Current Events > Russia is raiding museums to deploy crusty old T-72 tanks

(+) Yeah! (+)

The second strongest army in Ukraine is now raiding their museums for crusty ass T-72s because they're losing too many tanks and can't keep up with production.

Russia has written off probably around two-thirds of the roughly 3,500 tanks it had in active service before the wider war. Russias two main tank plants meanwhile are struggling to build more than a couple dozen new tanks a month, owing in part to a shortage of high-tech components thats exacerbated by foreign sanctions.

High losses and low production help to explain why most of Russias replacement tanks are old tanks that technicians pulled out of open storage, lightly refurbished and sent to the front with few or no major upgrades. A survey of reequipped Russian regiments is like a tour of a tank museum. There are 1978-vintage T-80s, T-62s from the mid-1960s and even T-55s from the late 1950s.

The latest Russian museum tank to roll into combat is the T-72 Ural, the original model of the tank type that has been standard across the Russian and allied armies for five decades. The Uralvagonzavod factory in central Russia manufactured Urals for just a few years before switching to improved T-72 models in the late 1970s.

Its unclear how many Urals Uralvagonzavod produced, how many are in storage and how many of those are recoverable. There might be a thousand old Urals lying around, but its possible just a few hundred are intact after five decades of hot-cold, wet-dry cycles.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/06/01/as-tank-losses-top-2000-russia-is-deploying-museum-grade-t-72s-from-1974

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

@averagejoel

that's rather sad in a couple ways

Bass posted...

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

I should update Warthunder

Bass posted...

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

I would be more afraid to even fire the main cannon tbh.

ShineboxPhil posted...

@averagejoel

too soon

We'll know it's desperation when they try to get old T-35s to run again, or that captured Maus that never did run worth a damn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-35
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus

So its going well apparently.
/s

O no, here comes the Russian Blitzkrieg!

Have they put children on the frontline yet?

Lol at people who thought they were ever a threat to the US

No one seriously thought Russias standard arms were a threat to the US. As always the only threat is nuclear weapons.

Lol@Russia

Mew posted...

There are 1978-vintage T-80s, T-62s from the mid-1960s and even T-55s from the late 1950s.

Probably great years for wines.

Not so much for tanks.

remember in original COD MW2 how they depicted a russian invasion of the US
I hope when they remake those missions in the next MW its a bit more accurate lmao

Bass posted...

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/7/AAJmR2AAEhZN.jpg

Bass posted...

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/2/2/AAaN9zAAEiXK.jpg

I believed stories about Russian soldiers sharing a gun on the battlefield during WW2 to be far-fetched, but this news is giving me second thoughts.

Im surprised Russia hasnt lost yet with all these stories of them using old equipment. I would have thought the Modern weapons Ukraine is using would destroy tanks from the 50s to end the war by now.

Pardon me but
Fuck the Russian government and fuck Putin

SupermanLost posted...

Im surprised Russia hasnt lost yet with all these stories of them using old equipment. I would have thought the Modern weapons Ukraine is using would destroy tanks from the 50s to end the war by now.

The problem is they have so many conscripts to send to the meat grinder along with their ancient equipment. Like Ukraine fending off a zombie horde. Any shortages and they'll just rummage their old pos stockpiles from the 70s, 60s, etc.

How long before they start using ww2 tech because they can't admit defeat

Isn't the T-72 a literal death trap? I remember reading something about the pilot/operators being seated right next to the ammo cache.

Or am I thinking of a different tank? Military equipment is not my forte.

evilpresident posted...

Isn't the T-72 a literal death trap? I remember reading something about the pilot/operators being seated right next to the ammo cache.

Or am I thinking of a different tank? Military equipment is not my forte.

You're not wrong.
Western tanks, like the Leopard and Abrams, has its ammo stored in a separate compartment from the crew and is specifically designed to direct the ordinance outwards should it detonate.
The T-72's ammo is stored in a carousel underneath the turret. If the ammo explodes, the explosion takes the path of least resistance, which is, well... into the crew compartment.

BB_mofo posted...

I believed stories about Russian soldiers sharing a gun on the battlefield during WW2 to be far-fetched, but this news is giving me second thoughts.

i think it was one of the call of duty games where you're playing a soldier on the russian front. you're sent to charge the enemy lines without a gun, and only after the german machine guns mow some people down can you find a gun

i thought it was something they made up but now....

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

To be fair a lot of people believed they were a lot better than they turned out to be.

Dark_Arbron posted...

No one seriously thought Russias standard arms were a threat to the US. As always the only threat is nuclear weapons.

How many of those actually work though? I would bet real money that the missiles have been parted out by corrupt commanders.

Bass posted...

Imagine being a soldier sent out in a tank from the 1950s facing some modern NATO tech. Lmao.

I mean that's been a staple of Russian warfare for like 2 centuries. Send out droves of vastly underequipped men and see what happens.

I wonder if they have any WW1 tanks left somewhere.
That could be pretty funny

KnightofShikari posted...

i think it was one of the call of duty games where you're playing a soldier on the russian front. you're sent to charge the enemy lines without a gun, and only after the german machine guns mow some people down can you find a gun

i thought it was something they made up but now....

That's from a movie too. I forget which one. It was something like giving every third soldier a gun and the unarmed ones would have to pick it up when the one with the gun was shot.

Vyrulisse posted...

To be fair a lot of people believed they were a lot better than they turned out to be.

A lot of people were just paranoid.

The reason people overestimated Russian capabilities is because they're quick to forget that Russia is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a state. The invasion of Ukraine is demonstrating the results of that corruption to the rest of the world.

On the other hand, China is a legitimate threat. But one where they can be deterred into a long term stalemate.

DuneMan posted...

Russia is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a state.

the old saying of
"some states have armies, Prussia is an army with a state" gets turned into
"some states have mafias and corruption, Russia is a corrupt mafia with a state"

At this point they would be better off using T-54/55s. Safer for the crews at least and they are so basic so long as they have fuel they'll never breakdown.

DuneMan posted...

The reason people overestimated Russian capabilities is because they're quick to forget that Russia is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a state. The invasion of Ukraine is demonstrating the results of that corruption to the rest of the world.

On the other hand, China is a legitimate threat. But one where they can be deterred into a long term stalemate.

China is not a threat.

Revelation34 posted...

China is not a threat.

unless we keep up with them or more. they're always trying to steal our secrets and make lower quality equipment.

Revelation34 posted...

China is not a threat.

You believe that at your own peril. Given an opportunity, China would not hesitate to gain hegemony over the entire world, treating it as a de facto economic colony for their own benefit.

DuneMan posted...

You believe that at your own peril. Given an opportunity, China would not hesitate to gain hegemony over the entire world, treating it as a de facto economic colony for their own benefit.

Uh huh