World of tanks 8.5 - the T-80 Light tank

Now now calm down please! We are talking about the T-80 LIGHT tank, not the T-80 MBT!

Its the natural progression of the T-60 and T-70 light tanks, ending in this tier 4.

The T-80  should be more of the same, but bigger. First and most important difference - 3rd crew member. That can mess up people who thought of keeping the same 2 man crew - you get a gunner in that thing and a bigger turret. Needless to say that means it will likely house bigger guns - the 57mm ZyS should be the top cannon. Apart from that, its slightly bigger than the T-70, but with the same top speed of 45kmph and engine. Maneuverability of the whole series (T-60 T-70 T-80) is quite questionable.


The armor schematic, if this photo is true to it is again where the fun begins.

















With the front being UFP 35mm at 60% and 45mm at 30% LFP its neither good, nor bad. You certainly won't impress a Panzer 3.  Side armor features a bit of spaced armor, 25mm thick that can be a life saver but otherwise its not impressive.

Now the turret though, is decent - The frontal turret is by the looks of it 60-70mm thick and well sloped.

All this turns the T-80 into a strange vehicle. The extra armor won't help much, though it might be able to hull down quite well - the tank is fairly short 2.2 meters, compared to 2.5 for Panzer III and Matilda. It certainly won't be a speed freak, which leaves its use questionable if you are dropped into a higher tier game.