Russia is losing thousands of tanks in Ukraine. Different estimates show different results, but the losses of Russian armour are definitely hurting them. This is evident in the fact that the defenders of Ukraine are noticing a significant increase in old tanks in Russian service. Namely, the T-62s are becoming commonplace on the battlefields in Ukraine and even the older T-55/54 tanks are not as rare as they used to be.
T-62 and T-62M tanks being transported in Russia in 2013. Image credit: Glenn J. Mason via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
After the battle for Avdiivka, the Russians began to use T-62 and T-55/54 tanks more often. Many of them are not even modernized, as noticed by Ukrainian FPV drone operators. Analysts note that this could be due to huge losses at the frontlines and low production rates.
Even more interesting, as Defense Express noted, is that the Russians have similar problems with infantry fighting vehicles. This is underlined by the use of MT-LB as an armoured personnel transporter – Russia officially has much better, safer machines for this. The MT-LB, of course, is ubiquitous and one of its main functions was always transport, but these machines are easily defeated and not the standard choice for frontline service.
Open-source intelligence analysts found that in August, the Russians had 219 T-55s in their long-term storage sites, and about a hundred of them were taken to war in Ukraine. The T-62 stocks are significantly larger – in August, about 600 such tanks were taken out of storage, and about 800 remained in storage for later use.
These old tanks are modestly modernized bit by bit, but Ukrainian drones often destroy T-62s that have not been modernized at all. This is because the factories refurbishing these old machines are slow and the job is not easy as these tanks have been sitting outside for decades.
The modernization potential of the T-80U is practically exhausted as well, since there are only a few dozen such tanks left in Russian storage sites, and they are unlikely to be suitable for modernization. Probably those will be used for spare parts only.
In 2023, Russia announced the resumption of T-80U production. They were talking not about pulling old tanks out of storage and refurbishing them, but about brand new production. This, of course, was an embarrassing statement for a country that brags about the non-existent T-14 Armata, but Russia has no other options.
The T-80 has been in service since 1976. At the same time, plans to resume production indicate that there are no more T-80Us suitable for modernization in storage and, therefore, new tanks need to be made.
There are about 170 T-80UDs in Russian tank storage yards, but they are likely just donors of spare parts as their 6TD engines were produced in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Therefore, units of the 1st Tank Army gradually switched to the T-80BV, which has a Russian engine, but there seemed to be problems with them too. The marine units of this army receive T-55s instead of the newer T-80BVs, which is a significant downgrade
The optimism about the exhaustion of Russian tank resources should be very limited. Russia has thousands of tanks left. Experts started talking about the problems of Russian armour probably a year ago, but Ukraine is still at a disadvantage in terms of the quantity of armoured machines.
Hopefully, however, the use of older tanks indicates that Russia does have some concerns and issues and the continued pressure of Ukrainian drones will put a sizable dent in Russian stocks.
Written by Povilas M.