The Ukrainian Armed Forces are unlikely to ever run out of tanks: Forbes named the reason

Supplies from allies help, but it’s not all about them.

For more than two years of war, Ukraine received about 700 tanks from the allies. But at the same time, the Ukrainians have established systematic work to reactivate and modernize the T-64 tanks, and that is why the Ukrainian Armed Forces still have quite a lot of tanks in service, despite heavy losses during two years of a full-scale war, writes Forbes .

The publication cites the example of the 150th mechanized brigade, which was formed only in October last year. The brigade was equipped with modernized T-64BV tanks of the 2017 model.

“This is a good sign in the conditions of a full-scale war, which is now in its third year. The Ukrainian military is desperately trying to get enough infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers – infantry combat taxis, to put it simply – but at least they have enough tanks,” Forbes notes.

The T-64 is a classic Cold War tank: 42 tons in weight, a diesel engine, hundreds of millimeters of armor, three crew members and a 125 mm gun with an automatic loader. The Malyshev plant in Kharkov produced new T-64s between 1963 and 1987. With the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine inherited about 3,000 of these tanks.

Over the years of independence, the Malyshev plant has modernized about a thousand T-64s for constant use by the troops. What happened to the rest is still a matter of speculation and at the same time is a probable explanation for why the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not run out of tanks in the third year of a full-scale war, and new brigades are equipped with fresh T-64BVs.

As Forbes notes, with the onset of hybrid aggression in 2014, Ukraine began removing old T-64s from warehouses across the country, a process that will almost certainly accelerate significantly in 2022.

The Malyshev plant suffered serious damage in the first weeks of the war, but Ukrainian industry adapted – scattering existing industrial equipment and creating new workshops in less vulnerable cities. At the same time, Kyiv signed agreements for the repair and modernization of the T-64 at facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“The expansion and partial outsourcing of the Ukrainian tank industry explains why, after losing about 300 T-64s in battle, the Ukrainian military still has enough T-64s to maintain existing brigades and equip new ones,” the publication writes.

At the same time, every “new” T-64 is an old body with modern optics and fire control equipment. That is why the T-64 is – in a certain sense – a limited resource that will run out over time.

But not anytime soon. Forbes estimates that Soviet T-64 stockpiles will last for several more years of active war if Ukrainian casualty rates remain around current levels. And against this background, Ukraine is agreeing to launch the production of Western tanks on its territory and continues to receive ready-made tanks from partners.

Armament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: latest news

As UNIAN wrote, Russian armored vehicles are massively losing on the battlefield to the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles used by the Ukrainian army. One reason is that numerous losses of armored vehicles force the Russians to use older and less protected models.

We also reported that the United States secretly transferred an experimental 2-CT Hawkeye self-propelled gun to Ukraine. The firing range with standard ammunition is 11.6 kilometers. The maximum rate of fire is eight rounds per minute for three minutes.

(C)UNIAN 2024