I don’t really like to write, and, to be honest, I often don’t have enough time, but I somehow “hooked” one of the comments: a person, commenting on an article about the T-64 tank, called him “unpretentious”.
T-64 in the GDR, 1980s
A bit of background. End of the 80s. I am a lieutenant, a graduate of the Kharkov Guards Tank, was assigned to the GSVG. Who does not know - that was the name of our troops on the territory of part of Germany - the GDR.
It just so happened that after a series of distributions, he got into the 221st Guards Separate Border Protection Regiment, which was armed with T-64AM tanks. My battalion was a "courtier" battalion, since it was located together with the regiment's headquarters in a military town near the town of Ludwigslust. In the future, the reader will understand what the "court" has to do with it …
But let us return to "unpretentiousness", especially since I will lead the story from the point of view of an observer. Why an observer? Because the main character of my story will not be me, but "one of the legends" of my battalion, the deputy commander of a tank company for armaments - a senior lieutenant. Let's call him Vadim by the name of Yadritsev.
Vadim was truly a legend. A classy specialist who studied the T-64 not only theoretically, but, more importantly, practically. He knew how to disassemble and repair a 5TDF engine in the field! Believe me, this is a very difficult task, since such work is not even negotiated by the manufacturer, only in army rem. workshops, and here in an open field, in a line company … In short, he was very much appreciated. And he very often provided assistance to everyone who was suddenly confused by the T-64 tank, and his advice was always accurate, to the point and, most importantly, effective.
All Vadim's "troubles" began after one of his business trips to the tank repair plant in Kehmeiser, from where he brought a new and, most importantly, "unaccounted for" 5TDF engine. The value of this acquisition was difficult to overestimate, since it was rare for a battalion to enter an exercise that it ended without engine breakdowns, and its cost was significant, and cash deductions for unscheduled repairs were not uncommon. So having an engine in reserve is the dream of many commanders of T-64 units. And since it was impossible to bring and hide the engine just like that, there were a lot of witnesses, and the deputy very quickly found out about such a "profit". the commander of the armament of the regiment and the beginning. armored service of the regiment, and they considered that it was beyond the order of the company to own such "wealth" and began, let's say, a campaign to "force a voluntary surrender." Officially, they did not want to act, as they perfectly understood that any official action could have many negative consequences - primarily against themselves.
Here it is, the negative side of the "court" position, all the time "in front of our eyes and within walking distance." Vadim's company began to "spread rot", she especially got it for the fact that one of the tanks of the combat training group was "gasping for breath", but before the overhaul he was oh, how far away, and his engine "wanted the best", in spite of any "worries "Vadim. It's just that they managed to overheat it a couple of times, and as a result, from the category of "capricious" it became "unbearably capricious" … And this "panzer" (as we called tanks in the German manner at that time, let's call it "126") became a "battlefield »For the new 5TDF engine.
The stages of this battle are as follows. At the direction of the ZVK of the regiment, the NBTS began to plan "126" for all practical exercises, and for the absence of a combat vehicle and the disruption of practical exercises at that time, certainly no one stroked the head, but "they took off their hair along with the head and shoulder straps …" So Vadim had two prospects: to agree that the "unaccounted" engine was the property of the regiment, or to ensure the output of "126" to classes. He decided to fight, and as a result provided the entire personnel of the regiment, at that moment in the park, indelible impressions and a topic of conversation for two hours.
The signal for the start of the "show" was the start of the "126" heater, which warmed up the tank's engine for about half an hour. During this time, the "spectators" tried to take the best places in the "smoking rooms", since they were located just not far from the parking of the combat training group's tanks.
What have we seen? The disposition is as follows. Tank, T-64 - in its regular place, mech.-water. represented by his head, sticking out of the hatch and devouring Vadim's gaze, near the right steering wheel - Vadim himself, but there he only paused to give a command and, apparently, to rest a little, since all the main time he was cruising from the bow to the stern of the tank for visual control of the process of starting the engine. Behind Vadim, at a safe distance, stood the tank commander and gunner. At a safe distance - that is, at a distance at which Vadim could not immediately reach them, otherwise they could "get nuts" for the sluggishness of the mech.-water, especially the tank commander …
Well, here the heater “howls” its endless song, Vadim is now interested in the thermometer readings from the mech.-water, then he is already near the stern, by some of his own signs he is trying to assess the “warmth” and readiness of the engine to start. Well, like "the stars converged", the command comes: "Wilderness." The heater stalls, followed by a purge and the commander puts the cover back in place … That's it, now comes the most interesting thing. By and large, many of you have seen footage of the launch of space rockets with a parallel broadcast of commands, almost the same thing happened here.
Command: "Pump", the buzzing of the oil pump, until the response of the mech.-water "Ready", that is, the oil pressure in the engine systems is normal …
"Oil injection", you can hear the operation of the pneumatic valve, yes, a portion of oil has entered the cylinder …
Vadim: "Scrolling", the mech.-water turns the crankshafts several times with a starter, without fuel supply, so that the oil is more evenly distributed over the cylinders.
"Double oil injection" - with some interruption, two pops of pneumatic valves are heard.
"Start" - the engine starts to spin up hard, the tank "trembles", bluish smoke appears from the exhaust box, Vadim runs into the stern, trying to determine by the color of the smoke, if it starts, it won't start.
After receiving visual data and making their assessment, he returns to the "position".
The command "Gas" follows, according to which the mech.-water begins to intermittently press the pedal, throwing fuel into the cylinders, and here again, "Oil injection" - the engine roared a little, thicker smoke escapes from the box, but the engine does not start.
Vadim in the stern, appreciated - to the wheel, commands: "Air", the mechanic helps the starter "by air" … The engine revives a little, but does not start again, everything, 45 seconds, allowed to start the engine from the battery expired, the command - "Stop" …
Two minutes of rest and again: "Oil injection", "Start", smoke, shaking of the tank, crazy eyes of mech.-water, broken voice of Vadim, "shuttle run" nose-stern-nose, until the engine, throwing out a huge black cloud, started up … Although sometimes for this it was necessary to change the air cylinders to filled ones, and connect an additional pair of batteries to the tank network …
But every training day "126", "proudly" lifting up his gun, in the thick bluish smoke that the "Varyag", went to the training ground, where it was operated all day, trying not to shut off the engine …
Here she is, "unpretentious" "sixty-four" …
P. S. And the "apple of discord", alas, very soon came in handy …
