Reasons Why Russia Deploys Old T-62 Tanks on Ukrainian Battlefields

Reasons Why Russia Deploys Old T-62 Tanks on Ukrainian Battlefields
Russia Deploys Old T-62 Tanks

International Military - Russia has reportedly deployed the T 62 medium battle tank in its battle with Ukraine. On May 23, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian military was moving the T 62 medium battle tank to the front lines.

"As a result of losses during hostilities, the Russian enemy was forced to withdraw from the storage of T 62 tanks in order to recruit a reserve battalion tactical group being formed for delivery to Ukraine.

In addition, damaged and restored equipment at repair and renovation plants is used to replace lost weapons and military equipment," the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in one of the daily operational updates of the war, quoted from 19fortyfive.com.

Open source intelligence emerged showing a military train carrying a number of T 62 medium battle tanks moving to the front lines. The T 62 tank is known as an ancient tank built in 1957. This tank was also developed from the T-55 tank.

When production was discontinued in 1973, it is known that the Soviet Union produced about 20,000 T-62 medium battle tanks. Eventually, the T-62 medium battle tank was replaced by the T-72 main battle tank currently in use by the Russian and Ukrainian militaries.

With a high forward slope, 100mm thick armor and side armor between 45mm and 80mm, the T-62 medium battle tank was a formidable fighting machine for its time.

But now, it was ancient, and even basic anti-tank weapons could penetrate his armor. However, there are many reasons why Russia put these old tanks into battle.

According to Military Watch Magazine, since these units were largely directed by Russian officers, and consisted mostly of newly recruited personnel with little experience, the T-62 was seen as a more suitable tank.

This is due to their lower maintenance requirements and greater ease of operation. In addition, when compared to the supply of T-72, T-80, up to T-64, it is clear the T-62 is much more. Not only that, the T-62M also gains many advantages. The T-62M can be maintained and operated by newly recruited personnel without the need for significant training or experience.

So this makes it more preferable to the T-72. Moreover, the T-62 is one of the tanks with experience in the battlefield. Meanwhile, the T-62's weakness as an engine was that it required a crew of four rather than three due to the lack of an autoloader.

Where the autoloader is the problem currently faced by all Western tanks developed outside of France. Another reason was that the smaller 115mm gun was much less powerful than the 125mm gun of all subsequent Russian designs.

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