Now being reported by Oryx. Thing is, a radically upgraded T-55 - or an upgraded Leopard 1 - isn't going to do very well in toe-to-toe tank battles in open terrain. Though there have been some of those, that isn't most of the fighting that's going on. Will both of these tanks have the firepower to attack fortified positions? Yes. Do they have the ability to take out any vehicle short of a tank with direct fire? Yes. Do they have the armour to resist the more common direct fire anti-tank launchers? Also yes, at least in the M-55S's case, and the Ukrainians wouldn't put tanks into combat without first slathering them in reactive armour blocks.EACLucifer wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 9:30 pmIt's not from a remotely trusted source, but there's rumours about Slovenia sending a few dozen M-55S tanks to Ukraine. These are old T-55s that have been radically upgraded with new engine, armour, electronics and an L7 105mm gun. IF, and I emphasise IF this happens, they won't be for frontline service, but it might put pressure on Germany to part with its remaining Leopard 1s. One of the arguments for not doing so was that the L7 was allegedly useless and there was no ammunition for it - though America's chosen the L7 to arm it's new "Light"* tank, which rather puts at least the former of those claims in doubt.
*No tank weighing almost fifty tonnes - as much as a Warsaw Pact MBT - has any business calling itself a light tank
Much of this is also true for the T-62, though in that case the electronics aren't as well upgraded.