The Russian army is de-mothballing old Soviet tanks T-54 and T-55, accepted for service in 1946. A batch of such tanks was spotted being shipped by rail from Russia’s Far East.
This was reported by a group of OSINT investigators with the Conflict Intelligence Team, Ukrinform reports.
According to analysts, the train carrying the said equipment recently departed from the city of Arsenyev in the Primorsky Krai, where the 1295th Central Reserve and Tank Storage Base is located. In the photo, analysts recognized Soviet medium tanks of the T-54/55 family. The train carried both old T-54 models and vehicles that may be later models.
It is the first confirmed case where the T-54/55s have been removed from storage.
Among the shortcomings of the T-54 and T-55 tanks are the lack of rangefinders, ballistic calculators, fire control systems, as well as primitive sights and poor weapon stabilization (T-54).
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"We cannot name the possible areas of these tanks’ use but, in any case, along with the removal from storage of the BTR-50 APCs and the installation of ship's anti-aircraft guns on MTLBs, this clearly indicates serious issues with armored vehicle supplies in Russia," analysts believe.
Citing satellite imagery, CIT found that at least 191 tanks left the base in Arsenyev between June and November 2022 — probably mostly T-62s. However, their number can be much higher.
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The T-54 tank was created based on the T-44 series and entered service in 1946. Serial production continued until 1959, with over 20,000 units produced. It also underwent multiple modifications. It was decommissioned in 1994. The T-55 tank was created based on the T-54 and was produced until 1979.
As reported, since February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s Defense Forces of Ukraine have destroyed 3,557 Russian tanks and 6,887 armored combat vehicles.
Photo: SmartAge.pl
