‘Paper Bear‘ Putin has been lying to the Russian citizens for over a decade. Then he told the Russian people ‘n the World that Russia had just spent over a decade (from 2008) modernizing its military. Then he decided to reinvade Ukraine wid his new modernized military on 2/24/2022, and by 3/26/2023 much of that modernized Russian military has been destroyed *OR* captured by Ukraine. Now he’s talking about needing a lot more tanks!?
Putin: Russia to modernize over 1,600 tanks over next 3 years, produce new ones:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 25 that his country planned to modernize 1,600 tanks available in its stock over the next three years, as well as ramp up tank production, Russian state media reported.
Hold on a sec here — what kind of tanks are being modernized!?
Russia Mocked for Rolling Out T-54 Tanks From 1940s: ‘What Next, Horses?’:
Footage of antiquated Soviet tanks reportedly being transported across Russia has raised questions about the equipment losses suffered by Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.
The open-source Conflict Intelligence Team has reported that Russian battlefield losses are so high Moscow is using seven-decade-old armored vehicles to make up the shortfall.
Snip .. Production of the T-54 began in 1946 when Joseph Stalin was in power and by the end of the 1950s it had become the main battle tank for armored units of the Soviet army.
Why spend a bunch of money trying to modernize tanks from the 1940s & 1950s — why not just build new ones wid modern armor ‘n weapons?
In the 1940s the Soviet Union was able to produce 1,000 tanks a month. Today, Russia can produce just 20, with a single factory struggling to keep pace with outsized demand caused by the war in Ukraine…
Snip .. Russia is losing around 150 tanks a month in Ukraine, according to an analysis by open source intelligence platform Oryx.
Hold on a sec here — let’s do some math. Tank factory can build 20 new tanks a month, but Ukraine has been destroying or capturing (?!) 150 tanks a month. So Russia needs 130 more tanks a month — just to keep up wid their tank loses, i.e., Russia needs to ‘modernize‘ at least 130 old old tanks a month.
Conclusion
Tanks need crews to operate them, 3 for the T-72 & T-80 tanks, and the T-62 & T-54 have crews of 4. Losing 150 tanks a month — plus who knows how many dead Russian crew members each month!?! Russia must be replacing these crews wid inexperienced tank crews.
Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine:
This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, mortars, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as ‘abandoned’ will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can’t be recovered. When the origin of a piece of equipment can’t be established, it is not included in the list. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.
Tanks (1896, of which destroyed: 1145, damaged: 98, abandoned: 101, captured: 552)
That’s a huge lose of tanks! They have the list (w/pics or video) at that link, but too long to post here. Oryx is an open-source intelligence site, so their info is about as accurate as it can be. Part of the new Open Source Research community.
Last but not least — Mobilisation in Russia: How to Convince Men to Fight in Ukraine? I definitely wouldn’t want to be near any Russian tanks this year! 😨