The T-72 is the main battle tank of Russia. Not just because pretty much every modern tank is categorized like that, but because it truly is the main. Russia has many other types of tanks, but this one seems to be the most important and most common one. That is why it is not surprising that the T-72 is dominating the lists of losses in Ukraine as well, but lately, another tank has been getting the attention of Ukrainian drones.
The T-80UK and the T-64BV in Ukrainian service. Image credit: 93rd “Kholodnyi Yar” Mechanized Brigade via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has already lost 404 T-80BV tanks in Ukraine, according to the open-source intelligence site Oryx. This project only counts losses that can be confirmed through open sources and through visual data. This means that this is a conservative number, because not every destroyed tank is photographed and filmed so nicely.
Russian forces have already lost 624 T-80s of various modifications. Most of those tanks, as you’ve probably seen, are T-80BV, but Russia also lost 94 T-80Us and 96 T-80BVMs. Those are gigantic losses for Russian forces in Ukraine, even if they are still not close to T-72 stats.
According to Oryx, Russia lost at least 1191 T-72 tanks of various modifications in Ukraine. A large portion of them were actually captured, but, of course, most were destroyed.
In total, Russia already lost 2312 tanks in Ukraine and 1499 of them were destroyed. Ukraine captured 550 tanks and managed to turn them back around against the invading Russian forces.
Oryx notes that the number of T-80s that Russia is losing is increasing. Russia’s main tank is the T-72, so it’s strange that T-80 losses lately, in the short term, have been outpacing the T-72 losses.
The T-80 is basically the same-era tank in service since 1976. It is based on the T-94, but incorporates features from the T-72. Since these tanks functionally fulfill the same role, Russia chose to rely on the T-72, and mass production of the T-80 ended in 2001. Meanwhile, the T-72 is produced to this day.
Actually, lately, Russia has been talking about the renewal of the production of the T-80. It will not be easy to do, but with some time brand new standard T-80s could be rolling off production lines. The question is, of course, why the losses of the T-80 tank are so great lately.
It seems like the Russian forces are using them more, because the number of lost T-72s is so huge. Russia is gathering everything it has and pushes those reserves closer to the frontlines to try and hold the Ukrainian advance so that they wouldn’t achieve too much before the soil turns to mud.
The rumoured plans to restart the production of the T-80 main battle tank are also a reminder of the failure of the T-14 Armata project. The next-generation tank simply doesn’t exist in reality, despite Russian sources stating that it even served in Ukraine.
Written by Povilas M.