Russian Medium Tank T-55 AMV

This was basically an upgrade to the ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) protection. The V  stood for Vzryvnoj (or explosive ). Not all T-55s were upgraded this way, many still kept the standard passive BDD/appliqué armor. The standardized ERA bricks (EDZ for elementi dinamicheskoj zashchity ) are mounted on the hull, turret front and hull sides. The Elite units of the Soviet Naval Infantry were first to deploy these tanks, followed by the rest of the army in a gradual process after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and extended to previous versions like the T-55AMV (AM) and T-55MV (T-55M). These were also exported, notably to some Iraqi elite republican guards units. The sub-variant V-1 received the V-46-5M engine upgrade.