Russian Tank Stabilisers

Russian tanks have had several developments; one of them being their stabilisation systems. Due to not enough information, the page will only be covering stabilisers used on medium/main battle tanks (for now), so ignore the 2E16. It's not going to help.

Sources: Alternate WarsTankograd T-72 Part 1WikipediaTankograd T-62

STP-1 "Gorisont" vertical-plane hydraulic stabiliser (1954/55)
The STP-1 was the stabiliser that was equipped on the T-54A (1954/55) tank, the further development of the T-54-3 tank. Gun was redesignated to D-10TG.

STP-2  "Siklon/Tsyklon" two-plane hydraulic stabiliser (1957)
The STP-2 was the stabiliser used on the further developed T-54B (1957) and T-55 series tanks. The D-10 was redesignated to D-10T2S.

Traverse
Horizontal: Max 15 dp/s

STP-2 "Siklon-M/Tskylon-M" two-plane hydraulic stabiliser (mid-1960s)

Minor modification made and used on the T-54M (Object 137M), a T-54-2 with the ZET-1 protection system.

Motor torque:
(Stabilising)
- While traverse: 931 Nm
- While elevating: 245 Nm

Service life: 250 hours warrantied

"Siklon-M1/Tsyklon" two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Used on the 1987 T-55M (Object 155M) tank.

2E15 "Meteor" two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Used on the Object 165, later made into the T-62/T-62A tank. Mashup of the STP-2 and 2E12 "Liven"

Traverse
Vertical: Min (no more than) 0.07 dp/s, max (no less than) 4.5 dp/s
Horizontal: 
Min (no more than) 0.07 dp/s, max (no less than) 4.5 dp/s
(TRADOC Bulletin 10): Max 18 dp/s (20 seconds)
(Техника и Вооружение):
Horizontal
Automatic:
Min 0.07 dp/s, max 17 - 19.6 dp/s depending on weather
Semi-automatic:
Min 0.07 dp/s, max 20 - 25.7 dp/s
Vertical
Both modes: Min 0.07 dp/s, max 4.5 dp/s

The following image details the rotation speeds at inclines.
The image that is directly below shows the rate of rotation at a 30% slope vs rate of rotation on flat ground.
30%: 22 seconds to make a full traverse (16.4 dp/s)
Flat: 20 seconds to make a full traverse (18 dp/s)



The image translates to:
"4.11 Cross slope travel

A 30% cross-slope with a pavement made of molded stone pavement was driven by the ET 06 without difficulty, even when the road surface was damp.

The grip of the chain is sufficient, starting the engine was unproblematic.

It was not possible to swivel the tower by hand against the slope, but it was ensured with the electric lateral directional gear. The time for a 360 ° turn of the tower (turret) was approx. 22s on the sloping slope and approx. 20s on the level.

The Leopard 1 fulfills all requirements for driving on an incline without any restrictions."

The full paper/report can be seen here.

Motor torque:
(Stabilising)
- While traverse: 1860 Nm
- While elevating: 637 Nm

Service life: 375 hours warrantied

Meteor-M
Modernised 2E15, used on the T-62 production models beginning 1972 and retrofitted to some older tanks. It was mainly designed to work alongside the TShS-41U and TShSD-41U sights. Used transistor electronics that replaced the use of vacuum tubes in certain components of the 2E15.

Meteor-M1
Made and used on the T-62M tank. Made to be paired with the "Volna" fire-control system. Used transistor electronics that replaced the use of vacuum tubes in certain components of the 2E15.

The minimum traverse speed was also reduced to 15 degrees per second, with the maximum traverse speed being 16 - 19 degrees per second.

2E23 two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
First stabiliser used on the T-64A

2E26 two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Stabiliser used in the T-64A modernisation in 1971

2E26M
 
two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Stabiliser used in the T-80B, T-64B and T-64BV

2E28M "Lilac" two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Stabiliser used on the T-72 Ural, Ural-1 and T-72A tank.
The stabiliser has two modes: automatic and semi-automatic. Automatic makes sure that it (2E28M) is at full operational ability and will constantly try to keep the gun's impact point aligned with the GPS (gunner primary sight) at all times with maximal precision. This mode is often used at all times.
Semi-automatic is the sort of "emergency" mode where the GPS is no longer an independent standalone module and becomes directly slaved to the gun's traverse. The mode is often used when the stabiliser fails to operate properly or during a hull-down defense situation as the semi-automatic mode has an ever so slight increase in traverse rate.

The 2E28M also seemed to have boasted an exceptionally modern feature - there is no official name for it, so I will be calling it PSS (Point-Stay-Stabilisation). The PSS mode is clearly demonstrated below, and, with the T-72 Ural being accepted for service in 1973, no NATO tank (except the MBT-70 which was supposed to have this feature) until the advent of the Leopard 2 in 1979 had this specific feature.




The stabiliser was often turned off when unused or during non-combat situations.

Utility
Operational start-up time: 2 minutes
Length of continuous operation: 4 hours 

Traverse and operation
Vertical: Min 0.5 dp/s, max 3.5 dp/s
Automatic (horizontal): Min 0.07 dp/s (precise), max 6 dp/s (precise), max 18 dp/s
Semi-automatic (horizontal): Min 0.3 dp/s (precise), max 6 dp/s (precise), max 20 dp/s
According to Steven Zaloga in his
"M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural" book, the 2E28M only worked up to 25 kph on level ground

Build
The 2E28M consisted of approximately 27 independent components, the most important being the (2) vertical drive, (13) turret hydraulic rotation motor, and (11) booster. 
However, all these components, not calling them haphazardly placed, but many were exposed to enemy fire, as only (20) the replenisher fluid container was actually behind the turret armour.






2E28M2 "Lilac"/"Siren" 
two-plane hydraulic stabiliser
Used on the T-64A Obr. 1974, supposed modernisation

2E42-2 "Jasmine" two-plane hydromechanical stabiliser
First hydromechanical stabiliser used on Russian/Soviet tanks. Used on T-72B Obr. 1985 and after

T-90S export passport

2E16
Used on Object 775

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