More Old Tanks Headed to Ukraine: As summertime approaches, things are looking pretty grim in Ukraine for the Kremlin.
Already down some 2,000 main battle tanks (MBTs) in addition to dozens of airframes and even more military equipment and soldiers, Moscow is struggling to make dents in its offensive strategy in Ukraine.
Heavily sanctioned by the larger international community, Russia is already failing to supply its front lines with the munitions and modern equipment needed to achieve its war efforts.
Moscow has turned to its stockpile of antiquated weaponry in recent months to make up for its dwindling arsenal of more modern equipment.
The Kremlin is reportedly reactivating its nearly 70-year old vintage T-55 MBTs to deploy in the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts to accompany the equally old T-62s.
Why are Russia’s aging MBTs appearing in Ukraine?
In March, the open-source defense group Oryx publicized a photograph depicting Soviet-era T-54/55 tanks being loaded onto a train car. The Conflict Intelligence Team allegedly obtained the photos, noting that “Deployment and use of T-62 tanks by the Russian Armed Forces during the current invasion has been documented since the summer of 2022, but it is the first recorded instance of T-54/55 tanks withdrawal from storage.”
Russian forces claimed to have “upgraded” the aging T-62 MBTs sent to battle in Ukraine.
However, even if these tanks are in fact enhanced, they have not been performing well in the ongoing invasion. Last summer, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense released intelligence suggest that Russia was sending its T-62 MBTs to frontline units in Ukraine. It appears the even older T-55 armored vehicles will have the same fate.
Ukrainian forces have either captured or destroyed roughly 70 T-62 MBTs since the onset of the war last February. In fact, this tank has performed so poorly that even Ukrainians are not using them upon capture.
Ukrainian engineers are reportedly turning Russia’s T-62 “metal coffins” into modified armored recovery vehicles that are more capable of aiding its defensive efforts. This strategy enables Ukrainian forces to retrieve damaged MBTs from the frontlines to ensure they don’t fall into enemy hands.
Considering how ineffective Moscow’s T-62 fleet of tanks has been for the Kremlin’s offensive, an influx of T-55 MBTs is unlikely to significantly impact the war at all. Ukrainian forces are already using an enhanced variant of the Soviet T-55 tank, equipped with reactive armor, upgraded engines, improved fire control and the UK-made 105mm gun in place of the original 100mm-gun. According to Forbe’s,“The gun is what makes the M-55S valuable to Ukraine.
The British gun is compatible with a wide range of modern ammunition, including armor-piercing sabot rounds that can penetrate the armor of a Russian T-72.”
How will T-55s fare against modern Western tanks?
Prior to Russia’s invasion, the T-54/55 MBTs have been deployed across the globe. These tanks were used by Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War against Israel and later saw combat in Vietnam, Cambodia and Uganda. While the tanks never faced the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) directly in its service history, the American M48 Patton MBT and its British counterparts proved more proficient than the Soviet tanks in the Middle East. The Kremlin has reportedly maintained thousands of this aging tank variants following the collapse of the Soviet Union. These models may again face combat against a variety of Western MBTs.
In the upcoming months, the U.S., Germany and Britain will deliver dozens of M1 Abrams, Leopards and Challengers to Ukraine. Ukraine’s approaching counter-offensive will likely incorporate the use of MBTs. While Russian officials have previously claimed that the country was working hard to increase production of more modern tanks, financial and resource limitations may hinder this effort. Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev stated that “It is clear that in this case, it is natural for us to increase production of various armaments including modern tanks” in a recent interview.
It may be too little too late, considering the likelihood of an imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive in the works. Watching how Russia’s antiquated armored vehicles will fare against Ukraine’s modern Western tanks will be interesting.
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Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
