The T-62 is a main battle tank, a further development of the T-55 series. Its 115 mm gun was the start of a long line of Soviet and Russian mass-produced smoothbore tank guns.
The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be manufactured in the Soviet Union and elsewhere after T-62 production was halted. The T-62 was later replaced in front-line service by the T-72.
By the late 1950s, Soviet commanders realized that the T-55's 100 mm gun was incapable of penetrating the frontal armor of newer Western tanks like the Centurion and M48 Patton with standard armor-piercing shells. While 100 mm HEAT ammo could have accomplished the task, they were considerably more expensive and required more training of tank crews for proper use. It was decided to up-gun the T-55 with a 115 mm smoothbore cannon, capable of firing APFSDS rounds. Experimental trials showed that the T-55 was inherently unsuited to mount the larger new cannon, and work therefore began on a new tank. The bigger gun required a bigger turret and turret ring to absorb the higher recoil. This in turn necessitated a larger hull, as the T-55 hull was simply too small to accept the new turret. The T-62 thus took shape, marking an evolutionary improvement upon the T-55.
Nikomu nikto ne vinovat
Kazhdoi luzhe po svoyei lune
Tol'ko bol'she net koordinat
Na kotoryh ty naidyoshsya mne
(No one can blame anyone
The moon is reflected in each puddle
There are no more coordinates
That I can use to find you)
Ya uzhe ne tam a ty ne zdes'
Razminulish' glupo oblaka*
Obez'yanka, ty poka chto yest' **
Obez'yanka, ya zhiva poka
(I'm still not there and you're not here
The clouds foolishly miss each other
A monkey, you are for now
Monkey, and I'm alive for now)
Moya veselaya
Moya smeshnaya bol'
Ya obez'yanka-nol'
Ty obez'yanka-nol'
(You're my cheerful pain,
You're my funny pain
I'm Monkey Number Zero
You're Monkey Number Zero)
Chestnyh psihov mozhno ne lechit'
Ne otpustit ni tebe ni mne
S etoi grusti nam ne soskochit'
Obez'yanki budut zhit' v tyur'me
(Honest pyschos don't need healing
Neither of us will be set free
We can't give up this anguish
Monkeys will live in prison)
Obez'yanki budut zhit v tyur'me
Vsem lyubov', a obez'yankam grust'
Obez'yanka ty prisnishsya mne
Obez'yanka ya tebe prisnyus'
(Monkeys will live in prison
Love for everyone and anguish for monkeys
You're the monkey in my dreams
Monkey - I'll be in your dreams)
Moya veselaya
Moya smeshnaya bol'
Ya obez'yanka nol'
Ty obez'yanka-nol'
(You're my cheerful pain,
You're my funny pain
I'm Monkey Number Zero
You're Monkey Number Zero)
Moya veselaya
Moya smeshnaya bol'
Ya obez'yanka nol'
Ty obez'yanka-nol'
(You're my cheerful pain,
You're my funny pain
I'm Monkey Number Zero