PT-85

PT-85

EE

ALB

RD

The PT-85 is a prototype armored recon for the Soviet Union, it is an upgrade for the PT-71 and was first introduced in Wargame: European Escalation.

History[]

"PT-85" is the hypothetical designation of Object 906. The success of the PT-76B prompted the development of a more powerful version. The Object 906 retained the same characteristics of the PT-76B: stabilized, amphibious and very light, but with a more powerful 85 mm cannon. The tank carried a total of 40 shells with 8 AP and 32 HE projectiles. The protection was not the most important aspect, but it received enough armour to stop artillery fragments, 14.5 mm shots from 100 m, and it was protected against radioactive and nuclear fallout. While the tank was much superior to the PT-76B, it never went into service in Soviet doctrine, it was deemed to complex to operate and produce en masse, so it was discarded and the PT-76 remained in service instead.

The success of the PT-76 amphibious tank prompted the development of a successor with improved characteristics on the battlefield. The project was in development since 1960 by VgTZ (Volgograd Tractor Plant) under the leadership of I. V. Gavalov. The main purpose of this project was to create a floating tank with a more powerful main cannon than the PT-76B. The vehicle was given the project name Object 906 with the lead designer being Yu. V. Sharin. In total, six prototypes were manufactured at VgTZ from 1961 to 1962, two of which were tested at the NIIBT test site from January to August 1963. The tank was to receive the name PT-85 if it had been adopted for service, however it failed to do so.

The tank had a classic layout scheme with a longitudinal engine located in the hull, a crew of three people and a stabilized 85mm D-58 cannon (not the WW2 antique D-44 in-game) with a autoloader which was paired with a 7.62 mm SGMT. The tank was equipped with a TVN-2B night vision device for the driver, a TKN-2 day-night viewing device alongside with two TNP viewports for the commander and two TNP-165 prismatic viewports for the gunner. The stabilizer used named Zvezda provided a horizontal rotation speed of 0.05 deg/s to 20 deg/s and a vertical rotation speed of 0.05 deg/s to 4.5 deg/s. For firing the main cannon during daytime, a TSh2B-8A telescopic sight was used, and for night-time, a TPN-1 sight was used alongside a L-2A1 infrared illuminator. The autoloader of the gun was designed for 15 shots and used a special control panel to operate, allowing the tank to reach a maximum rate of fire of 14 RPM and a minimum rate of fire of 9 RPM.

The armour protection of the tank consisted of anti-fragmentation welded aluminium alloy ABT-101 plates with a thickness of 8, 12, 20, 25, and 30 mm. The frontal armour consisted of three armour plates, upper plate with a thickness of 20 mm at 77 degrees, middle plate with a thickness of 30 mm at 55 degrees and lower plate with a thickness of 20 mm at 70 degrees and it provided protection against 14.5 mm B-32 rounds from 100 m. In terms of protection in the event of a nuclear war, the tank was equipped with a DP-3 radiometer, devices that close all possible holes to protect the crew from a nuclear explosion shockwave and ventilation necessary to filter out radioactive dust in case the tank was fully sealed.

There were two engines used on this project, the first tank produced with an 8D-6M 221 kW engine and the subsequent tanks with a 221 kW UTD-20 engine with a redesigned engine bay, both of which allowed the vehicle to reach a top speed of 75 km/h while only weighing 15 tons. The transmission of the tank allowed joint and separate operation of the tracks and jet propellers, this allowed the tank to enter and exit the water in any gear, unlike the PT-76B which had to use a low gear.^[1]

Overview[]

European Escalation[]

With a more accurate, more powerful gun, the PT-85 can actually threaten APCs and the ATGMs give some capability against tanks.

Red Dragon[]

The PT-85 is 5 points more expensive than PT-71. Apart from the PT-85 having a more powerful main gun and one additional Side Armor, there is no difference between these two. The range of 1925 meters gives the PT-85 basic armored combat capabilities, but due to its mediocre AP Power and RoF, it will be better for it to be a stationary observation.

Weapons[]

European Escalation[]

Weapons
Type	Main Gun	ATGM	No Weapon
Name	2A62	Malyutka
Caliber	85mm	MCLOS
Ammo	x 20	x 4
Range	Ground = 1925 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m	Ground = 2275 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
Accuracy	6	4
AP Power	4	10
HE Power	3	0
Rate of fire	7 r/min	6 r/min

AirLand Battle[]

Weapons
Type	Main Gun	ATGM	No Weapon
Name	2A62	Malyutka
Caliber	85mm [AoE] [KE]	MCLOS [HEAT] [GUID]
Ammo	x 20	x 4
Range	Ground = 1925 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m	Ground = 2450 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
Accuracy	8	7
AP Power	7	13
HE Power	3	0
Suppression	98	150
Rate of fire	7 r/min	6 r/min

Red Dragon[]

Weapons
Type	Main Gun	ATGM	No Weapon
Name	D44	Malyutka
Caliber	85mm [AoE] [KE]	MCLOS [HEAT] [GUID]
Ammo	x 28	x 4
Range	Ground = 1925 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m	Ground = 2450 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
Accuracy	50%	35%
Stabilizer	20%	N/A
AP Power	9	13
HE Power	3	N/A
Suppression	98	150
Rate of fire	8 r/min	10 s r/min