It is an oddity in many aspects of life that sometimes, those things designed to be interim items end up being the major production subject. This seems to happen more frequently than one would think when it comes to military equipment. Such is the case of the T-62. It was designed as an improved T-55 while all the details and bugs were worked out of the Obeikt 140/150 tank initiatives that were pushed by Khrushchev in the late 1950s/early 1960s. This new tank was to be primarily a method of deploying a battlefield missile system. This was how enamored Khrushchev was with missiles and rockets, feeling they could replace conventional weapons.

Needless to say, Khrushchev's ideas didn't go over well with the Generals who basically wanted big guns to match or supersede those developed by NATO. Neither really got what they wanted, but the T-62 was put into production and at one time, this interim design was being used by over 75% of the Soviet Union's tank forces until it was itself replaced by the more modern T-64A and T-72. This left a lot of tanks to be provided for export and tens of thousands of T-62s were provided to the Soviet Union's client states as well as anyone else who had the money to pay for them. This was particularly true after the break-up of the Soviet Union when the now independent states were left with too much equipment and no one to operate or maintain them. You had the bucks and you had a refurbished (or not) T-62. Many are still in use with the services of some of the more minor countries and in areas where there lack of sophistication isn't a big deal.

Steven J. Zaloga has written a great deal on tanks for Osprey and this adds to his growing catalogue. the book covers the development (with lots of info on the in-fighting that went with it) into the various uses and upgrades done to the tank over the years. This includes a look at the various specifications and comparisons to the tanks used by other forces. The illustrations and cut-aways of Tony Bryan really add to this interesting title as do the multitude of well chosen period photographs found throughout the edition. As an addition, you will find several pages of nicely done profiles, the sort of things that modelers really like to see.

An excellent book on a most interesting subject and one that I am positive you will find to be of interest. One that will be pulled from the shelves time after time and one I can highly recommend to you.

January 2010

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