User:Awotter/Thomas A. Livesly

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Like many post-World War II tanks, the T-54 and T-55 have a conventional layout with fighting compartment in the front, engine compartment in the rear, and a dome-shaped turret in the centre of the hull. Driver's hatch is on the front-left of the hull roof. The commander's hatch is on the turret left—the gunner sits forward and below him—and the loader's hatch is on the turret right. The tank's suspension has the drive sprocket at the rear, and slack track (not suspended by return rollers). Engine exhaust is on the left fender. There is a prominent gap between the first and second road wheel—a distinguishing feature from the derivative T-62 tank, which has progressively larger spaces between road wheels towards the rear.

The T-54 and T-55 tanks are outwardly very similar and difficult to distinguish visually. Many T-54s were also updated to T-55 standards, so the distinction is often downplayed with the collective name T-54/55. Soviet tanks were factory-overhauled every 7,000 km and often given minor technology updates. Many states have added or modified the tank's equipment; India, for example, affixed fake fume extractors to its T-54s and T-55s so that its gunners wouldn't confuse them with Pakistani Type 59s.