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A Soviet army T-55 in the 1960s.

When Russias initial offensive across southern, eastern and northern Ukraine faltered in the spring of 2022 and equipment losses deepened, the Kremlin reached deep into its reserve stocks and reactivated hundreds of obsolete, 1960s-vintage T-62 tanks.

Flash forward a year. Russias winter offensive is grinding to a halt in the ruins of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraines Donbas region. Russian and allied forces have lost at least 10,000 armored vehicles, trucks and howitzers that outside analysts can confirm. Desperate for replacement tanks, the Kremlin is reactivating 1950s-vintage T-55s.

The parallels dont end there. The Russians deployed many of the reactivated T-62s along the southern front, assigning them to reserve units holding defensive positions around occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. The T-55s apparently are deploying to the south, too.

One photo that circulated online in mid-April reportedly depicts a T-55 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. A second, more recent photo depicts a T-55 on a heavy flatbed reportedly in the Russian-occupied Black Sea port of Berdyansk, also in Zaporizhzhia.

Its unclear whether the T-55and a T-62 apparently traveling in the same convoyis arriving or departing the port. Its possible the tanks arrived in Ukraine by rail, and were traveling to Berdyansk by truck to join the ports Russian garrison. Its also possible the tanks reached Ukraine by ship, and were heading north to equip units closer to the front.

Either way, the tanks ultimate fate should be the same. When Ukrainian troops launched their first major counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine last fall, those T-62s the Russians rushed to southern Ukraine got massacred outside Kherson city.

The Ukrainians have captured or destroyed no fewer than 64 T-62s. Theres zero evidence of any of the 41-ton, four-crew T-62swith their minimally-stabilized 115-millimeter guns, shoddy night-vision and 200-millimeter frontal armormaking any significant contribution to the Russian war effort.

Theres no reason to believe the 40-ton, four-crew T-55with its even older 100-millimeter gun and thinner armorwill fare any better when Ukraines long-anticipated 2023 counteroffensive finally kicks off.

Especially considering that the Ukrainian armed forces in recent months have rearmed with scores of Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 tanks and hundreds of Stryker, M-2 and Marder fighting vehicles, all donated by Ukraines foreign allies.

The 25-millimeter autocannon that arms the M-2 can pierce a T-62 or T-55 from the side or back from hundreds of yards away. The 120-millimeter cannon that arms the 70-ton Leopard 2 will take out a T-62 or T-55 from any angle from more than a mile away in daytime or nighttime, even when the Leopard 2 or its target is on the move.

A T-55 meanwhile cant even fight at night without turning on a turret-mounted infrared spotlight that instantly gives away its location. Its main gun lacks effective stabilization, meaning the tank must halt before firing.

The Russians havent yet lost any of their reactivated T-55sat least, none that left behind any obvious photographic evidence. Thats likely to change, and soon, as more of the obsolete tanks arrive in southern Ukraine and take up defensive positions ahead of the coming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

See the original post here:
The Kremlin Is Deploying Obsolete T-55 Tanks in Southern Ukraine ... - Forbes