T-64 Battle Tank Book Review
By Davd L. Veres
| Date of Review | March 2016 | Title | T-64 Battle Tank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Steven J. Zaloga | Publisher | Osprey Publishing |
| Published | 2015 | ISBN | 9781472806284 |
| Format | 48 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $17.95 |
Review
Respected researcher Steven J. Zaloga calls the T-64 “the most influential Soviet tank design of the Cold War”.
“It dominated Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian tank design until the present day”.
Now Zaloga recaps the “brilliant but flawed” vehicle in T-64 Battle Tank: The Cold War’s Most Secret Tank – 223 in Osprey’s “New Vanguard” range.
One of “the most revolutionary tank designs of the Cold War”, it proved smaller and lighter than most Western counterparts – yet provided the firepower and armor protection of heavy tanks.
The vehicle pioneered advanced composite armor and guided tank projectiles – and introduced innovations like a three-man crew and auto-loader.
Text traverses the T-64’s fascinating development, political intrigues, torturous gestation, armament iterations and limited combat use. Familiar personalities – like Aleksandr Morozov, Nikita Krushchev, Dmitri Ustinov and Andrei Grechko – play leading roles. And coverage includes derivative and experimental variants.
Photos, extended captions, color plates, charts, bibliographic comments and index augment the account. Just one nitpick: I’d love FS equivalents or approximates for KhS-5146 colors.
Robustly recommended!
My sincere thanks to Osprey Publishing for this review sample!