T-55

The T-55 is a Soviet medium tank, an incremental development of the earlier T-54 introduced into service in 1958, refining the T-54's 100mm main gun, sloped armor and low profile with improvements including an upgraded engine, a nuclear-hardened ventilation system reflecting Cold War fears of atomic battlefield use, and increased ammunition and fuel capacity. It became one of the most widely produced tanks in history, manufactured in the tens of thousands across the Soviet Union and under license in other Warsaw Pact and allied countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland and China, and it was exported in enormous numbers to client states and allied forces around the world throughout the Cold War. The T-55 saw combat in numerous conflicts across the Middle East, Africa and Asia from the 1960s onward, and though long obsolete against modern main battle tanks, upgraded and refurbished T-55s remained in active service with a number of countries' armed forces into the twenty-first century simply because of their enormous numbers and low cost relative to newer designs.