Cheap, efficient and versatile, the TO-55 is a useful tool in maps where infantry takes an important part, and can still be useful on bigger maps. It is to be used in combination with infantry but shouldn't try to attack infantry positions on its own.
One of the three flamethrower tanks available to Warsaw Pact forces, it identical to its GDR copy, the FlammPz TO-55. Cheaper, faster, and with a better operational range than it's successor the better armored TO-62, the TO-55 is also vastly superior to NATO's M132 Zippo for a slightly higher price.
Like the other PACT flamethrower tanks, it is armed with a rather weak main cannon next to it's potent flamethrower.
Tactics[]
A flame thrower has two primary uses: the first one is to clear forests, especially when combined to infantry assaults. Best used in pairs, TO-55 can use their flames by firing over the infantry they are following, efficiently reducing infantry numbers and stunning tanks to prevent them from firing at your infantry. They can also be used to blind fire at woods where infantry is known to hide while staying out of range of LAW-type weapons. In armies where flamethrower-infantry are not utilized it can be used as a force to be reckoned with for urban assaults as well as well as for defensive purposes, if utilized correctly.
It can also be used to reinforce a tank assault by stunning enemy armor in range but again, used in a pair to increase the speed at which the stun takes effect. Switching targets often to maximise its effectiveness is a good idea. Simply shooting at a unit is helping it to panic reducing its battle effectiveness.
Thanks to its main canon, the TO-55 can support other tanks pretty easily, staying useful even if not in range to use its flamethrower.
History[]
Along with the T-55 tanks, a flamethrower-armed version was designed (designated TO-55 (Ob'yekt 482)), which was produced until 1962. It was fitted with 460 litre tanks filled with flammable liquid instead of the frontal hull fuel tanks. The flamethrower replaced the coaxial machine gun. This was a much better way to mount a flamethrower than in the experimental Ob'yekt 483, based on the T-54 tank, where the flamethrower replaced the main gun. TO-55 flamethrower tanks were withdrawn from service in 1993.
Weapons[]
European Escalation[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Main Gun | Flamethrower | No Weapon |
| Name | U-5TS | ATO-200 | |
| Caliber | 100 | Napalm | |
| Ammo | x 15 rounds | x 440 rounds | |
| Range | Ground = N/A m Helicopters = N/A m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = N/A m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
|
| Accuracy | 3 | 3 | |
| AP Power | 4 | 0 | |
| HE Power | 0 | 2 | |
| Rate of fire | 7 r/min | 104 r/min |
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Main Gun | Flamethrower | No Weapon |
| Name | D-10T | ATO-200 | |
| Caliber | 100mm | Napalm | |
| Ammo | x 21 | x 100 | |
| Range | Ground = 1925 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 1050 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
|
| Accuracy | 30% | 30% | |
| Stabilizer | 10% | N/A | |
| AP Power | 11 | N/A | |
| HE Power | N/A | 2 | |
| Suppression | 115 | 100 | |
| Rate of fire | 7 r/min | 52 r/min |
See also[]
- FlammPz TO-55 - East German variant
- TO-62 - Upgraded variant
