• weapons
• weapon-and-fire control system
• mobility
• protection

T-55AGM - mobility

T-55AGM battle tank

Power pack with 5TDFM engine

The power pack that is offered for installation in the upgraded tanks, is based on the 5TDFM engine developing 850 hp. This power pack is designed and made as a separate module that is to be welded instead of the cut-out rear part of the hull.

The engine is a two-stroke multi-fuel diesel with direct flow scavenging, liquid-type cooling, horizontal cylinders and boxing pistons. The engine can burn various types of fuel including diesel fuel, petrol, kerosene, jet engine fuel or their mixture in any proportion.

Power is taken from both sides of the crankshaft. The engine is mounted by means of two cylindrical supports (which are coaxial with the power take-off shaft and are located at the ends of the engine) and a front support (which is located on the lower surface of the engine). This way of engine mounting requires no adjustment nor centering when installing the engine in the power pack (while both adjustment and centering are required in the standard version of the tank).

The main distinctive features of the power pack with 5TDFM engine include the following:

• ejector-type cooling system
• high-efficiency air cleaning system of the engine
• special air inlet device enabling the tank to ford to a water depth of 1.8 m and high air/water tightness of the power pack compartment.

The cooling system is of liquid type, closed, forced, ejector-type. The ejector of the cooling system is operated by using the engine exhaust gas. Absence of a fan and drive reducer made it possible to considerably decrease the weight of the cooling system as well as ensuring a high level of reliability and self-control and enabling the tank to operate at high ambient temperatures without any degradation of performance.

The high-efficiency cyclone-cassette air cleaner provides purification of air from dust up to 99.8 %.

The modernisation results in the following:

• increase of average speed on natural soil road of up to 22%
• ability to operate at ambient air temperatures of up to + 55 degrees Centigrade
• ability to operate under dust conditions for 35 hours or 1000 km without the need for air cleaner cassette maintenance
• ability to ford to a water depth of 1.8 m without preparation.

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 2-STROKE 5TDFM ENGINE

The tank is fitted with a specific multiple reverse speed transmission and a vehicle movement control system, which have the following design peculiarities (if compared with the original T-55 tank):

• transmission consists of two side planetary gearboxes (with six forward gears and one reverse gear, with friction-type switching-on and hydraulic control) and multiple reverse speed final drives (coaxial with the gearbox). The final drives provide additional three reverse gears and consist of two planetary rows with transmission ratio і=4.8 for forward movement and і=3.8 for reverse movement
• electrical mechanical hydraulic vehicle movement control system ensures automated gear shifting and steering by means of a steering handlebar control.

The above-mentioned peculiarities made it possible to enhance the mobility and steering performance of the T-55AGM in comparison with the original T-55 tank as follows:

• maximum forward speed on hard surface road increased up to 70 km/h instead of original 50 km/h (на 40%)
• 3 additional reverse gears made it possible to increase the reverse speed up to 30 km/h instead of the original 6 km/h (by 5 times)
• in distinction from the T-55 tank, which provides a minimum turning radius in 1th gear only around the braked track, the T-55AGM tank movement control system makes it possible either to turn around the braked track or to pivot (depending on the value of shifting the steering control).

Running gear

Modernisation of the T-55 tank running gear made it possible to increase its mobility by means of increasing the average speeds of movement in cross-country. This was achieved by fitting the tank with more powerful hydraulic shock absorbers and improved torsion bars.

In order to decrease the vibrations of the track when moving cross-country at higher speeds, the tank is fitted with track support rollers.

Ходовая часть модернизированного танка Т-55АГМ, гусеницы с асфальтоходными башмаками