Russia is about to start using T-62 tanks again – Technology Org
T-62 is a very old Soviet/Russian tank. In fact, it comes from before the main battle tank days and is designated as a medium tank. It was introduced in 1961 and its production ceased in 1975. Now the T-62 might return to the battlefield in Ukraine.
As much as Russia denies that it is having issues with weapon supply, the defenders of Ukraine as well as third-party observers have noticed the Russian weaponry getting older. Since the T-14 Armata tanks are an unfulfilled dream, which is likely to never reach combat readiness and the stocks of T-72s are dwindling, it is not that surprising to see that Russia is pulling T-62s from storage. And that’s a very old tank.
T-62 is a very old tank, but it is still in the inventory of the Russian Army. Image credit: Glenn J. Mason via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
How old? Well, it’s main armament is a 115 mm smoothbore gun. Russia switched to a 125 mm standard long ago. T-62 weighs just 37 tons. Usually a lighter tank is praised for its mobility, but the T-62 is hardly more mobile than heavier more modern counterparts. It is just old.
At 40-50 km/h max speed the T-62 is slower than the T-72, which can reach 60-75 km/h. There are more people in the crew than the T-62, it has an old-fashioned turret, it’s not that well-armoured. It is just not that good in this day and age.
On the other hand, T-62 still has some active operators. For example, Afghanistan, North Korea, Mongolia, Tajikistan and several other countries still use them. To be fair, Ukraine has several of them as well. However, Russia had around 2000 of T-62 tanks in storage and pulled out around 600 of them last year mostly to reinforce their positions in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya.
In recent days, Russian BTR-50 tracked amphibious armored personnel carriers have been spotted for the first time in Ukraine – this machine was put into service in 1954. Its production ended in 1970, which means that the newest BTR-50s are 53 years old. .
The UK’s Ministry of Defense has been assessed that these ancient machines may be used to reinforce even the elite armored units. Although it needs to be said that at least some of those T-62s might have been updated, those improvements are likely minimal – like improved ability to operate at night with better sights.
Is T-62 a match for the anti-tank weapons used by the defenders of Ukraine? No, not at all. Most of the Western-made anti-tank weapons in Ukraine are made to combat much newer machines. Therefore, T-62 has little to no chance if it comes anywhere near the prepared defenders of Ukraine. And Russia cannot keep denying that it is having issues with armor, ammunition and other supplies – sending T-62s to a war in 2023 is not normal.
Source: Wikipedia.