workmen were given the impression they were constructing tracked water containers for the British Army, hence keeping the production of a fighting vehicle secret. Tanks and tank tactics have undergone many generations of evolution over nearly a century. Although weapons systems and armour continue to be developed, many nations have been reconsidering the need for such heavy weaponry in a period characterised by unconventional warfare.

History

: Main article: History of the tank

World War One: the first tanks

Having already seen Rolls Royce armoured cars used by Royal Naval Air Service in 1914, and aware of schemes to create a tracked fighting vehicle, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill sponsored the Landships Committee to oversee development of this new weapon. The first successful prototype tank, nicknamed Little Willie, was tested for the British Army on September 6, 1915. Although initially termed landships by the Admiralty, the initial vehicles were colloquially referred to as water-carriers, later shortened to tanks, to preserve secrecy. The word tank was used to give the workers the impression they were constructing tracked water containers for the British army in Mesopotamia, and it was made official on December 24, 1915. 1915The first tank became operational when Captain H. W. Mortimore of the Royal Navy took a Mark I into action at Delville Wood during the Battle of the Somme on September 15 1916. The French developed the Schneider CA1 working from Holt caterpillar tractors, and first used it on April 16 1917. The first successful use of massed tanks in combat occurred at the Battle of Cambrai on November 20, 1917. The tank would eventually make trench warfare obsolete, and the thousands of tanks fielded during the war by French and British forces made a significant contribution. Initial results with tanks were mixed, with problems in reliability (and impatience high command) causing considerable attrition in combat. Deployment in small groups also lessened their tactical value and impact, which was at first formidable. German forces suffered from shock and lacked counter-weapons, though they did (accidentally) discover solid anti-tank shot, and used of wider trenches to limit the British tanks' mobility. This and unreliability forced Allied tanks to continue evolving for the duration of the war, including models such as the very long Mark V (which could navigate large obstacles, especially wide trenches, more easily than many modern AFVs), while Germany mostly fielded a small number of captured tanks, and only made twenty of their native design, the A7V. Demands from infantry to have tanks close by would have pernicious effects on British tank design and tactics well into WW2.

1920s to the end of Second World War

With the tank concept now established, several nations designed and built tanks between the two world wars. The British designs were the most advanced, due largely to their successes in WWI, to the state of the other European powers France and Germany, and the detachment of the USA. Throughout this period several classes of tanks were common, most of this development taking place in the UK. Light tanks, typically weighing ten tons or less, were used primarily for scouting and generally mounted a light gun that was useful only against other light tanks. The medium (or cruiser tanks as they were known in the UK) were somewhat heavier and focussed on long-range high-speed travel. Finally, the heavy or infantry tanks were heavily armoured and generally very slow. The overall idea was to use infantry tanks in close concert with infantry to effect a breakthrough, their heavy armour allowing them to survive with enemy antitank weapons. Once this combined force broke the enemy lines, groups of cruiser tanks would be sent through the gap, operating far behind the lines to attack supply lines and command units. This one-two punch was the basic combat philosophy of the British tank formations, and was adopted by the Germans as a major component of the blitzkrieg concept. J.F.C. Fuller's doctrine of WWI was the fount for work by all the main pioneers: Hobart in Britain, Guderian in Germany, Chaffee in the U.S., de Gaulle in France, and Tukhachevsky in the USSR. All came to roughly the same conclusions, Tukhachevsky's integration of airborne pathfinders arguably the most sophisticated; only Germany would actually put the theory to practise, and it was their superior tactics, not superior weapons, that made blitzkrieg so formidable. There was thought put into tank-against-tank combat, but the focus was on powerful antitank guns and similar weapons, including dedicated antitank vehicles. This achieved its fullest expression in the United States, where tanks were expected to avoid enemy armour, and let dedicated tank destroyer units deal with them. Britain took the same path, and both produced light tanks in the hope that with speed, they could avoid being hit, comparing tanks to ducks. In practice these concepts proved dangerous. As the numbers of tanks on the battlefield increased, the chance of meetings grew to the point where all had to be an effective antitank vehicle as well; moreover, tanks designed to cope only with other tanks were helpless against antitank guns. This led to a rapid up-armouring and up-gunning of almost all tank designs. Tank shape, previously guided purely by considerations of obstacle clearance, now became a trade-off, with a low profile desirable for stealth and stability. World War II saw a series of advances in tank design. Germany for example, initially fielded lightly armoured and lightly armed tanks, such as the Panzer I, which had been intended for training use only. These fast-moving tanks and other armoured vehicles were a critical element of the Blitzkrieg. However, they fared poorly in direct combat with British tanks and suffered severely against the Soviet T-34, which was superior in armour and weaponry. By the end of the war all forces had dramatically increased their tanks' firepower and armour; for instance, the Panzer I had only two machine guns, and the Panzer IV, the "heaviest" early war German design, carried a low-velocity 75mm gun and weighed under twenty tonnes. By the end of the war the standard German medium tank, the Panther, mounted a powerful, high-velocity 75mm gun and weighed forty-five tonnes. Another major wartime advance was the introduction of radically improved suspension systems. Although this might not sound important, the quality of the suspension is the primary determinant of a tank's cross-country performance. Tanks with limited suspension travel subject their crew to massive shaking, making operation difficult, limiting speed, and making firing on the move practically impossible. Newer systems like the Christie or torsion bar suspension dramatically improved performance, allowing the late-war Panther to travel cross country at speeds that would have been difficult for earlier designs to reach on pavement. By this time most tanks were equipped with radios (all U.S. and German, some Soviet; British radios were common, but often of indifferent quality), vastly improving the direction of units. Tank chassis were adapted to a wide range of military jobs, including mine-clearing and combat engineering tasks. All major combatant powers also developed specialised self-propelled guns: artillery, tank destroyers, and assault guns (armoured vehicles carrying large-calibre guns). German and Soviet assault guns, simpler and cheaper than tanks, had the heaviest guns in any vehicles of the war, while American and British tank destroyers were scarcely distinguishable (except in doctrine) from tanks. Turrets, which were not previously a universal feature on tanks, were recognised as the way forward. It was appreciated that if the tank's gun was to be used to engage armoured targets then it needed to be as large and powerful as possible, making having one large gun with an all-round field of fire vital. Multiple-turreted tank designs like the Soviet T-35 were abandoned by World War II. Most tanks retained at least one hull machine gun. Even post-war, the M60 MBT had a smaller secondary turret for the commander's cupola.

The Cold War and beyond

M60's Tiananmen Square during the 1989 protests
Jeff Widener (The Associated Press) ]] After WWII, tank development proceeded largely as it had before, with improvements to both the medium and heavy classes. Light tanks were now limited to the reconnaissance role, and in U.S. use, airborne support as well. However, the weight limitations of air transport made a practical light tank almost impossible to build, and this class gradually disappeared over time. But the seeds for a true transformation had already been working their way into existing designs. A combination of better suspensions and greatly improved engines allowed late-war medium tanks to outperform early-war heavies. With only slightly more armour and somewhat larger engines to compensate, mediums were suddenly protected against almost all antitank weapons, even those mounted on heavy tanks, while at the same time having the mobility of a medium tank. Many consider the turning point to be the Panther, which became the basis for almost every tank design after it. However the Panther was not terribly well armoured, and could not really fight the heavy tanks on an equal basis. 1989 protests]] The first tank to 'get it all right' is generally considered to be the British Centurion tank, which (in its later versions) was able to take hits from the infamous German 88 mm gun, was armed with the deadly 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 that was superior to anything in the field, and could reach 56 km/h due to its excellent 650-hp Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The Centurion replaced all British medium cruiser tanks and led to the demise of the heavy infantry tank class entirely, becoming what the British referred to as the Universal Tank, soon to be known as the main battle tank in most forces, abbreviated MBT. In response to the threat of heavy antitank guided missiles (ATGMs), the focus in development shifted away from just a tank's size, to the technologies within it. The long range of ATGMs made it useless to concentrate resources into fewer heavy tanks, because they could no longer perform in the stand-off role, the one thing they were really useful for. So rather than just producing tanks with much thicker armour, radically more effective armour was implemented. Gun technology remained remarkably similar even to WWI-era gun technology, with most tanks in service still being manually loaded, but with big advances in shell effectiveness. Although the basic roles and traits of tanks were almost all developed by the end of WWI, the performance of twenty-first-century counterparts had increased by an order of magnitude. They had been refined dramatically in response to continually changing threats and requirements, especially the threat of other tanks. The advancing capabilities of tanks have been balanced by developments of other tanks and by continuous development of antitank weapons.

Design

The three traditional factors determining a tank's effectiveness are its firepower, mobility and protection. The psychological effect on enemy soldiers of a tank's imposing battlefield presence is called shock action. Firepower is the ability of a tank to defeat a target. This takes into account the maximum distance at which targets can be engaged, the ability to engage moving targets, the speed with which multiple targets can be attacked, and the capability to defeat armoured vehicles or entrenched infantry. Mobility includes the speed and agility of driving cross-country, the types of terrain that can be covered, the dimensions of obstacles, trenches, and water that can be crossed, the ability to cross small bridges, and the distance that can be covered before refuelling is required. "Strategic mobility" also includes the ability to travel at high speed on roads, and the ability to be carried on rail or truck transport. Traditionally AFV mobility is measured by the following metrics:
- engine power
- engine torque
- power-to-weight ratio
- road speed
- off-road speed (a somewhat nebulous figure given the possible variation)
- road range
- off-road range
- weight (bridge classification)
- ground pressure
- width of trench crossed
- vertical step climbed
- angle of slope that can be climbed
- angle of side slope that can be negotiated
- ground clearance
- unprepared fording depth
- prepared fording depth (if different) Protection is the amount of armour, the type(s), how it is arranged (i.e., sloped or not), and which areas are given more protection (e.g., the turret and tracks) and which receive less (e.g., the rear of the chassis). It also includes low profile, low noise and thermal signature, active countermeasures and other methods of avoiding enemy fire, and the ability to continue fighting after damage has been sustained. Tank design is traditionally held to be a compromise between these three factors—it is not considered possible to maximise all three. For example, increasing protection by adding armour will increase weight and therefore decrease manoeuvrability; increasing firepower by using a larger gun will decrease both manoeuvrability and protection (due to decreased armour at the front of the turret). How the compromise is achieved is influenced by a combination of factors, including military strategies, budget, geography, political will, and the requirement to sell the tank to other countries. Examples of how different countries are influenced in their decisions are as follows:
- Britain has historically opted for better firepower and increased protection at the expense of some manoeuvrability. Britain maintains a small, highly trained professional army, and so tank crew survivability is important. As limited resources may be available, the crew needs to be able to maintain their tanks in the field.
- The USA has a large army with sophisticated weaponry and a complex array of mobile support services. As their tanks are expected to rarely be away from support and repair units, less emphasis is placed on the crew's ability to maintain the tank themselves or to continue fighting with it once damage has been sustained.
- Germany's tanks were completely outmatched by the Soviet T-34 on the WWII Eastern front. It lost more of its insufficiently-developed Tiger and Panther tanks due to mechanical breakdowns than enemy action. As a result, German tanks since have been designed to be very manoeuvrable, with a resulting decrease in protection. Enhanced reliability and lower maintenance requirements have also been important design goals.
- Soviet tanks are traditionally rugged, simple for production and maintenance ("quantity turns into quality"), as exemplified by the T-34. State-controlled design development proceeds in incremental changes. Extensive maintenance is expected to be done in specialized depots.
- Israel is a small, but relatively rich, nation, with limited manpower in a hostile political environment. Its primary concern is therefore crew survivability. To this end it is the only nation to have produced a main battle tank with the engine placed at the front and fuel surrounding the crew, to increase protection.

Weapons

Israel.]] The main weapon of any modern tank is a single large gun. Tank guns are among the largest-calibre weapons in use on land, with only a few artillery pieces being larger. Although the calibre has not changed substantially since the end of the Second World War, modern guns are technologically superior. The current common sizes are 120mm calibre for Western tanks and 125mm for Eastern (Soviet and Chinese legacy) tanks. Tank guns have been able to fire many types of rounds, but their current use is commonly limited to kinetic energy (KE) penetrators and high explosive (HE) rounds. Some tanks can fire missiles through the gun. Smoothbore (rather than rifled) guns are the dominant type of gun today. The British Army and the Indian Army are now the only ones to field main battle tanks carrying rifled guns. Modern tank guns are generally fitted with thermal jackets which reduce the effect of uneven temperature on the barrel. For instance, if it were to rain on a tank barrel the top would cool faster than the bottom, or a breeze on the left might cause the left side to cool faster then the right. This uneven cooling will cause the barrel to bend slightly and will effect long range accuracy. Usually, tanks carry other armament for short range defence against infantry or targets where the use of the main weapon would be ineffective or wasteful. Typically, this is a small calibre (7.62 to 12.7 mm) machine gun mounted coaxially with the main gun. However, a couple of French tanks such as the AMX-30 and AMX-40 carry a coaxial 20mm cannon that has a high rate of fire and can destroy lightly armoured vehicles. Additionally, many tanks carry a roof-mounted or commander's cupola machine gun for close-in ground or limited air defence. The 12.7-mm and 14.5-mm machine guns commonly carried on US and Russian tanks and the French Leclerc are also capable of destroying lightly-armoured vehicles at close range. Some tanks have been adapted to specialised roles and have had unusual main armament such as flame-throwers. These specialised weapons are now usually mounted on the chassis of an armoured personnel carrier.

Fire control

flame-thrower, can fire with reasonable accuracy while moving.]] Historically, tank weapons were aimed through simple optical sights and laid onto target by hand, with windage estimated or assisted with a reticule. Range to the target was estimated with the aid of a reticule (markings in the gun sight which are aligned to frame an object of known size, i.e. a tank), which was later supplemented with a stereoscopic range-finder, later replaced by a laser range-finder. Consequently, accuracy was limited at long range and made concurrent movement and shooting largely impossible. Most modern main battle tanks in the armies of industrialised countries use a laser range-finder but optical and reticule range-finders are still in use in older and less sophisticated vehicles. Modern tanks have a variety of sophisticated systems to make them more accurate. Gyroscopes are used to stabilise the main weapon; computers calculate the appropriate elevation and aim-point, taking input from sensors for wind speed, air temperature, humidity, the gun-barrel temperature, warping and wear, the speed of the target (calculated by taking at least two sightings of the target with the range-finder), and the movement of the tank. Infrared, light-amplification, or thermal night vision equipment is also commonly incorporated. Laser target designators may also be used to illuminate targets for guided munitions. As a result modern tanks can fire reasonably accurately while moving.

Ammunition

There are several types of ammunition designed to defeat armour, including High explosive squash head (HESH, also called high explosive plastic, HEP), High explosive antitank (HEAT), and kinetic energy penetrators (KEP, or armour-piercing discarding sabot APDS). For accuracy, shells are spun by gun-barrel rifling, or fin-stabilized (APFSDS, HEAT-FS, etc.). Some tanks, including the M551 Sheridan, T-72, T-64, T-80, T-90, T-84, and PT-91 can fire ATGMs (anti-tank guided missile) through their gun barrel. This functionality extends the effective combat range of the tank beyond the range afforded by conventional shells. It also provides the tank with a useful weapon against slow, low-flying airborne targets like helicopters. The United States has abandoned this concept, phasing the M551 and M60A2 out of their forces in favour of helicopters and aircraft for long range anti-tank roles, but CIS countries continue to employ gun-missile systems in their main battle tanks.

Protection

CIS, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, US Marines.]] The main battle tank is the most heavily armoured vehicle in modern armies. Its armour is designed to protect the vehicle and crew against a wide variety of threats. Commonly, protection against kinetic energy penetrators fired by other tanks is considered the most important. Tanks are vulnerable to antitank guided missiles; antitank mines, larger bombs, and direct artillery hits can also disable or destroy a tank. Tanks are especially vulnerable to airborne threats. Most modern MBTs do offer near complete protection from artillery fragmentation and lighter antitank weapons such as rocket propelled grenades. The amount of armour needed to protect against all conceivable threats from all angles would be far too heavy to be practical, so when designing an MBT much effort goes into finding the right balance between protection and weight.

Armour

Most armoured fighting vehicles are manufactured of hardened steel plate, or in some cases aluminium. The relative effectiveness of armour is expressed by comparison to rolled homogeneous armour. Most armoured vehicles are best-protected at the front, and their crews always try to keep them pointed toward the likeliest direction of the enemy. The thickest and best-sloped armour is on the glacis plate and the turret front. The sides have less armour and the rear and roof are least protected. World War Two American M4 Medium (British name, Sherman) tank crews found the German Tigers to be practically invulnerable from the front, and were forced to employ flank attacks. Today, tanks are vulnerable to specialised top-attack missile weapons and air attack. During WW2, aircraft rockets earned a formidable reputation, especially in France after the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune); post-war analysis revealed many reported kills were near-misses. Aircraft cannon firing armour-piercing ammunition, such as the Hurribomber's 40mm or Stuka's 37mm, could be effective, also. Even a simple Molotov cocktail on the engine deck, however, may disable or destroy any tank. Before the Second World War, Soviet tank designers started to slope the armour on several tanks, most famously the T-34. Angling armour plates greatly increases their effectiveness against projectiles, by increasing the effective perpendicular thickness of the armour, and by increasing the chance of deflection. German tank crews were said to be horrified to find that shots fired at the angled plates of T-34s would sometimes simply ricochet. Even light infantry antitank weapons can immobilise a tank by damaging its suspension or track. Many tracked military vehicles have side skirts, protecting the suspension. High explosive antitank weapons (HEAT), such as the bazooka, were a new threat in the Second World War. These weapons carry a warhead with a shaped charge, which focuses the force of an explosion into a narrow penetrating stream. Thin plates of spaced armour, steel mesh "RPG screens", or rubber skirts, were found to cause HEAT rounds to detonate too far from the main armour, greatly reducing their penetrating power. Some antitank ammunition (HESH or HEP) uses flexible explosive material, which squashes against a vehicle's armour, and causes dangerous spalling of material inside the tank which may kill the crew without penetrating the armour. As a defence, some vehicles have a layer of anti-spall material lining their insides. Since the 1970s, tanks have been protected by more complex perforated or composite armour, a sandwich of various alloys and ceramics. One of the best types of passive armour is the British-developed Chobham armour, which is comprised of spaced ceramic blocks contained by a resin-fabric matrix between layers of conventional armour. A form of Chobham armour is encased in depleted uranium on the very well-protected M1A1 Abrams MBT. The Israeli Merkava tank takes the design of protection systems to an extreme, using the engine and fuel tanks as secondary armour.

Grenade launchers, smoke and passive defences

Most armoured vehicles carry smoke grenade launchers which can rapidly deploy a smoke screen to visually shield a withdrawal from an enemy ambush or attack. The smoke screen is very rarely used offensively, since attacking through it blocks the attacker's vision and gives the enemy an early indication of impending attack. Modern smoke grenades work in the infrared as well as visible spectrum of light. Some smoke grenades are designed to make a very dense cloud capable of blocking the laser beams of enemy target designators or range finders and of course obscuring vision, reducing probability of a hit from visually aimed weapons, especially low speed weapons, such as antitank missiles which require the operator to keep the tank in sight for a relatively long period of time. In many MBTs, such as the French-built Leclerc, the smoke grenade launchers are also meant to launch tear gas grenades and anti-personnel fragmentation grenades. Many Israeli tanks contain small vertical mortar tubes which can be operated from within the tank, enhancing the anti-personnel capabilities and allowing it to engage targets which are behind obstacles. There have been proposals to equip other tanks with dual-purpose smoke/fragmentation grenade launchers that can be reloaded from the interior. Prior to the widespread introduction of thermal imaging the most common smoke grenade in AFV launchers was white phosphorus which created a very rapid smoke screen as well as having a very useful incendiary effect against any infantry in the burst area (e.g., infantry attempting to close with hand placed charges or mines). Since the advent of thermal imagers most tanks carry a smoke grenade that contains a plastic or rubber compound whose tiny burning fragments provide better obscurant qualities against thermal imagers. Some tanks also have smoke generators which can generate smoke continuously, rather than the instantaneous, but short duration of smoke grenades. Generally smoke generators work by injecting fuel into the exhaust, which partially burns the fuel, but leaves sufficient unburned or partially burned particles to create a dense smoke screen. Modern tanks are increasingly being fitted with passive defensive systems such as laser warning devices, which activate an alarm if the tank is "painted" by a laser range-finder or designator. Other passive defences include radio warning devices, which provide warning if the tank is targeted by radar systems that are commonly used to guide antitank weapons such as a millimetre and other very short wave radar.

Countermeasures

Passive countermeasures, like the Russian Shtora system, attempt to jam the guidance systems of incoming guided missiles. Explosive reactive armour, or ERA, is another major type of protection against high explosive antitank weapons, in which sections of armour explode to dissipate the focussed explosive force of a shaped charge warhead. Reactive armour is attached to the outside of an MBT in small, replaceable bricks. Active protection systems go one step further than reactive armour. An APS uses radar or other sensing technology to automatically react to incoming projectiles. When the system detects hostile fire, it calculates a firing resolution and directs an explosive-launched counter-projectile to intercept or disrupt the incoming fire a few metres from the target.

Exposed crew

Paradoxically, a tank is usually in its safest state when the commander is in a personally unsafe position, riding in the open, head out of the turret, with no personal protection save his helmet and a flak jacket. In this rather high position the commander can see around the vehicle with no restrictions, and has the greatest chance of spotting enemy antitank operations or natural and unnatural obstacles which might immobilise or slow down the tank. Tank periscopes and other viewing devices give a sharply inferior field of vision and sense of the countryside, despite constant advances in optics and electronics. Thus, when a tank advances in hostile territory with hatches closed, the commander and the crew might be personally safer, but the tank as a whole is more at risk given the extremely reduced vision. Improvements in onboard optical systems are ongoing, in order to overcome this problem.

Mobility

periscopei Merkava Mk-III) allow it to tackle most types of terrain, but they are only lightly armoured and are prone to mechanical failure.]] There are essentially two main aspects of mobility to consider, the tank's basic mobility such as its speed across terrain and ability to climb obstacles, and its overall battlefield mobility such as range, what bridges it can cross, and what transport vehicles can move it. Mobility of a tank is categorised as either Battlefield Mobility, Tactical Mobility, or Strategic Mobility. The first is a function of its engine performance and capability of its running gear and is determined by aspects such as acceleration, speed, vertical obstacle capability and so on. The second is the ability of the tank to be readily transported within a theatre of operation. The third is its ability to be transported from one theatre of operation to other, dependent on its weight, air portability and so on. A main battle tank is designed to be very mobile and able to tackle most types of terrain. Its wide tracks disperse the heavy weight of the vehicle over a large area, resulting in a specific ground pressure that might be lower than that of a man's foot. The types of terrain that do pose a problem are usually extremely soft ground such as swamps, or rocky terrain scattered with large boulders. In "normal" terrain, a tank can be expected to travel at about 30 to 50 km/h. The road speed may be up to 70 km/h. The logistics of getting from point A to point B are not as simple as they appear. On paper, or during any test drive of a few hours, a single tank offers better off-road performance than any wheeled fighting vehicle. On the road the fastest tank design is not much slower than the average wheeled fighting vehicle design. But in practice, the huge weight of the tank combined with the relative weakness of the track assembly makes the maximum road speed of a tank really a burst speed, which can be kept up for only a short time before there is a mechanical breakdown. Although the maximum off-road speed is lower, it cannot be kept up continuously for a day, given the variety and unpredictability of off-road terrain (with the possible exception of plains and sandy deserts). Since an immobilised tank is an easy target for mortars, artillery, and the specialised tank hunting units of the enemy forces, speed is normally kept to a minimum, and every opportunity is used to move tanks on wheeled tank transporters and by railway instead of under their own power. Tanks invariably end up on railcars in any country with a rail infrastructure, because no army has enough wheeled transporters to carry all its tanks. Planning for railcar loading and unloading is crucial staff work, and railway bridges and yards are prime targets for enemy forces wishing to slow a tank advance. When moving in a country or region with no rail infrastructure and few good roads, or a place with roads riddled by mines or frequent ambushes, the average speed of advance of a tank unit in a day is comparable to that of a man on a horse or bicycle. Frequent halts must be planned for preventive maintenance and verifications in order to avoid breakdowns during combat. This is in addition to the tactical halts needed so that the infantry or the air units can scout ahead for the presence of enemy antitank groups. Another mobility issue is getting the tank to the theatre of operations. Tanks, especially main battle tanks, are extremely heavy, making it very difficult to airlift them. Using sea and ground transportation is slow, making tanks problematic for rapid reaction forces. Some tank-like vehicles use wheels instead of tracks in order to increase road speed and decrease maintenance needs. These vehicles lack the superior off-road mobility of tracked vehicles, but are considered by United States planners as more suited for rapid reaction forces due to increased strategic mobility.

Water operations

For most tanks water operations are limited to fording. The fording depth is usually limited by the height of the air intake of the engine, and to a lesser extent the driver's position. Typical fording depth for MBTs are 90 to 120 cm.

Deep fording

However, with preparation some tanks are able to ford considerably deeper depths. The West German Leopard I and Leopard II tanks can ford to a depth of several metres, when properly prepared and equipped with a snorkel. The Leopard snorkel is in fact a series of rings which can be stacked to create a long tube. This tube is then fitted to the crew commander's hatch and provides air and a possible escape route for the crew. The height of the tube is limited to around three meters. Some Russian/Soviet tanks are also able to perform deep fording operations, however unlike the Leopard, the Russian snorkel is only a few inches round and does not provide a crew escape path. Russian snorkels are also fixed in length, providing only a couple of metres of depth over the turret height. This type of fording requires careful preparation of the tank and the ingress and egress sites on the banks of the water obstacle. Tank crews usually have a negative reaction towards deep fording. This has influenced tactics in those countries where the psychological health of the crews or their capacity for rebellion is taken into account. However if properly planned and executed this type of operation adds considerable scope for surprise and flexibility in water crossing operations.

Amphibious tanks

Some light tanks such as the PT-76 are amphibious, typically being propelled in the water by hydrojets or by their tracks. Often a fold down trim vane is erected to stop water washing over the bow of the tank and thus reducing the risk of the vehicle being swamped via the driver's hatch. In World War II the M4 Medium (Sherman) tank was made amphibious with the addition of a rubberised canvas screen to provide additional buoyancy. It was propelled by propellers driven by the main engine. This was referred to as the Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) and was used on D-Day to provide close fire support on the beaches during the initial landings. The Sherman DD could not fire when afloat as the buoyancy screen was higher than the gun. A number of these DDs sank due to rough weather in the Channel (having been launched too far out). Those that did make it ashore, however, provided essential fire support in the first critical hours, getting off the beaches.

Power plants

D-Day, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, US Marines.]] The tank's power-plant supplies power for moving the tank and for other tank systems, such as rotating the turret or electrical power for a radio. Tanks fielded in WWI all used petrol (gasoline) engines as power-plants. In the Second World War there was a mix of power-plant types used; a lot of tank engines were adapted aircraft engines. As the Cold War started, tanks had almost all switched over to using diesel, improved multi-fuel versions of which are still common. Starting in the late 1970s, turbine engines began to appear. The weight and type of power-plant (influenced by its transmission and drive train) largely determines how fast and mobile the tank is, but the terrain effectively limits the maximum speed of all tanks through the stress it puts on the suspension and the crew.

Multi-fuel diesels

All modern non-turbine tanks use a diesel engine because diesel fuel is less flammable and more economical than petrol. Some Soviet tanks used the dark smoke of burning diesel as an advantage and could intentionally burn fuel in the exhaust to create smoke for cover. Fuel tanks are commonly placed at the rear of the tank, though in some designs, such as the Israeli Merkava, the diesel fuel tanks are placed around the crew area to provide an additional layer of "armour." Fuel has often been stored in auxiliary tanks externally, or by other means such as in a small trailer towed behind the tank, able to be detached during combat. Modern tank engines are in some cases multi-fuel engines, which can operate on diesel, petrol or similar fuels.

Gas turbines

Gas turbine engines have been used as an auxiliary power unit (APU) in some tanks, and are the main power plant in the Soviet/Russian T-80 and U.S. M1 Abrams. They are comparatively lighter and smaller than diesel engines, at the same level of sustained power output (the T-80 was dubbed the Flying Tank for its high speed). However they are much less fuel efficient, especially at low RPMs, requiring larger fuel tanks to achieve the same combat range. Newer models of the M1 have a small secondary turbine engine as an APU to power the tank's systems while stationary, saving fuel by reducing the need to idle the main turbine. T-80 tanks are commonly seen with large external fuel tanks to extend their range. Russia has replaced T-80 production with the less powerful T-90 (based on the T-72), while Ukraine has developed the diesel-powered T-80UD and T-84 with nearly the power of the gas-turbine tank. Because of their lower efficiency, the thermal signature of a gas turbine is higher than a diesel engine at the same level of power output. On the other hand the acoustic signature of a tank with a muffled gas turbine can be quieter than a piston engine–powered one. The M1A2 was nicknamed Whispering Death for its quiet operation.[http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030324-whispering-death01.htm] A turbine is theoretically more reliable and easier to maintain than a piston-based engine, since it has a simpler construction with fewer moving parts. In practice, however, those parts experience a higher wear due to their higher working speeds. The turbine blades are also very sensitive to dust and fine sand, so that in desert operations special filters have to be carefully fitted and changed several times daily. An improperly fitted filter, or a single bullet or piece of shrapnel can render the filter useless, potentially damaging the engine. Piston engines also need well-maintained filters, but they are more resilient if the filter does fail. Like most modern diesel engines used in tanks, gas turbines are usually multi-fuel engines.

Sonic, seismic, and thermal traces

M1 Abrams Stationary tanks can be well camouflaged in woodland and forested areas where there is natural cover, making detection and attack from the air more difficult. By contrast, in the open it is very hard to hide a tank. In both cases, however, once a tank starts its engine or begins to move it can be detected much more easily due to the heat and noise generated by its engine. The tank tracks across lands can be spotted from the air, and in the desert movement can stir up vast dust clouds several times the size of the tanks. A recently stopped stationary tank has a considerable heat signature. Indeed even if the tank itself is hidden, for example behind a hill, it is still possible for a skilled operator to detect the tank from the column of warmer air above the tank. This risk can be reduced somewhat by the use or thermal blankets which reduce the radiation of heat while the engine and tracks cool. Some camouflage nets are manufactured from unevenly distributed mix of materials with differing thermal properties, which are designed to "randomise" or at least reduce the regularity of the thermal signature of a tank. Tanks are powered by a diesel or turbine engine of a power comparable to a diesel locomotive. From the outside a diesel powered tank smells, sounds, and feels quite like a diesel locomotive. The deep rumble of even a single tank can be heard a great distance on a quiet day, and the sharp diesel smell can be carried far downwind. When a tank stands still with engine running the land trembles around it. When moving, the vibrations are greater. The acoustic and seismic signatures of multi-fuel engines are comparable. The acoustic signature of a turbine engine is much greater: its high-pitched whine can be much more easily distinguished from other sounds, near or far. The very large power output of modern tank engines (typically in excess of 750kW or 1,000hp) ensure that they produce a distinct thermal signature. The unusually compact mass of metal of the tank hull dissipates heat in a fashion which marks it off sharply from other objects in the countryside. A moving tank is thus relatively easy to spot by good land-based or aerial infrared scanners. One of the reasons for the one-sided fighting during the Gulf Wars was that tanks like M1 Abrams had almost four times the night-time infrared scanning range of T-72s used by the Iraqi army. Another factor in the Gulf War was that, even when camouflaged and not moving, Iraqi tanks at night would cool at a different rate from their surroundings, making thermal detection easier. Getting a tank to move proved to be important in the Kosovo conflict in 1999. During the initial few weeks of the conflict NATO air sorties were rather ineffective in destroying Serbian tanks. This changed in the final week of the conflict, when the Kosovo Liberation Army began to engage tanks. Although the KLA had little chance of destroying the tanks, their purpose was to get the tanks to move whereupon they could be more easily identified and destroyed by NATO air power.

Command, control, and communications

Commanding and co-ordinating a tank organisation in the field has always been subject to particular problems. Because of the isolation of small units, individual vehicles, and even the crewmen of a tank, special arrangements have had to be made. Armoured bulkheads, engine noise, intervening terrain, dust, and smoke, and the need to operate "hatches down" (or "buttoned up") comprise severe detriments to communications. Every action of a tank's crew, movement and fire, is ordered by its commander. In some early tanks, the crew commander's task was severely hampered by having to load or fire the main armament, or both. In many small armoured fighting vehicles, even into the late twentieth century, the crew commander would relay movement orders to the driver by kicks to his shoulders and back. Most modern AFVs are equipped with an intercom, allowing all crew members to talk to each other, and to operate the radio equipment. Some tanks have even been equipped with an external intercom on the rear, to allow co-operating infantry to talk to the crew. In the earliest tank operations, communications between the members of an armoured company were accomplished using hand signals or handheld semaphore flags, and in some situations, by crew members dismounting and walking to another tank. In World War One, situation reports were sent back to headquarters by releasing carrier pigeons through vision slits. Signal flares, smoke, movement, and weapons fire are all used by experienced crews to co-ordinate their tactics. From the 1930s to the '50s, most nations' armoured forces became equipped with radios, but visual signals are still used to reduce radio chatter. A modern tank is usually equipped with radio equipment allowing its crew to communicate on a company or battalion radio network, and possibly to monitor a higher-level network, to co-ordinate with other arms of service. Company or battalion commanders' tanks usually have an additional radio. Communications on a busy network are subject to a set of formalised language rules called radio voice procedure. Most armoured forces operate with the crew commander, and possibly other crew members, "hatches up", for best possible situational awareness. When taking fire, or in potential NBC conditions, tank crews "button up" and only view the battlefield through vision slits or periscopes, severely reducing their ability to acquire targets and perceive hazards. Since the 1960s, a tank's commander has had progressively more sophisticated equipment for target acquisition. In a main battle tank, the commander has his own panoramic sights (with night-vision equipment), allowing him to designate one or more new targets, while the gunner engages another. More advanced systems allow the commander to take control of the turret and fire the main armament in an emergency. A recent development in AFV equipment is the increased integration of fire control, the laser range-finder, GPS data, and digital communications. U.S. tanks are fitted with digital computers which are connected into battlefield networks. These integrate known information on enemy targets and friendly units to greatly improve the tank commander's situational awareness. In addition to easing the reporting burden, these systems also allow for orders to be given complete with graphics and overlays, via the network.

Vulnerability

Whilst being a tremendously powerful weapon and the undoubted king of the land battlefield, the tank is not invulnerable. In fact it is the tank's superiority which has focused so much effort on improving antitank weapons.

Infantry

The tank is still vulnerable to infantry, especially in close country or built up areas. The armour and mobility of tanks, while usually notable assets, also makes them large and noisy. This can give enemy infantry the initiative, allowing them to spot, track and evade tanks until an opportunity presents itself for a stealthy counter-attack. This is why modern tactics insist on tanks being closely supported by friendly infantry. For veteran troops, it is relatively easy for an infantry man to get close to a tank, especially if it is fully closed down (that is, the commander is fully inside the turret) as tanks have very poor visibility close in and especially to the sides and rear, unless the turret is pointing in that direction. If the crew commander is not closed down, that is, has exposed his head and perhaps upper body for the better view it affords him, then he can of course be shot. In theory, it is easy for an infantry man to lie prone, wait behind a tree or other handy cover or inside a building and to quickly dash out as a tank passes. However, the tank is a fearsome war machine; it takes confidence, discipline and training to carry this out. Once an infantry man is close to a tank he is invulnerable unless the crew expose themselves to attack him as the main gun and coaxial machine gun can not depress sufficiently to engage the close in infantry man. Where tanks are operating in groups this is less of a problem, since they can call on nearby tanks to fire on themselves with machine guns and other light weapons which are unlikely to damage a tank but which will drive off infantry. Whilst many handheld infantry antitank rockets, missiles and grenades will not penetrate the front armour of a tank, they will, generally speaking, penetrate the weaker, rear, top and perhaps sides, as well as being able to easily damage the running gear to inflict an "M" (mobility) kill. Tanks are also vulnerable to hand placed antitank mines. In addition in built up areas the tank is very vulnerable to attack from above—the roof and floor of the tank being traditionally the thinnest and weakest armoured surfaces.

Artillery

Traditionally, conventional artillery has not been very effective against tanks as the tank's armour could withstand any artillery round except a direct hit. Even though a shell may not penetrate a tank's armour, it can still disable it through dynamic shock, internal armor shattering, or simply overturning the tank. In the last thirty years however, a variety of artillery projectiles have been developed with attacking tanks in mind. These include laser guided projectiles, such as the US Copperhead CLGP (Cannon Launched Guided Projectile) which virtually guarantee a direct hit on the thin top armour. In addition some of these CLGP's such as the Copperhead have HEAT warheads instead of common HE. In addition to achieving a direct hit with guided projectiles, guided and unguided scatter munitions and submunitions have been developed: a single artillery shell containing a number of smaller munitions designed to attack a tank. At its simplest the shell bursts in the air and a number of shaped charged (HEAT) or HEDP (High Explosive Dual Purpose) bomblets or grenades rain down, with luck hitting the tank. If they do hit they will likely cause damage, despite their small size, since they are attacking the thin top armour. A variation on this theme is replacing the top attack munitions with small antitank mines, which probably won't penetrate the armour but will blow off a track, leaving the tank vulnerable for destruction by other means. A six-gun battery might be able to fire several hundred submunitions into an area in a minute or two. More sophisticated are submunitions with a homing capability. Once again the shell explodes above the tank position and dispenses a (usually smaller) number of submunitions. The munitions contain some circuitry to identify tanks, such as IR or millimetre radar. In order to allow the munition time to use its sensor the munition will often be deployed under a parachute. When a tank is identified a rocket is fired to direct the projectile at the tank. All of the above bar the CLGP can be fired from medium (152/155-mm) artillery, both tube and rocket. There has also been development of large calibre (81-mm and larger) guided mortar munitions with both internal (e.g., IR or radar) or external (i.e. laser designator) guidance for attacking tanks. See also Anti-tank#anti-tank guns.

Helicopters

The single biggest threat to the tank today is the antitank helicop

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated USSR ( (СССР) ; tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik [SSSR])), more commonly known as the Soviet Union (; tr.: Sovetsky Soyuz) was an officially socialist state founded in 1922, centered on Russia, and dissolved in 1991. From 1945 until its dissolution it was historically notable as one of the world's two superpowers. The formation of the Soviet Union was the culmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which overthrew short-lived Provisional Government (established after Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917), and later the Red Army victory in the violent Russian Civil War from 1918-1920. The geographic boundaries of the Soviet Union varied with time, but by 1945 it approximately corresponded to that of historic Imperial Russia, with the notable exclusions of Poland and Finland. The geographic size of the Soviet Union remained from 1945 until its dissolution. The Soviet Union, founded three decades before the Cold War, became a primary model for future Communist states; the socialist government and the political organization of the country were defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

History

The Soviet Union is traditionally considered to be the successor of the Russian Empire. The last Russian monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, ruled until March 1917 and was eventually executed. The Soviet Union was established in December 1922 as the union of the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics ruled by Bolshevik parties. By Soviet historiography, revolutionary activity in Russia began with the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, and although serfdom was abolished in 1861, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament, the State Duma, was established in 1906, after the 1905 Revolution but political and social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages. A spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd, in response to the wartime decay of Russia's physical well-being and morale, culminated in the toppling of the imperial government in March 1917 (see February Revolution). The autocracy was replaced by the Provisional Government, whose leaders intended to establish democracy in Russia and to continue participating on the side of the Allies in World War I. At the same time, to ensure the rights of the working class, workers' councils, known as soviets, sprang up across the country. The radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, agitated for socialist revolution in the soviets and on the streets. They seized power from the Provisional Government in November 1917 (see October Revolution). Only after the long and bloody Russian Civil War of (1918-1921), which included combat between government forces and foreign troops in several parts of Russia, was the new communist regime secure. In a related conflict, the "Peace of Riga" in early 1921 split disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet powers. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party, as the Bolsheviks called themselves beginning in March 1918. After the extraordinary economic policy of war communism during the Civil War the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist with nationalized industry in the 1920s and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax (see New Economic Policy). Debate over the future of the economy provided the background for Soviet leaders to contend for power in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. By gradually consolidating his influence and isolating his rivals within the party, notably Lenin's more obvious heir Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin became the sole leader of the Soviet Union by the end of the 1920s. In 1928 Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan for building a socialist economy. In industry the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of industrialization; in agriculture collective farms were established all over the country (see Collectivisation in the USSR). The Soviet Union became a major industrial power; but the plan's implementation produced widespread misery for some segments of the population. Collectivization met widespread resistance from peasants, resulting in a bitter struggle against the authorities in many areas, famine, and estimated millions of casualties. Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s, when Stalin began a purge of the party (see Great Purges). Yet despite this turmoil, the Soviet Union developed a powerful industrial economy in the years before World War II. Although Stalin tried to avert war with Germany by concluding the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which involved the invasion of Poland, in 1939, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. It has been debated that the Soviet Union had the intention of invading Germany once it was strong enough. The Red Army stopped the Nazi offensive, with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 being the major turning point, and drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an acknowledged superpower. superpower after the fall of Nazi Germany]] During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded its economy, while maintaining its strictly centralized control. The Soviet Union aided postwar reconstruction in Eastern Europe, set up the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, supplied aid to the eventually victorious communists in the People's Republic of China, and saw its influence grow elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, the Cold War, turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, into foes. Joseph Stalin died on March 5 1953. In the absence of an acceptable successor, the highest Communist Party officials opted to rule the Soviet Union jointly, although a struggle for power took place behind the facade of collective leadership. Nikita Khrushchev, who won the power struggle by the mid-1950s, denounced Stalin's use of repression and eased repressive controls over party and society (see de-Stalinization). During this period the Soviet Union launched the first satellite Sputnik 1 and man Yuri Gagarin into orbit. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive, and foreign policy toward China and the United States suffered reverses. Khrushchev's colleagues in the leadership removed him from power in 1964. Following the ouster of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued, lasting until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent figure in Soviet political life. Brezhnev presided over a period of Détente with the West while at the same time building up Soviet military strength; the arms buildup contributed to the demise of Détente in the late 1970s. Another contributing factor was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. After some experimentation with economic reforms in the mid-1960s, the Soviet leadership reverted to established means of economic management. Industry showed slow but steady gains during the 1970s, while agricultural development continued to lag. Throughout the period the Soviet Union maintained parity with the United States in the areas of military technology but this expansion ultimately crippled the economy. In contrast to the revolutionary spirit that accompanied the birth of the Soviet Union, the prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse that process. After the rapid succession of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, transitional figures with deep roots in Brezhnevite tradition, the energetic Mikhail Gorbachev made significant changes in the economy (see Perestroika) and the party leadership. His policy of glasnost freed public access to information after decades of government regulations. In late 1980s constituent republics of the Soviet Union started declaring sovereignty over their territories or even independence citing Article 72 of USSR Constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede. Many republics proceeded to produce legislation contradicting the Union laws in what was known as "The War of Laws." In 1989 Russian SFSR, which was then the largest constituent republic (with about 2/3 of population and territory) convened a Congress of Deputies. Boris Yeltsin was elected the chairman of the Congress. On June 12, 1989 the Congress declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory and proceeded to pass laws that attempted to supersede some of the USSR's laws. The period of legal uncertainty continued for the next three years as constituent republics slowly growing de-facto independent. A referendum for the preservation of the USSR was held on March 17, 1991, with the population voting for preservation of the Union in most republics. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor boost, and in the summer of 1991 an new Union Treaty was designed and agreed upon by most republics which would have turned the Soviet Union into a much looser federation. The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the August Coup - an attempted coup d'état against Mikhail Gorbachev by conservative members of the Communist Party, referred to as "Hardliners" by the Western media. After the coup was defeated, Yeltsin came out as a hero while Gorbachev's power was greatly reduced. The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were immediately granted independence, while the other 12 republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the Union. On December 8 1991 Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed Belavezha Accords which declared the Union dissolved and established the Commonwealth of Independent States in its place. While doubts remained over their authority to dissolve the Union, on 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as the president of the USSR and turned the powers of his office over to Boris Yeltsin. The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, dissolved itself. This is generally recognized as the official, final dissolution of the Soviet Union as a functioning nation. Many organizations such as the Red Army and Police forces continued to remain in place in the early months of 1992, but were slowly phased out or absorbed by the newly independent nations.

Politics

Supreme Soviet] The government of the Soviet Union administered the country's economy and society. It implemented decisions made by the leading political institution in the country, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In the late 1980s, the government appeared to have many characteristics in common with democratic political systems. For instance, a constitution established all organs of government and granted to citizens a series of political and civic rights. A legislative body, the Congress of People's Deputies, and its standing legislature, the Supreme Soviet, represented the principle of popular sovereignty. The Supreme Soviet, which had an elected chairman who functioned as head of state, oversaw the Council of Ministers, which acted as the executive branch of the government. The chairman of the Council of Ministers, whose selection was approved by the legislative branch, functioned as head of government. A constitutionally based judicial branch of government included a court system, headed by the Supreme Court, that was responsible for overseeing the observance of Soviet law by government bodies. According to the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the government had a federal structure, permitting the republics some authority over policy implementation and offering the national minorities the appearance of participation in the management of their own affairs. In practice, however, the government differed markedly from Western systems. In the late 1980s, the CPSU performed many functions that governments of other countries usually perform. For example, the party decided on the policy alternatives that the government ultimately implemented. The government merely ratified the party's decisions to lend them an aura of legitimacy. The CPSU used a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the government adhered to its policies. The party, using its nomenklatura authority, placed its loyalists in leadership positions throughout the government, where they were subject to the norms of democratic centralism. Party bodies closely monitored the actions of government ministries, agencies, and legislative organs. The content of the Soviet Constitution differed in many ways from typical Western constitutions. It generally described existing political relationships, as determined by the CPSU, rather than prescribing an ideal set of political relationships. The Constitution was long and detailed, giving technical specifications for individual organs of government. The Constitution included political statements, such as foreign policy goals, and provided a theoretical definition of the state within the ideological framework of Marxism-Leninism. The CPSU leadership could radically change the constitution or remake it completely, as it did several times throughout its history. The Council of Ministers acted as the executive body of the government. Its most important duties lay in the administration of the economy. The council was thoroughly under the control of the CPSU, and its chairman - the Soviet prime minister - was always a member of the Politburo. The council, which in 1989 included more than 100 members, was too large and unwieldy to act as a unified executive body. The council's Presidium, made up of the leading economic administrators and led by the chairman, exercised dominant power within the Council of Ministers. According to the Constitution, as amended in 1988, the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union was the Congress of People's Deputies, which convened for the first time in May 1989. The main tasks of the congress were the election of the standing legislature, the Supreme Soviet, and the election of the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, who acted as head of state. Theoretically, the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet wielded enormous legislative power. In practice, however, the Congress of People's Deputies met infrequently and only to approve decisions made by the party, the Council of Ministers, and its own Supreme Soviet. The Supreme Soviet, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, and the Council of Ministers had substantial authority to enact laws, decrees, resolutions, and orders binding on the population. The Congress of People's Deputies had the authority to ratify these decisions. The judiciary was not independent. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts and applied the law, as established by the Constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union lacked an adversarial court procedure known to common law jurisdictions. Rather, Soviet law utilised the system derived from Roman law, where judge, procurator and defense attorney worked collaboratively to establish the truth. The Soviet Union was a federal state made up of fifteen republics joined together in a theoretically voluntary union. In turn, a series of territorial units made up the republics. The republics also contained jurisdictions intended to protect the interests of national minorities. The republics had their own constitutions, which, along with the all-union Constitution, provide the theoretical division of power in the Soviet Union. In 1989, however, the CPSU and the central government retained all significant authority, setting policies that were executed by republic, provincial, oblast, and district governments.

Leaders of the Soviet Union

The official leader of the Soviet Union was the First/General Secretary of the CPSU. The head of government was considered the Premier, and the head of state was considered the President. The Soviet leader could also have one (or both) of these positions, along with the position of General-Secretary of the party. :List of Soviet Premiers :(Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1923-1946); Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1946-1990); Prime Minister of the USSR (1991)) :List of Soviet Presidents :(Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (1917-1922); Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (1922-1938); Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1938-1989); Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1989-1990); President of the Soviet Union (1990-1991))

Foreign relations

:Main article: Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Foreign relations of the Soviet Union] Once denied diplomatic recognition by the capitalist world, the Soviet Union had official relations with the majority of the nations of the world by the late 1980s. The Soviet Union also had progressed from being an outsider in international organizations and negotiations to being one of the arbiters of Europe's fate after World War II. A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the Soviet Union became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions (see Soviet Union and the United Nations). The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as one of the two major world powers, a position maintained for four decades through its hegemony in Eastern Europe (see Eastern Bloc), military strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific research, especially into space technology and weaponry. The Soviet Union's growing influence abroad in the postwar years helped lead to a socialist system of states in Eastern Europe united by military and economic agreements. Established in 1949 as an economic bloc of communist countries led by Moscow, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) served as a framework for cooperation among the planned economies of the Soviet Union, and, later, for trade and economic cooperation with the Third World. The military counterpart to the Comecon was the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet economy was also of major importance to Eastern Europe because of imports of vital natural resources from Russia, such as natural gas. Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone for the forward defense of its western borders and ensured its control of the region by transforming the East European countries into stable allies. Soviet troops intervened in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and cited the Brezhnev Doctrine, the Soviet counterpart to the U.S. Johnson Doctrine and later Nixon Doctrine, and helped oust the Czechoslovak government in 1968, sometimes referred to as the Prague Spring. In the late 1950s, a confrontation with China led to the Sino-Soviet split and a tense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The KGB (Committee for State Security), served in a fashion as the Soviet counterpart to both the FBI and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in the U.S. It ran a massive network of informants throughout the Soviet Union, which was used to monitor violations in law. The foreign wing of the KGB was used to gather intelligence in countries around the globe. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was replaced in Russia by the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service). The KGB was not without substantial oversight. The GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), not publicized by Russia until the end of the Soviet era during perestroika, was created by Lenin in 1918 and served both as a centralized handler of military intelligence and as an institutional check-and-balance for the otherwise relatively unrestricted power of the KGB. Effectively, it served to spy on the spies, and, not surprisingly, the KGB served a similar function with the GRU. As with the KGB, the GRU operated in nations around the world, particularly in Soviet bloc and client states. The GRU continues to operate in Russia today, with resources estimated by some to exceed those of the SVR [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/] [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/svr/c103-gb.htm]. military intelligence]] In the 1970s, the Soviet Union achieved rough nuclear parity with the United States. It perceived its own involvement as essential to the solution of any major international problem. Meanwhile, the Cold War gave way to Détente and a more complicated pattern of international relations in which the world was no longer clearly split into two clearly opposed blocs. Less powerful countries had more room to assert their independence, and the two superpowers were partially able to recognize their common interest in trying to check the further spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons (see SALT I, SALT II, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty). By this time, the Soviet Union had concluded friendship and cooperation treaties with a number of states in the non-communist world, especially among Third World and Non-Aligned Movement states like India and Egypt. Notwithstanding some ideological obstacles, Moscow advanced state interests by gaining military footholds in strategically important areas throughout the Third World. Furthermore, the Soviet Union continued to provide military aid for revolutionary movements in the Third World. For all these reasons, Soviet foreign policy was of major importance to the non-communist world and helped determine the tenor of international relations. Although myriad bureaucracies were involved in the formation and execution of Soviet foreign policy, the major policy guidelines were determined by the Politburo of the Communist Party. The foremost objectives of Soviet foreign policy had been the maintenance and enhancement of national security and the maintenance of hegemony over Eastern Europe. Relations with the United States and Western Europe were also of major concern to Soviet foreign policy makers, and relations with individual Third World states were at least partly determined by the proximity of each state to the Soviet border and to Soviet estimates of its strategic significance. When Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary of the CPSU in 1985, it signalled a dramatic change in Soviet foreign policy. Gorbachev pursued conciliatory policies toward the West instead of maintaining the Cold War status quo. The Soviet Union ended its occupation of Afghanistan, signed strategic arms reduction treaties with the United States, and allowed its allies in Eastern Europe to determine their own affairs. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December, 1991, the Russian Federation claimed to be the legal successor to the Soviet state on the international stage despite its loss of superpower status. Russian foreign policy repudiated Marxism-Leninism as a guide to action, soliciting Western support for capitalist reforms in post-Soviet Russia.

Republics

Russian Federation)]] The Soviet Union was a federation of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR). The first Republics were established shortly after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time, republics were technically independent from one another but their governments acted in closely coordinated confederation, as directed by the CPSU leadership. In 1922, four Republics (Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belarusian SSR, and Transcaucasian SFSR) joined into the Soviet Union. Between 1922 and 1940, the number of Republics grew to sixteen. Some of the new Republics were formed from territories acquired, or reacquired by the Soviet Union, others by splitting existing Republics into several parts. The criteria for establishing new republics were as follows: # to be located on the periphery of the Soviet Union so as to be able to exercise their alleged right to secession; # be economically strong enough to survive on their own upon secession; and # be named after the dominant ethnic group which should consist of at least one million people. The system remained almost unchanged after 1940. No new Republics were established. One republic, Karelo-Finnish SSR, was disbanded in 1956. The remaining 15 republics lasted until 1991. Secession remained theoretical, and very unlikely, given Soviet centralism, until the 1991 collapse of the Union. At that time, the republics became independent countries, with some still loosely organized under the heading Commonwealth of Independent States. Some republics had common history and geographical regions, and were referred by group names. These were Baltic Republics, Transcaucasian Republics, and Central Asian Republics. In its final state, the Soviet Union consisted of the following republics. (See Republics of the Soviet Union for the list and timeline of other Union republics that existed over time.)

Economy

Republics of the Soviet Union power stations in the Soviet Union]] Prior to its collapse, the Soviet Union had the largest centrally directed economy in the world. The government established its economic priorities through central planning, a system under which administrative decisions rather than the market determined resource allocation and prices. Since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the country grew from a largely underdeveloped peasant society with minimal industry to become the second largest industrial power in the world. According to Soviet statistics, the country's share in world industrial production grew from 4 percent to 20 percent between 1913 and 1980. Although many Western analysts considered these claims to be inflated, the Soviet achievement remained remarkable. Recovering from the calamitous events of World War II, the country's economy had maintained a continuous though uneven rate of growth. Living standards, although still modest for most inhabitants by Western standards, had improved. Although these past achievements were impressive, in the mid-1980s Soviet leaders faced many problems. Production in the consumer and agricultural sectors was often inadequate (see Agriculture of the Soviet Union and shortage economy). Crises in the agricultural sector reaped catastrophic consequences in the 1930s, when collectivization met widespread resistance from the kulaks, resulting in a bitter struggle of many peasants against the authorities, famine, particularly in Ukraine, but also in the Volga River area and Kazakhstan. In the consumer and service sectors, a lack of investment resulted in black markets in some areas. black market] In addition, since the 1970s, the growth rate had slowed substantially. Extensive economic development, based on vast inputs of materials and labor, was no longer possible; yet the productivity of Soviet assets remained low compared with other major industrialized countries. Product quality needed improvement. Soviet leaders faced a fundamental dilemma: the strong central controls that had traditionally guided economic development had failed to promote the creativity and productivity urgently needed in a highly developed, modern economy. Conceding the weaknesses of their past approaches in solving new problems, the leaders of the late 1980s were seeking to mold a program of economic reform to galvanize the economy. The leadership, headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, was experimenting with solutions to economic problems with an openness (glasnost) never before seen in the history of the economy. One method for improving productivity appeared to be a strengthening of the role of market forces. Yet reforms in which market forces assumed a greater role would signify a lessening of authority and control by the planning hierarchy. Assessing developments in the economy was difficult for Western observers. The country contained enormous economic and regional disparities. Yet analyzing statistical data broken down by region was a cumbersome process. Furthermore, Soviet statistics themselves might have been of limited use to Western analysts because they are not directly comparable with those used in Western countries. The differing statistical concepts, valuations, and procedures used by communist and noncommunist economists made even the most basic data, such as the relative productivity of various sectors, difficult to assess.

Geography

The Soviet Union occupied the eastern portion of the European continent and the northern portion of the Asian continent. Most of the country was north of 50° north latitude and covered a total area of approximately 22,402,200 square kilometres. Due to the sheer size of the state, the climate varied greatly from subtropical and continental to subarctic and polar. 11 percent of the land was arable, 16 percent was meadows and pasture, 41 percent was forest and woodland, and 32 percent was declared "other" (including tundra). The Soviet Union measured some 10,000 kilometers from Kaliningrad on the Gulf of Gdańsk in the west to Ratmanova Island (Big Diomede Island) in the Bering Strait, or roughly equivalent to the distance from Edinburgh, Scotland, east to Nome, Alaska. From the tip of the Taymyr Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean to the Central Asian town of Kushka near the Afghan border extended almost 5,000 kilometers of mostly rugged, inhospitable terrain. The east-west expanse of the continental United States would easily fit between the northern and southern borders of the Soviet Union at their extremities.

Demographics and society

The Soviet Union was one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, with more than 150 distinct ethnic groups within its borders. The total population was estimated at 293 million in 1991. The majority of the population were Russians (50.78%), followed by Ukrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%). After all Soviet republics gained independence, Russia remained the largest country in the world by area, and still remains one of the most ethnically diverse.

Nationalities

The extensive multinational empire that the Bolsheviks inherited after their revolution was created by Tsarist expansion over some four centuries. Some nationality groups came into the empire voluntarily, others were brought in by force. Generally, the Russians and most of the non-Russian subjects of the empire shared little in common—culturally, religiously, or linguistically. More often than not, two or more diverse nationalities were collocated on the same territory. Therefore, national antagonisms built up over the years not only against the Russians but often between some of the subject nations as well. For seventy years, Soviet leaders had maintained that frictions between the many nationalities of the Soviet Union had been eliminated and that the Soviet Union consisted of a family of nations living harmoniously together. However, the national ferment that shook almost every corner of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s proved that seventy years of communist rule had failed to obliterate national and ethnic differences and that traditional cultures and religions would reemerge given the slightest opportunity. This reality facing Gorbachev and his colleagues meant that, short of relying on the traditional use of force, they had to find alternative solutions in order to prevent the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The concessions granted national cultures and the limited autonomy tolerated in the union republics in the 1920s led to the development of national elites and a heightened sense of national identity. Subsequent repression and Russianization fostered resentment against domination by Moscow and promoted further growth of national consciousness. National feelings were also exacerbated in the Soviet multinational state by increased competition for resources, services, and jobs.

Religious groups

linguistically]] The state was separated from church by the Decree of Council of People's Comissars 1918 January 23. Official figures on the number of religious believers in the Soviet Union were not available in 1989. But according to various Soviet and Western sources, over one-third of the people in the Soviet Union, an officially atheistic state, professed religious belief. Christianity and Islam had the most believers. Christians belonged to various churches: Orthodox, which had the largest number of followers; Catholic; and Baptist and various other Protestant sects. There were many churches in the c