Russia hasn’t gotten to the point of desperation where they are sending cavalry soldiers on horseback with swords drawn against Ukrainian armor.
Not yet.
But they have started to pull their old T-54 and 55 tanks out of mothballs. The Soviet Union started to build these museum pieces at the end of WWII and then built thousands of them. They were, in fact, the most mass-produced tank in the world. These are the tanks that crushed the rebellion in Hungary in 1956.
As you might imagine, this is drawing ridicule.
Can you imagine these tanks going up against Leopard, Challenger or Abrams tanks? It almost seems wasteful to use a Javelin to take these out.
And where is Russia going to get the rifled ammunition these tanks use?
There are other issues with this tank. It takes a four-man crew rather than three, which makes the casualty rate when they get blown up 33% higher.
Sure. You can make a pillbox out of it.
And if you fit it with a shovel, you can convert it into a backhoe.
Or you could slap a Domino’s logo on the side and deliver pizzas with them.
Or maybe Russia could just get the hell out of Ukraine and use the T-54s for parades.
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All of a sudden Russia is concerned about violations of international law.