If I was a Russian tank commander, and my commanding officer told me to fight in one of these museum pieces – I would stand to attention, turn to the right, salute, and march home. To a 'tankie', it's the equivalent of a WW1 bi-plane taking on a stealth fighter. A modern rifle could pierce their armour, let alone a drone or modern western tank. They are little more than steel coffins. These are tanks designed before World War Two. Russia appears to be pulling 1940s and 1950s-era tanks out of storage, in the latest sign of a serious armour shortage in its army.Īs a former tank commander, I cannot overstate the insanity of this. If this is all Putin can now do, he has already lost. This is optimised by trains carrying pre-WW2 T34 tanks and 1950s T55 tanks to the frontline. In a bizarre twist, the Russian army appears to be turning into the Red Army of yesteryear, perhaps trying to evoke the spirit which finally halted the Nazi advance east in WW2. It is sometimes difficult to know what is the true state of the battles raging in the east of Ukraine, but if the latest information coming out of Russia is to be believed, either Putin and his generals are having a 'laugh' or have completely lost the plot. The hint is in the name – depleted but perhaps it was ever thus? When Russia accuses Britain of sending nuclear weapons to Ukraine, because British tank ammunition contains depleted uranium (DU), you realise that Russia is run on disinformation and lies. In this opinion piece, the retired colonel examines the latest signs of a serious armour shortage in the Russian army. Former tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE believes Putin and his generals have already lost if all they can do now is send pre–WW2 T34 tanks and 1950s T55 tanks to the frontline.
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