Slovenia Gives Ukraine Some Very Old Tanks. But Age Can Be Deceiving.

Via Globalsecurity.org Slovenia has announced that it is sending Ukraine some very old tanks. As in, 70 years old, if you just go with the original plan. But age can be deceiving in this case. The soon-to-be-ex-Slovenian tanks aren’t half bad – especially compared to some of the museum pieces the Kremlin has sent to its own forces in Ukraine. The tank is the M-55S. It is a 1950s Soviet T-55 with upgrades. Lots of upgrades. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golomb in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz concluded an agreement according to which Germany would provide Slovenia with 40 military transport vehicles and Slovenia in turn would supply 28 M-55S to Ukraine. The M-55S is not the main tank of the Slovenian army. This would be the much newer M-84. M-55S are in reserve. On paper, a T-55 – any T-55 – is a hopelessly obsolete tank. While still popular in the developing world, the T-55 long ago disappeared from front-line units in relatively modern armies. But it is a cheap and reliable platform. And a solid foundation for ambitious upgrades—slightly more ambitious than the M-55S. In the late 1990s, the Slovenian army paid the Israeli company Elbit and STO RAVNE in Slovenia to modify 30 T-55s. The companies delivered the last example in 1999. The M-55S has a fixed, British-built L7 105mm main gun in place of the original Soviet 100mm gun. The British weapon is compatible with a wide range of modern ammunition, including armor-piercing sabot rounds that can penetrate the armor of a modern T-72. To demonstrate the weapon, Elbit installed a new fire control computer that allows the M-55S to fire while moving. A T-55 usually stops before firing. A T-55 has a crew of four – a commander, a gunner, a loader and a driver. Only the gunner can aim the weapon. The M-55S adds an independent sight for the commander so they can aim the gun as well. For protection, the M-55S adds a laser warning system that alerts the crew and deploys smoke grenades when an anti-tank missile is incoming. The Slovenian tank also has a new armor mix—explosive reactive blocks over passive armor. Finally, a new 600 hp engine, giving the 36 ton tank about the same mobility as a T-72. All it means is that the M-55S isn’t really a T-55. It’s the bones of a T-55 with a new brain, new muscles and new skin. And it should match many of the Russian tanks in Ukraine—especially the older T-72s as well as the T-62s that the Kremlin pulled out of storage this summer to try to make up for some of its losses. Twenty-eight M-55S are enough for a battalion. It is unclear when the ex-Slovenian tanks could arrive in Ukraine and how quickly Ukrainian crews can be trained on their new-old tanks. Follow me on twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. Send me a safe tip.