In the news Nov 29, 2016
Russia Preparing to Return 3,000 Older Tanks Into Service
It's a lot less impressive than it sounds.
The Russian government plans to refurbish up to 3,000 T-80 main battle tanks and return them to service with the Russian Army. The move may sound impressive, but it's actually a sign of Russia's diminishing economic and military power. According to the Telegraph, the older T-80 tanks will be taken out of mothballs and modernized to a new T-80BV standard. The work will be done by Omsktransmash, a state-owned tank design and engineering facility in the Siberian city of Omsk. The T-80 main battle tank was originally produced by the Soviet Union between 1976 and 1992. Unlike the USSR's other tank, the T-72, the T-80 was powered by a gas turbine engine. This provided more power than the T-72's diesel engine, but at the expense of high fuel consumption, which stresses supply lines.
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited the lion's share of the T-80 tanks. But Moscow decided to abandon the T-80 line in favor of the T-72 line, which eventually became the T-90, Russia's current frontline tank. It's supposed to be replaced eventually by the brand-new T-14 Armata. The T-80 is virtually identical to the T-72, aside from an unreliable, fuel-guzzling engine. But that key difference was enough to doom most T-80s to an early retirement. The tanks that will receive upgrades have been sitting around for several years, and the Russian military is not particularly known for carefully mothballing older equipment.
According to
Jane's, the T-80BV upgrade will consist of the Sonsa-U fire control system, an updated "energy generator" (whatever that is) and engine starter, and explosive reactive armor. Considering that Russia wanted to improve the T-80 in 2002 with a new main gun, ammunition, and a new fighting compartment for the crew, the BV upgrades are modest indeed. The T-80BVs will still be markedly inferior to NATO tanks like the M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2A7, and Challenger 2. The Russian government has stated the upgraded T-80BVs "will be suitable for the climatic conditions of the Arctic, the Far East, and Siberia." That's true enough—gas turbine tank engines do better in cold weather than diesel engines. But it's also true that those military districts are relatively quiet areas, with the possible exception of the border with Norway, and a safe distance from NATO armor.
That Russia is even pondering returning the T-80 to service is an indicator of plans gone awry. Russia should be producing more T-14 Armatas rather than dusting off old tanks, but the country's defense budget is set to drop by 12 percent in 2017, a percentage much worse than the 2013 budget sequestration that hobbled the U.S. Department of Defense. While Russia probably will buy the Armata in small numbers to keep the production line open until the economy improves, the lion's share of the "new" Russian tanks for the near future will be old ones.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...-into-service/
I did not see that many T-80's in Ukraine, so where (in whose pocket) is that investment gone. Wars are not only won on the battleground, economics is one of its key factor.