Why Russia Is Deploying T55 Tanks and What It Shows About Their Diminishing Capabilities

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hasn’t gone according to plan as the Kremlin envisioned it, to say the least. With an estimated 200,000 casualties, 10,000 pieces of armor, and an accelerated demographic collapse, Moscow’s future as a major world player is uncertain.

At the start of 2022, the world feared Russia’s military prowess—until it didn’t. The introduction of early Cold War-era tanks are signs Moscow is suffering from a plethora of problems in weapons production. With ever-growing battlefield losses and sanctions, the nation is slowly becoming a European North Korea.

 T54s-T55s

The T54s-T55s are the oldest tanks Russia has brought out during the War in Ukraine thus far. Manufactured for service in the late 1940s, they were standard amongst the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact for several decades.

The T55s were notorious for being the tanks that crushed protestors during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and Prague Spring in 1968. When communist revolutions occurred, they became one of the main sources of exports for Moscow.

These Tanks have Caused Catastrophic Military Defeats

The T54-55 variants were used in several wars throughout the Middle East to poor effects. During the Six Day War, Israeli tank crewmen were easily able to maneuver and close against these tanks. Only a year later, at the Valley of Tears during the Yom Kippur War, a single Israeli tank brigade shredded the advancing Syrians, destroying upwards of 260-300 T55s and T62s.

During the Gulf War, the Baathist Iraqi military used brigades of these variants against American forces at the Battle of 73 Easting. During the battle, the M2 Bradley shredded several dozen of the T55s, and over 160 tanks were destroyed by coalition forces.

Sanctions Are Starting To Feel Their Effects

Compared to the Soviet Union, the modern-day Russian Federation has had to rely on Western companies to reinvigorate its military after the collapse of the USSR. Western components have been found inside a wide variety of Russian weaponry and armor that have been destroyed and captured by Ukraine.

When sanctions were implemented against Moscow, they wouldn’t start to take their true effect until late 2022. According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies and Oryx Blog, Russian Forces have already lost 40% of their prewar tank fleet. The Russian defense industry has struggled to keep up with replacements and production without Western components.

The effects of lack and production and sanctions have been seen in Russian exports. India recently confirmed the Kremlin is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations. Vietnam is also looking to digress away from Russian arms.

The Battle of Vuhledar showed catastrophic armor losses that could not be replaced. In the battle, upwards of 130 APCs and tanks were lost in less than one week of warfare. This forced Russia’s Ministry of Defense to reconstitute combat-ineffective brigades and use more infantry-style tactics. Due to this, manpower losses will continue to skyrocket as the lack of armor and combined arms tactics have forced Russia to switch back to human-wave fire team assaults, as seen throughout the winter.

Russia is Switching back to Soviet Tactics

Now realizing the only way to stave off a major counteroffensive by Kyiv, which has been bolstered by modern tanks by the West, Moscow will look to try to tire NATO’s logistics the same way their own defense industry has become exhausted. Already feeling a strain on their modern tank fleet and not having the overwhelming artillery advantage they once had last spring, Russia will bring out its older Cold War stocks in hopes The Ukrainian Armed Forces expend and exhaust their logistics in their anticipated counteroffensive.

Spending months to create extensive fortifications, these older T55s will be used defensively more so than any offensive operation and could be used as a substitute for their artillery deficiencies. Though Ukraine will be receiving modern tanks, they also face troubles in artillery and logistics as Europe’s defense industry has lagged for decades under the protection of the US.

Russia’s new goal in its faltering imperial ambitions is to exhaust NATO arm shipments to Ukraine by authorizing its much older Cold War era stocks in hopes that it exhausts the West. By doing this, they hope to coerce the world into a forced settlement towards their September 2022 annexation terms—even if it means crippling their own military and youngest and brightest men to do so.