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Jul 8, 2024 · To make up the gap, as best as they can, the Russians drag old Cold War tanks out of long-term storage, refurbish them, upgrade them in some cases and then ship them off to the front...
Mar 24, 2024 · The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based defence- and security-focused think-tank, believes Russia has lost at least 3,000 tanks during its Ukraine campaign. The...
- 6 min
- Geoff Nixon
Sep 6, 2022 · The use of Javelins and other light anti-tank systems in Ukraine has not demonstrated that the tank is obsolete any more than the Sagger anti-tank guided missile did in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as discussed by David Johnson in these pages.
- Overview
- The "Beast From the East"
As Russia's war on Ukraine grinds on toward the 15-month mark, both sides are expected to launch new offensives, and both sides have apparently suffered shortages of key weaponry. Recently leaked Pentagon documents appear to show Ukraine running dangerously low on the air defense rounds it has used to stop thousands of Russian rockets, missiles and exploding drones from reaching their targets.
On the other side of the front lines, the leaked papers suggest Russia's special forces have been decimated, as wave after wave of soldiers have been thrown into the fight with little gained in return.
The Ukrainians will soon get an advanced U.S. Patriot air defense system to help them fend off the invasion, and there's more weaponry on the way from Europe — everything from heavy main battle tanks to machine gun ammunition.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Resnikov recently gloated in social media videos over the first big tanks sent from Europe to help his country fend off Russia's invasion, climbing aboard a British Challenger 2, part of the first batch of modern "main battle tanks" (MBTs) to be handed over to Ukraine's armed forces. They were promised along with dozens of German-made Leopard 2 tanks and, later this year, American M1 Abrams tanks.
•These are the tanks Ukraine has been promised from the West
Russia, however, may be struggling to get modern war machines to the front lines, and has pulled some very, very old tanks out of deep storage, seemingly to bolster its ground forces in Ukraine.
Entering service just after the Second World War, in 1948, the T-54 was the original Cold War tank. Dubbed the "Beast From the East" during that East-West standoff, the tank represented a massive leap in Soviet design. It was followed by the introduction of the T-55 a few years later, and both were produced in huge quantities.
With estimates suggesting as many as 60,000 of the machines were built in the USSR, it became one of the most widely used tanks in the world, having been exported to about 50 countries. They have been and are still used by countless armies and militias in conflicts ranging from the jungles of Vietnam to the plains of Africa and the mountains of Afghanistan.
However, despite still being in production into the early 1980's it was clear by the previous decade, when they were used in the Arab-Israeli war, that the T-55 was outdated and they were eventually withdrawn from service and mothballed.
Until now, at least.
While Netkachev and other Russian pundits likely offer realistic insight, framing the old tanks as a plentiful resource to bolster Russian forces' back lines on the battlefield, Moscow's plans for the Cold War machines have not been confirmed. They wouldn't fare well if put toe-to-toe with the latest Western MBTs, or even many of the smaller armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) now being supplied to Ukraine, as the Soviet tanks lack sufficient armor, firing range, night fighting capabilities and modern fire control systems — or the capacity to fire on the move.
Those facts left CIT's analysts to write that it was "difficult to determine the possible uses of these tanks," but they concluded it likely "indicates severe issues with military vehicle supply in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."
- 3 min
- Simon Ellery,Tucker Reals
Apr 26, 2023 · While a lack of serious Western investment in new tanks after the Cold War’s end allowed Russia to remain complacent, introducing more modern tanks from South Korea into NATO quickly and in...
Mar 7, 2023 · As part of a $400 million military assistance package announced on March 3, the United States is supplying Ukraine with its first M60 Pattons, a classic American Cold War tank.
People also ask
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Jan 20, 2023 · The United States and Germany on Wednesday, January 25, announced deliveries of top-of-the-line tanks to Ukraine, signaling a new surge of Western support for an expected counteroffensive against...
