The T-80U ("U" for uluchsheniye meaning "improvement) appeared in 1985 as a development of the basic T-80 gas turbine equipped Soviet tank from the end of the 70's. It was equipped with a more powerful GTD-1250 gas turbine that can use jet fuels, diesel and low-octane gasoline and had a good dynamic stability, service life and reliability. It also received a 2A46 fire control system in a new turret and was protected by Kontakt-5 second generation explosive reactive armour. In 1995, the Buran thermal imaging sight was installed in place of the Luna IR.
One of my favorite Soviet/Russian tank, I tried for a long time to get the T-80U kit from Modelcollect and, when I finally got it, I had to wait a long time before finding the time to tackle it. This kit is certainly a very good base but leaves the door open to improvements and modifications. I finally improved the rear generator and the fuel arrival, remade the wiring on the turret, replaced the Luna projector by a thermal system, added the supports for the external machine gun, replaced the awful NSVT from the kit by 2 copies from Best Resins, replaced the auxiliary tanks and the smoke dischargers by those from SG-Modelling, added the towing cables and their ties. I am very satisfied with the result and the 3 tones camo painting tired by a winter in the field.
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