(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . About those Russian T-55 tanks... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-28 T-55 tank in the field with the Somali army. The news over the past few weeks that Russia has been pulling T-55 tanks out of storage to send to Ukraine stands in contrast to the news that western Main Battle Tanks and other armored vehicles (Bradleys, AMX-10RC’s, etc.) have been arriving on the Ukrainian side of the equation. At a time when Ukraine is getting these newer, better weapons systems, what on Earth is Russia doing? The T-55 The T-55 is basically an improved version of the T-54 tank, with a better engine and transmission and a rotating turret floor (before that, crew in the turret had to physically move themselves as the turret turned), tweaks to armor, etc. The T-54 was a WW2-era design, with the first production prototypes appearing shortly after the war ended in 1945. What became the T-55 redesign appeared around 1960 and variants of the T-55 were manufactured until 1983, though it was pretty clear during the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and the Suez Crisis in 1973 that the T-55 was dated and outmatched by western tanks, when Israeli forces using Centurion tanks inflicted major losses on opposing armies using T-55’s. During the 1973 conflict Egyptian forces with about 1,200 T-55’s engaged in the largest tank battle since WW2 against Israeli forces using Centurion and Patton tanks, resulting in the loss of 264 Egyptian tanks compared to a loss of only 25 Israeli tanks. In an even more modern conflict, during the Battle of Basrah in 2003, UK and US forces suffered 2 tanks damaged compared to Iraqi losses of 14 tanks (mostly T-55’s) destroyed. The USSR began replacing its fleet of T-55 tanks with T-62’s and T-64’s in 1980, but there are still many old T-55’s in service with militaries around the world. The primary weapon of the T-55 is a 100 mm D-10 tank gun. One of the disadvantages of the T-55 is that it lacks the stabilizer of modern tanks, meaning that it has to stop in order to aim and fire and has very little chance of hitting a target if firing while on the move. This is a massive disadvantage against modern tanks, all of which will have some form of gun stabilizer. Although more modern variants have been outfitted with reactive armor, the protection provided by the T-55 is not as good as more modern tanks, and that will make them even more vulnerable to Ukraine’s suite of tanks and anti-armor weapons. So the T-55 will be at a distinct disadvantage in a head-to-head matchup with pretty much any other tank it is likely to encounter on the battlefield in Ukraine, or indeed well-equipped infantry or IFV’s equipped with anti-armor weapons. How Will Russia Use Them? Well, Russia could use them like a tank. The problem is, this design will be even more vulnerable to modern anti-tank weapons than Russia’s T-62’s, T-72’s and T-80’s and we’ve seen how this war has worked out for those models. So will Russia risk using them like that, or is there some other plan? Some think that Russia plans on using the T-55’s mainly as self-propelled artillery. This would keep them them well back from the front, out of sight and range of most anti-tank weapons. In order to do this, though, the tanks will need to be dug in and placed on a fair incline to get the upward angle needed to get the range (both sides have already used tanks in this way, in fact this is a tactic used at least as far back as WW2). Doing this can probably extend the range of the 100 mm gun on the T-55 out to about a dozen miles, give or take. That puts it roughly on par with the range of the M-777 towed artillery system being provided to Ukraine using regular rounds. By doing this, Russia can get some more artillery on their front line, and the gun that the T-55 uses doesn’t use the same ammo as Russia’s other artillery, so if Russia has a decent supply of shells for these T-55’s, it could help alleviate some of Russia’s ammunition shortage. But just because you CAN use the T-55 as mobile artillery doesn’t mean it’s GOOD artillery. Since it’s not purpose-designed for this, the firing rate is likely to be slower and less accurate than regular artillery pieces. But if you need artillery and don’t have anything else, it’s better than nothing at all. So it’s possible that we won't be seeing these T-55’s rolling around close to the front lines in the Donbas anytime soon. It seems much more likely we’ll see them dug in miles back from that front line, being used as artillery that can in a pinch be pulled out of position to act as a tank (even if a hugely overmatched one) if a Ukrainian breakthrough occurs. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/28/2165186/-About-those-Russian-T-55-tanks Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/