#11 — T-54/T-55: The Most Produced Tank in Human History
Between the Soviet Union, China, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania, over 100,000 T-54/T-55 tanks were produced — more than all other tank designs in history combined. At the Cold War's peak, more than 50 nations fielded T-54/T-55 variants on every continent except Antarctica.
The T-54/T-55's 100mm D-10T rifled gun could penetrate 185mm of armor at 1,000 meters, and the tank's hemispherical turret — a masterpiece of Soviet foundry work — offered excellent ballistic protection from 200mm of cast armor. The T-55 added NBC protection, a rotating turret floor, and increased ammo stowage. These tanks fought in the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, Vietnam, Angola, Ethiopia, Iran-Iraq, both Gulf Wars, and virtually every Cold War proxy conflict. Many are still in service today — Vietnam, Cuba, and several African nations continue to operate upgraded T-55s. The T-54/T-55 family is to armored warfare what the AK-47 is to infantry combat: not the most sophisticated, but the most prolific, the most combat-tested, and the most consequential piece of military equipment ever built in its category.
