New Sovietskiy T-80UM3 "Bars" Main Battle Tank:

The T-80UM3 "Bars" is the rebuilt version of the T-80 Main Battle Tank in virtually all of its versions; Despite being a design over half a century old, when the Mega-Damage revolution swept the world, the New Sovietskiy needed combat tanks capable of engaging the latest technical revolutions in combat of the European Union, the United States, the East Asian Bloc (China, a badly weakened India after their war with America earlier in the century, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, and Indonesia.), and Argentina.

Though the mass rebuilding of the T-80s to T-80UM3 standards was expensive, it was considered far cheaper by the Government than designing a whole new tank design. The United States and NATO nations instead developed new designs using older designs as a basis. The big advantage of the new designs was the fact that the new materials were much more durable. The Soviet rebuilding of their old tanks allowed the Government to state that they had the firepower to deal with any enemy.

A quote from Marshall Vladimir Ilonoff a few of decades later was "For every company of Glitter Boys the Capitalists field, we field two regiments of Mega-Damage Main Battle Tanks." He was known as political crony and many Generals preferred the idea of developing a new design. The Marshals quote ignored several items. The United States Congress was all for the development of new Robot Vehicles but the United States Army was far less keen on this idea. Like the Soviets, most American troops and officers preferred tanks over Robot Vehicles. The American Army and Marines loved power armors but they saw them in a different role than heavy armor. The Soviet Military preferred Cyborgs over Powered Armor but the Cyborgs filled the same role.

The major problem was that the upgraded T-80, like most design upgrades which uses the original frame, was a maintenance nightmare due to its ancient basic systems and the old steel frame under the new composites used for the armor. As time went on, many upgraded T-80 tanks were scrapped simply because they were corroded to the point that they were falling apart.

During the new cold war, the T-80UM3 Bars and T-90UM1 theoretically served as a backup to the later designs but in reality were restricted to secondary duties. Most field officers considered the vehicles to be a hollow threat against their Enemies and a sop to the Soviet politicians. The maintaining of the tanks in operational status sapped the Soviet budget and many serving officers say that the tanks could be scrapped and the money put into the construction of new tanks. Soldiers also did not like the tank due to the huge maintenance work they required. A final problem was the power system. The tanks retained the Gas Turbine engine of the original tank while American and NATO tanks converted over to fuel cell systems. The range with the Gas Turbine was less and petroleum products were more expensive to manufacture.

At first, the upgraded T-80 was equipped with the exact same weapons as the original T-80 and the main weapon was retained throughout the entire service career of the tank. There were many changes in the secondary weapons. The 12.7 and 7.62 mm machine-guns were not powerful enough to penetrate most body armors. A temporary partial solution was to replace the top mounted heavy machine-gun with a heavy grenade launcher. The final solution was to replace both weapons with rail guns. Even so, many crews prefer the grenade launcher over the rail guns. As a result, the grenade launcher was retained on many of the old tanks. The crews would remove and hide the grenade launchers when inspections were given.

Because of the huge number of T-80 tanks manufactured and refitted, it survived in large numbers, along with the later designs, after the coming of the Rifts. The design was modified in many ways during their service career. The design was also exported to other nations and many of them still operate the T-80 using the parts of other tanks to keep them operating. Many of them run completely different engines and have had their weapons completely replaced with more modern system. Still, it is believed that time is ending for the ancient tank just like with the American Abrams tank.

Model Type: T-80UM3
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: Three (Driver, Gunner, and Commander).

M.D.C. by Location:
[1] Tractor Treads (2):50 each
Weapons Turret:150
125 mm Smooth-Bore Gun:75
[2] 12.7 mm Turret Mounted Heavy Machine Gun (Early Models):20
[2] Automatic Grenade Launcher (Replaces Heavy Machine-gun):40
[2] 10 mm Heavy Railgun (Replaces Heavy Machine-gun):50
[2] 7.62 Machine Guns (Early Model):10
[2] 5 mm Co-axial Railgun (Replaces Medium Machine-gun):25
Multi-Option Jammers (2):25
[3] Main Body:280

Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until it is replaced. Replacing a tread will take 1D6x10 minutes by a trained crew (2 replacements are carried on board) or three times as long by the inexperienced. Changing the tread is only advisable when the vehicle is not under attack.
[2] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a "called shot," but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[3] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and is unsalvageable.

Speed:
Ground: 49.7 mph (80 kph) maximum road speed; 37.3 mph (60 kph) maximum off-road speed. The vehicle is designed to traverse virtually all terrain and can climb at up to a 60% grade although at a much slower speed (About 10% of maximum road speed). It can also climb barriers and ford trenches. The vehicle can also handle side slopes of up to 30%.
Underwater: Can be equipped with snorkel to run underwater down to 16.4 feet (5.0 meters)
Maximum Range: 341.7 miles (550 km) plus up to 155 miles (250 km) more with a large strap-on rear fuel tank that is ejected before going into battle.

Statistical Data:
Height: 7.22 feet (2.2 meters) to top of commander's cupola.
Width: 11.15 feet (3.4 meters)
Length: 32.48 feet (9.9 meters) with gun forward; 24.28 feet (7.4 meters) for just the hull/main body of the tank.
Weight: 49 tons (44.45 metric tons) fully loaded
Power Source: Gas Turbine Engine.
Cargo Capacity: Minimal, enough for equipment with crew
Black Market Cost: 2.0 million credits was the production price originally; Remaining tanks sell for double that. If fitted, any extra weapons systems will add to the cost of the tank; T-80s are usually found very heavily modified, though they are quite common. Tank crews often personalize them with their pay in the armies of the assorted warlords to be considerably different from these Soviet-Era specifications. T-80UM3s (Normally simply called "T-80s") still in the service of the New Sovietski, however, follow these specifications for the most part.

Weapon Systems:

  1. 125 mm Smooth Bore Cannon/Missile Launcher: Mounted in the turret. The T-80UM3 enjoys a +2 to strike for the main gun using the laser targeting sight (not for the ATGMs). The T-80UM3 can also fire the AT-20 ATGW through the 125 mm gun; Truly a multi-purpose weapon that is considerably effective against enemy armor and robots alike. Plasma rounds are a late pre-Rifts innovation and are rare and expensive.
    Maximum Effective Range: Direct fire range is 6,561 feet (2,000 meters). Has a quadrant site that allows the Sabot (APSD) rounds to be fired indirectly out to 30,839 feet (9,400 meters). Range for missiles varies with short range missile type; Usually Armor Piercing are carried (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Mega-Damage: (HE): 1D6x10 with a blast radius of 20 ft. (HEAT): 2D6x10, blast radius of 10 ft. (AP): 2D4x10+10 (APSD): 3D4x10. (PLASMA): 4D4x10+5, blast radius of 20 ft. Mega-Damage for missiles is as per short missile type; almost always Armor Piercing (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Rate of Fire: Twice per melee.
    Payload: 40 gun rounds; Usually 9 HE, 9 HEAT, 9 AP, 9 APSD, and 4 Plasma. 5 HE, 5 HEAT, 5 AP, 7 APSD, and 2 Plasma are stored in the carrousel; The remaining sixteen rounds require two minutes (Eight melee rounds) by an untrained crew to load into the carrousel, and only one minute (Four melee rounds) by a trained crew. An additional round can be stored, ready to fire, in the main gun. If they are availible, this is usually a plasma round so that the tank can deal with a surprise attack of any type. With the exception of the New Sovietski, most powers in Russia have extremely limited supplies of Plasma rounds; Substitute them for one more each of the other types of rounds, and if a round is carried in the barrel, it will probably be HEAT. Six AT-20 ATGWs; These are essentially a surface to surface version of the standard Rifts short range missile. Armor piercing versions are standard, though plasma and even fusion versions were made. Four are stored in the carrousel; The other two are counted in the reload times for the carrousel above.
    Bonuses: +2 to strike at all times with cannon shells from the laser sight; No penalties to fire when vehicle is moving. APSD shells have a +4 bonus for long range fire from the Quadrant sight, but only when the vehicle is not moving. No Bonuses for firing the AT-20s.
  2. Top Weapon Mount (1): The tank has a spindle to mount a weapon on the top of the turret which is normally controlled by the commander of the tank. The weapon is designed for use against troops assaulting the tank and against aircraft. Originally the weapon carried was the 12.7 millimeter NSV Machine-gun but the weapon was replaced by a variety of different weapons. The grenade launcher was the favorite replacement weapon by many vehicle crews.
    1. 12.7 millimeter NSV Machine-gun: While the Soviet military was able to replace the armor of the tank with stronger materials, initially there were no suitable weapons developed for the tank. The best that could be done was to develop new ammunition for the standard machine-gun. The weapon was soon found to be ineffective and was replaced by more powerful weapons.
      Maximum Effective Range: 3,000 feet (914.4 meters)
      Mega-Damage: Single shot does 1D4 and 40 round burst does 5D6.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner (commander).
      Payload: 400 rounds (10 bursts).
    2. ATR-50 Automatic Grenade Launcher: Weapon is very similar to the WI-GL21 Automatic Grenade Launcher produced by Wellington Industries and the American Automatic Grenade Launcher operated around the same time but uses a larger grenade and is heavier in design. Weapon was used in vehicles as well as being used in tripod mounts and used by power armors. Weapon can fire single shot or bursts of ten rounds and can inflict heavy damage when burst fired. Unlike the American design, the Soviet automatic grenade launcher only used belts. The tank normally mounted two belts together to increase number of rounds to 400 rounds. It is believed that the Soviets tank crews saw the effectiveness of the M1A5 equipped with this weapon so they decide to replace their heavy machine-gun with this weapon. This mount was never officially mounted on the tank but was very common none-the-less. This weapon remained very popular with tank crews and was not replaced in many of the tanks which carried it. Officially, all mounts were suppose to be replaced by the 10 mm Railgun.
      Maximum Effective Range: 3,000 feet (914 meters)
      Mega-Damage: 3D6 for Fragmentation with a blast area of 12 ft and 5D6 for Armor Piercing with a blast area of 3 ft, burst of 10 rounds does 2D4x10 for Fragmentation with a blast area of 40 ft and 2D6x10 for Armor Piercing with a blast area of 8 ft. Other special rounds are available.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner (commander) - Single Shot or Ten round bursts.
      Payload: 400 Round Double Belt.
    3. 10 millimeter GSR-10 Heavy Railgun: The Soviet military was unable to make an effective liquid propellant weapon and instead developed, some say stole, a rail gun design for their existing vehicles. It replaced the 12.7 mm machine-gun in most vehicles although some with the grenade launcher retained that weapon instead. The mount was redesigned so that it can be controlled from within the turret.
      Maximum Effective Range: 4,920 feet (1,500 meters)
      Mega Damage: Single shot does 2D4 and 20 round burst does 1D6x10+10
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: 1200 rounds (60 bursts).
  3. Light Secondary Mount (1): Weapon is Co-axially mounted with the main gun. The original 7.62 long Russian round, while longer and more powerful than the standard Soviet 7.62 Kalishikov round was still considered under powered by most crews. Several officers attempted to convince the government to mount a 14.5 mm heavy machine but the heavy weapon was not adopted. Eventually, the weapon was replaced by a medium rail gun but many crews still preferred a heavy rail gun.
    1. 7.62 mm PKT Medium Machine-guns (1): Carried on the original T-80 Tank and while underpowered was not replaced until a 5 mm rail gun was developed in the second half of the twenty first century. The American Abrams quickly replaced their medium machine-guns with liquid propellant weapons. While special ammunition was developed, the crews of the tanks still greatly disliked this weapon.
      Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 meters)
      Mega Damage: One round does 1 M.D.C. to M.D.C. targets or 3D6x10 S.D.C. to soft targets. Twenty round bursts do 2D4 M.D.C.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: Carries 12,500 rounds for the Coaxial mount
    2. 5 millimeter GSR-05 Medium Railgun: Finally developed as a replacement for the medium machine-gun. It was much prefered by tank crews but was still considered underpowered compared to other tank mounts.
      Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 meters)
      Mega Damage: One round does 1D4 M.D.C. to M.D.C. targets or 6D6x10 S.D.C. to soft targets. Twenty round bursts do 4D6 M.D.C.; Forty round full bursts do 1D4x10
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: Carries 4,000 rounds total (100 full bursts or 200 half-bursts)
  4. Multi-Option "Shtora-8" Jammers (2): These are multi-purpose jamming devices designed to stop incoming missiles and confuse an enemy targeting the T-80U-M2.
    Effect: Each firing launches two Chaff rockets, two Flare rockets, and the tank begins emitting a large cloud of smoke, both standard and Anti-Laser Prismatic aerosol ; The Chaff rockets detonate and spread Chaff over the area, the flare rockets floating down by parachute; Effects last for one minute (4 Melee rounds.) The Chaff rockets have a 20% chance of interfering with the course of enemy missiles each (40%, total) that are radar guided so that they miss the tank. The flares have the same percentages, except with IR-guided missiles. The Anti-Laser prismatic aerosol reduces damage by half for any laser beam striking the tank (With the exception of X-ray lasers but not variable frequency lasers; X-Ray lasers suffer no damage modifiers, and variable frequency lasers simply cannot compensate for the variables involved), and adds a +4 difficulty to targeting the tank with a laser guidance system or visually.
    Rate of Fire: Usually once every four melee rounds; Effects are not cumulative.
    Maximum Effective Range: Around tank only; Rough distance of 80 ft (24 m) around tank.
    Payload: Sufficient for ten firings; One of each type of jamming option from each side of the vehicle.

Sensors:

Special Notes:

[New Navy, New Sovietskiy, and TRIAX are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

Initial Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).

Reformatted and Rewritten by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 2000, 2002, & 2009, Kitsune & Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.

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