The constant improvement of the firepower and armor protection of tanks has caused the need to maintain the energy capacity of combat vehicles at the proper level. High weight and size indicators of gas turbine engines (GTE), widely used in aviation at the turn of the 1950s, attracted the attention of armored vehicle designers. In 1976, the T-80 tank was adopted by the Soviet army - the world's first serial tank with a gas turbine power plant (GTSU). The creators of the tank managed to make a revolutionary step in world tank building, equivalent to the transition in the late 1930s. from carburetor engine to diesel, and by the beginning of the 1950s. in aviation - from piston to jet.