The M-55Ss have toured eastern and southern Ukraine.
Mar 20, 2024
127TH TERRITORIAL BRIGADE CAPTURE
Just two weeks after appearing in photos with the Ukrainian army’s 5th Tank Brigade, the Ukrainians’ ex-Slovenian M-55S tanks showed up in a video shot by the territorial forces’ 127th Brigade.
The hybrid tanks—which combine the hulls and turrets of 1950s-vintage, Soviet-made T-55 tanks with modern Israeli fire-controls and a classic L7 105-millimeter main gun from the United Kingdom—have been shuffled around the Ukrainian order of battle like a deck of cards.
So who knows any more which unit actually owns the 36-ton, four-person tanks, 28 of which Slovenia donated to Ukraine in late 2022.
The 127th Brigade defends the sector between Stepove and Pryyutne in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast. It’s not the most violent sector of the front but neither is it particularly quiet. Russian regiments launched an offensive in this area in January and have, in three months, advanced around a mile.
It’s not clear how the 127th Brigade came to operate—or at least borrow—some or all of the 27 M-55Ss that survive after the Russians plinked one with artillery last year.
Earlier this month, it seemed the new 5th Brigade—which for months has been organizing and training in Kryvyi Rih in the south and which is one of the few intact brigades the Ukrainian army still has in reserve—had taken on the ex-Slovenian tanks.
That made some sense, as the 5th Tank Brigade apparently also operates German-made Leopard 1A5 tanks that have the same L7 gun the M-55Ss have—and fire the same ammunition.
The Slovenian M-55S in service with the 127th @TDF_UA Brigade demolished the russian positions on the frontlines. pic.twitter.com/wTC905cBv1
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 15, 2024
Before seemingly chopping to the 5th Tank Brigade, the M-55Ss passed from the 47th Mechanized Brigade to, perhaps, the 65th Mechanized Brigade. The 47th Brigade jettisoned the aging M-55Ss after getting modern, German-made Leopard 2A6s and then, later, American-made M-1s. The 65th Brigade for its part might be happy with its stalwart T-72s.
Maybe the 5th Tank is getting adequate numbers of Leopard 1s—and could afford to give away the M-55Ss. Or maybe the 5th Tank kept some of the 27 hybrid tanks and transferred the rest.
In any event, the 127th Brigade apparently isn’t trying anything fancy with the M-55Ss, whether it owns them or borrows them. Where the aggressive 47th Brigade famously rolls its M-1s into direct close combat with Russian assault groups in and around Berdychi in eastern Ukraine, the territorials seem to be deploying the lighter, less-protected ex-Slovenian tanks as crude howitzers.
The 127th Brigade’s video depicts at least one M-55S traveling in broad daylight in the company of an all-terrain vehicle. The tank noses from a treeline, halts and angles its L7 gun high in order to shoot at something potentially miles away.
The Ukrainians and Russians alike often deploy tanks as howitzers, usually cueing them with aerial drones. While a tank’s main gun can’t hold up to the hard use that howitzers are designed for, the tank’s mobility and protection makes it a useful expedient when purpose-made artillery isn’t available.
And to be clear, artillery definitely has been in short supply in Ukraine. Not for a lack of guns, but for a lack of ammunition. After Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress blocked further aid to Ukraine starting in October, Ukrainian batteries’ daily allotment of large-caliber shells—122-, 152-, 155- and 203-millimeter—dropped from 6,000 to 2,000.
In that context, right now an M-55S with a decent stock of 105-millimeter shells might actually be more valuable as a howitzer … than as a tank.
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Sources:
1. 127th Territorial Brigade: https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1768691379553619972
2. Ukraine Control Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=180u1IkUjtjpdJWnIC0AxTKSiqK4G6Pez&hl=en_US&ll=47.73658816669127%2C36.698511387210786&z=14
3. Militaryland.net: https://militaryland.net/ukraine/armed-forces/65th-mechanized-brigade/
They are old tanks, but I’m still glad that Ukraine has them. And, it was a good thing that Ukraine got them before the current putler skid mark got voted into office in Slovenia.
“And to be clear, artillery definitely has been in short supply in Ukraine. Not for a lack of guns, but for a lack of ammunition. After Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress blocked further aid to Ukraine starting in October, Ukrainian batteries’ daily allotment of large-caliber shells—122-, 152-, 155- and 203-millimeter—dropped from 6,000 to 2,000.”
I wish the press would stop referring to those shit nuggets as Republicans. They dropped the values the GOP stands for and took over semi-fascist ones by order of the fat, orange baboon called Donald Trump.
Just for clarity facts, Fico is PM of Slovakia, not Slovenia, which is a separate country that is friendly to Ukraine.
I agree. The shit nuggets are not Republicans. They are murderers by proxy; the worst people ever to sit in Congress.
My bad! I sometimes get those two countries mixed up.
“I wish the press would stop referring to those shit nuggets as Republicans. They dropped the values the GOP stands for and took over semi-fascist ones by order of the fat, orange baboon called Donald Trump.”
Except, that fat, orange baboon has taken over the Republican Party. Note that the new leadership of the RNC (Republican National Committee) was handpicked by trumpkov – including his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair. As a matter of fact, donations to the RNC are now going to pay trumpkov’s legal bills. 🙂
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4548589-trump-fundraising-agreement-prioritizes-payments-to-pac-covering-legal-fees-before-rnc/