Russia replacing armor losses with 1960s Soviet tanks -UK intel

The Russian military has continued to rely on 60-year-old Soviet tanks to replace armor losses, the UK Defense Ministry assessed in a Monday intelligence update.

"Since summer 2022, approximately 800 T-62s have been taken from storage and some have received upgraded sighting systems which will highly likely improve their effectiveness at night," said the UK Defense Ministry.

Russian tank divisions are being provided with old T-62 main battle tanks, including units in the 1st Guards Tank Army, which the UK described as supposedly being "Russia's premier tank force."

Russia's use of tanks and production issues due to Ukraine war sanctions

The 1st Guards Tank Army had been set to receive the next-generation T-14 Armata MBT in 2021.

Russia had been set to deploy the T-14 in Ukraine, according to previous intelligence reports. In late December the UK Defense Ministry had said imagery showed T-14s were in training for pre-deployment exercises.

While the T-14 has been marketed as a "super tank," the UK said in January that "11 years in development, the program has been dogged with delays, reduction in planned fleet size, and reports of manufacturing problems.”

“Any T-14 deployment is likely to be a high-risk decision for Russia,” due to problems with its engine and other technical issues, as well as further strain on Russia's already strained logistics and supply lines.

The UK Defense Ministry said that Russia had also deployed BTR-50 armored personnel carriers in Ukraine for the first time recently. The BTR-50 was first used by the Soviet Union in 1954.

The problem with obsolete military vehicles, is that they "present many vulnerabilities on the modern battlefield, including the absence of modern explosive reactive armor," said the UK Defense Ministry.

In early February, former Russian president and deputy Security Council chairman Dmitry Medvedev called for an increase in tank production while visiting manufactories. President Vladimir Putin has pressed his country's defense industry for further production.

"Production is almost certainly falling short of the Russian MoD’s demands to resource the Ukraine campaign and restore its longer-term defense requirements," said the UK Defense Ministry in mid-February.

Since the beginning of the war, Western intelligence services have reported that the Russian defense industry has been crippled by sanctions. Russia is reportedly dependent on foreign electronics and materials.

Ukrainian military intelligence head Maj-Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told USA Today on Thursday that "Russia has spent a huge amount of human resources, weapons and materials. Its economy and production are unable to cover these losses. It has changed its military chain of command. If the Russian military does not achieve its goals this spring, Russia will run out of its tools of war."