By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington DC)
The destruction of Russian tanks in Ukraine has become both extremely well-known and extensively documented, and the Russian military has been widely reported as sending WWII-era T-55 tanks to fight Ukrainians.
If Russia’s most modernized tanks such as the T-90M or even upgraded T-72s are getting obliterated by Ukrainian anti-armor tactics, then it would seem T-55s would have little hope for success.
Perhaps this is why the Russian military appears to be copying terrorist tactics such as those used by insurgents and US enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remote-detonated Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices were remotely detonated by Russian attackers on a “massive scale” in terms of size and explosive impact.
The Russian military has embraced an enterprising attack method which, building upon previous uses of vehicles as “explosives,” is using large, old T-55 Russian tanks as massive unmanned explosives to drive into Ukrainian forces.
A Russian T-55 was filled with 3.5 tons of TNT and five FAB-100 bombs (220-pound air-dropped bomb) and then “detonated” by a Russian tank commander as it entered a Ukrainian stronghold. The Russian tank commander, as quoted in The Drive newspaper, observed the tank crew exit from the vehicle after putting the vehicle on manual gas and directing it to the enemy location. The large explosive-filled tank was exploded by remote control.
According to the news report, tank-bomb attack was a reported success, however it seems rather curious that Ukrainian forces would not “see” and attack an incoming tank. There would be a high likelihood that dismounted Ukrainian fighters would be armed with anti-tank weapons and they would certainly be inclined to fire them from stand-off ranges at an approaching Russian tank.
Nonetheless, the Russian move does appear enterprising, as the world certainly saw hundreds of VBIEDs (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices) during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Russian tank commander was reported as explaining the explosion of the bomb-filled tank as “very serious.”
Certainly impartial observers might be skeptical to believe a Russian casualty assessment, yet the initiative does highlight several key problems and challenges which continue to characterize Russia’s tank fleet. Two critical variables come to mind, the first and most significant of which is the simple fact that Russia’s tank arsenal has been decimated. Numerous open-source assessments say Russia has likely lost one-half of its available tank fleet, a reason perhaps why the Russian military is sending 1950s-era T-55 tanks. Without upgraded targeting sights, fire control, computing or command and control, the old T-55s are likely quite challenged to have any kind of a positive impact against Ukrainian anti-armor weapons. This is likely the key reason why Russia is thinking about different kinds of tactical uses for the T-55s.
The tank-bomb incident also highlights the overall difficulty Russia has been having with its mechanized forces seeking to invade or advance against Ukrainian positions. Even more capable Russian tanks such as T-72s or T-90s have been destroyed in large numbers by Ukrainian fighters. There are both strategic and tactical reasons for this, part of which pertain to the somewhat “ineffable” emotional fervor, intensity and resolve demonstrated by Ukrainian fighters. The Ukrainians also used successful anti-armor tactics against invading Russian forces, to include the use of disaggregated groups of dismounted soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons. By using decentralized hit-and-run kind of attacks and ambushes, Ukrainian fighters used terrain, buildings and narrow passageways to target Russian armored vehicles seeking to enter Ukraine. This was extremely effective in the opening months of the invasion, during which Ukraine showed unparalleled tenacity and shocked the world with its successful “stand” against a much larger invading Russian army.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University
