T-80 light tank

The T-80 was a Soviet light tank designed at the Gorky Automobile Plant, GAZ, in 1943 and 1944 as a further development of the T-70. Its main change was a two-man turret, which freed the commander from also acting as the gunner, together with thicker armour of up to 45 mm and a number of minor mechanical improvements. The tank kept the 45 mm 20K gun of the T-70, a weapon that was already considered underpowered by 1945. Only about 85 were built in 1945, because the Red Army was by then concentrating on medium tanks such as the T-34-85, and the T-80 saw little or no combat before its production was halted. It should not be confused with the much later T-80 main battle tank of 1976, an unrelated design that reused the number.