The tank model rejected by the Ukrainian army

The M-55S tanks Slovenia transferred to Ukraine were not trusted by Kiev and the unit's staff was transferred many times, most recently a reserve brigade.

In September 2022, Slovenia reached an agreement to supply Ukraine with 28 M-55S tanks, a modernized variant of the Soviet-made T-55 series, in exchange for 40 German-made military vehicles, including 35 eight-wheeled trucks and five tankers.

The T-55 tank weighs 36 tons, is about 3.3 m high, 2.4 m long with a crew of 4. The vehicle is equipped with a 100 mm D-10T gun, a 7.62 mm SGMT coaxial machine gun and a 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun, can move at a maximum speed of 51 km/h, with a range of 325 km or 610 km with an auxiliary fuel tank.

The M-55S is a modernized variant of the T-55 tank, developed by the Israeli company Elbit, equipped with a NATO-standard 105 mm L7 gun, explosive reactive armor (ERA) on the hull and turret.

Additionally, the M-55S has a digital ballistic computer to improve the targeting capabilities of the fire control system, as well as a laser rangefinder and a more powerful engine.

Slovenian Army M-55S main battle tank. Photo: Slovenska Vojska .

Ukraine received the tanks in November 2022 and assigned them to the 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade, nicknamed the “Iron Fist.” The brigade trained with M-55S tanks in the following months, preparing for a large-scale counteroffensive in mid-2023.

About three months before the operation began, Ukraine received 21 Leopard 2A6 tanks from Germany and Portugal, a much more modern model than the M-55S. Kiev then decided to assign these Leopard 2A6 tanks to the 47th Brigade and transfer 28 M-55S tanks to the 67th Independent Mechanized Brigade, which was given less priority.

"The M-55S tank is equipped with explosive reactive armor, but the steel layer underneath the ERA is only a few hundred millimeters thick at its hardest point. This is quite modest compared to current tank armor standards," said military expert David Axe of Forbes . "Meanwhile, the Leopard 2A6 is one of the best protected tanks in combat."

While the 47th Brigade was involved in the Ukrainian counteroffensive on the southern front, the 67th Brigade was tasked with defending the city of Kreminna, north of the eastern Lugansk region. It lost an M-55S to Russian artillery fire in July 2023.

Images shared by Military Land, a project that monitors the activities of the Ukrainian military, on March 7 show that the remaining 27 M-55S tanks have once again been transferred to another unit, this time to the 5th Tank Brigade. This is one of the few intact brigades in the Ukrainian army's reserve force.

M-55S tanks in service with the 5th Ukrainian Brigade in a photo posted on March 7. Photo: Military Land

Technically, the brigade was established in 2016, but it exists almost exclusively on paper. The Ukrainian army only began equipping the 5th Brigade with weapons and personnel after the conflict broke out in late February 2022.

The 5th Brigade was then stationed in the Kryvyi Rih area, but remained largely inactive due to lack of resources, as Kiev prioritized replenishing its already established units.

It wasn’t until December last year that the first official training footage of the 5th Brigade emerged, indicating that the unit was preparing for deployment. The 5th Brigade is currently undergoing training in Kryvyi Rih.

Besides the M-55S, recent images on social networks show that this Brigade was also transferred Leopard 1A5, the tank line with the thinnest armor in current warfare.

In addition to the possibility that Ukraine is using Brigade 5 as a place to receive discarded equipment from other units, expert Axe believes that Ukraine may want to build a tank brigade that specializes in using one type of ammunition, since both Leopard 1A5 and M-55S are equipped with 105 mm L7 guns.

“Don’t think of this as a mixed brigade with one M-55S battalion and two Leopard 1A5 battalions. Think of it as a brigade of three L7 mobile artillery battalions, firing the same ammunition,” Axe said.

Pham Giang (According to Forbes, AFP, Reuters )

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/mau-xe-tang-bi-quan-doi-ukraine-hat-hui-4720370.html