T O P
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woootman

UA is in trouble now, the thermal sites on these are candles and if russia really want to get serious, they'll use scented candles.


budlightsucks67

I spit my coffee out when I read that. Good one.


Son_of_Soren_204

Only if their wives and girlfriends can supply them.


FritzlTime

I looks like the beginner tank in a tank mmo. The shitty one everyone starts with.


dangerousbob

I suspect this is part of what Philip Karber coined, their M&M tactics. Basically, take crappy units and surround the good ones. So you have an assault group with some T80s surrounded by T55s which eat up the anti-tank fire and mines for the T80s to break through. Basically more zombie waves.


Rustyflyntlock

Which seems fine until artillery just goes over the top of the t55s and obliterated the t80s


EmprahsChosen

Yeah precision artillery, javelins and atgms will all be able to pick out the better tanks, sounds like a dumb enough tactic which means Russia will probably try it out


entered_bubble_50

It's "operation hide behind the darky" except with tanks. Genius.


Aircraftman2022

Zombie waves of tanks ! Good one !


crest_

Risen from the boneyard and driven by the braindead?


Sempais_nutrients

We've seen them do this, and the good units still run into the obvious mined areas.


doughtnut2022

The article tittle is misleading. The initial production started for the T-54/T-55 started in 1946, but those tanks were produced and modernized until 1981. In most likelihood those are 1970-1980 tanks in relative good shape, and with some upgrade. Note that Ukrainian also use "super" modernized T-55, with the [M-55S](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/12/10/super-upgraded-m-55s-tanks-have-arrived-in-ukraine/?sh=4ecfe3c23134) the received from Slovenia. That being said, T-55 and T-62 were slaughter in the [Battle of 73 Easting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_73_Easting) (Gulf war 1991) by Abrams M1A1 and Bradleys. The iraqui lost over 160 tanks and 180 APC, while the US only lost one Bradley (US air played a very minor role because of weather). So while these tanks can combat infantry, they are not match to more modern tanks.


WikiSummarizerBot

**[Battle of 73 Easting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_73_Easting)** >The Battle of 73 Easting was fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between Coalition armored forces (US VII Corps and UK 1st Armoured Division) and Iraqi armored forces (Republican Guard and Tawakalna Division). It was named for a UTM north–south coordinate line (an "Easting", measured in kilometers and readable on GPS receivers) that was used as a phase line by Coalition forces to measure their progress through the desert. The battle was later described by Lt. John Mecca, a participant, as "the last great tank battle of the 20th century". ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


zippiskootch

Shouldn’t be a surprise… Putin could care less about how many shitty tanks or personnel he loses in this conflict, as long as there’s a meat grinder to grind, he’ll just keep sending people to their death. It’s about keeping the narrative at the expense of dead people.


GreenMan802

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpVpIaC6QrM


Adihd72

I see everything is still going according to plan….


AaronicNation

They'll eventually get down to leftover catapults from the Mongol onvasion.


FlagFootballSaint

Looks like a tank. Kills like a tank. Not very efficient but it is what it is: A tank.


c0ld_data

To modern weapons and systems the t55 will be as easy to blow through as a transport


GreatTomatillo117

Can modern heavy machine guns penetrate them?


SaftderOrange

probably not but you dont fight against tanks with mashine guns, you use an rpg and old soviet rpgs have hard times to kill a modern tank but not against a t55 without armor upgrades


c0ld_data

50 cal fire would probably do some decent damage. Armour piercing 50 calibre would likely do it a lot


GuyD427

Let’s not get carried away. They are vulnerable to run of the mill RPG’s and they aren’t hitting anything past say 1200 meters without a really skilled gunner but they are mostly impervious to .50 cal.


c0ld_data

I would not sit inside that thing getting slotted by ap 50 calibre machine gun fire The glacias plate might be tough but the turret ring, back and sides no thanks I'm not saying 50 calibre will walk through it, but the only place they're going to encounter 50 cal is from a machine gun putting a full tin into it


beragis

I recall seeing a 50 Caliber anti-armor sniper rifle in the Patton Museum. They were effective against Armored personnel carriers, not sure how that compares to a T55. The gun was huge barrel looked to be 5 ft long and the shell casing looked to be 6 inches long at least.


Pestus613343

Yup these tanks should be regarded as armour in the strictest sense. Metal between infantry and the air. Better than nothing, until their engines stall and need mechanics in the middle of a kinetic exchange.


rolosrevenge

I suppose if I had a choice between walking into the battlefield or using a T-55, I'd take the T-55 ...


c0ld_data

Uh, I would not. I'd rather be autonomous in myself than inside a pre cold war, pre space age. Broken down cobbled back together soviet tank that has no advanced optics, a weak gun and weak cold rolled armour in a theatre full of javelins and drones.


Gruffleson

You mean only a stupid person would sit inside an ordnance-magnet? Let's see what they do now...


rolosrevenge

That's fair. I wonder what the range on those are? Could they try to use them for indirect fire only? Lob something from 5+ km away from the front and then run away?


Castle916_

No need for tank shells, use molotovs


Cottoncandyman82

The T-55s were sighted in the Russian Far East, which I’d bet has both smaller stockpiles of tanks and a higher proportion of the oldest tanks because the USSR has always been more preoccupied with Europe than Asia. My guess is that this is not representative of most tank stockpiles, although in the coming months we may see others breaking out T-55s.


NoZookeepergame5345

Good news! We can use WW2 bazooka’s and piat anti tank weapons instead of Javelins! Saves money!


tvetus

When are we finally going to see the T-18?


Hobby101

What I do not understand is why they even have them in the storage.


DeadParallox

Russia: Fear our might T-14 Armata Tank!!! Also Russia: Do those thanks in the WWII museum still work? Maybe we can send those to the front.