“Assuming older models held in storage haven’t rusted into oblivion, which is the big unknown, it should be relatively straightforward to refurbish them and put them back into service,” Nicholas Drummond, a defense analyst and industry consultant, tells Popular Mechanics. There is also a looting issue, with stored tanks reportedly stripped of valuable metal, electronics, and engine parts.īut the inoperable tanks are still raw material for refurbishment at Russia’s BroneTankovyRemontnyZavods (Armored Vehicle Repair Plants), or BTRZs. Army’s surplus tanks are stored in the arid climate of California at Sierra Army Depot, stored Russian tanks endure extreme cold and rain. Only a small portion, perhaps 10 percent, are still operable. The vehicles range from 1990s-vintage T-90s to creaking T-54s from the 1940s. Storage depots around Russia house over 10,000 old tanks. Russia Uses New Tactics To Keep 2,000 Tanks Alive.In Ukraine, Tanks Are Still Warfare Workhorses.Russia Says T-14 Tanks Began Combat Tests.UVZ is supposed to make 20 T-90M tanks per month, but the real figure looks much lower. However, its showpiece ultramodern T-14 Armata is not in production eight years after it was first unveiled due to endless technical problems. UVZ makes refrigerated freight cars and other civil machinery, but it still relies on military contracts.

UVZ has a reputation as “ Putin’s favorite factory,” but years of corruption and poor management have hollowed out this once-proud enterprise, leaving it on the brink of bankruptcy in 2016, and attempts to modernize production have stalled. UVZ turned out an astonishing 25,000 T-34 tanks during the war, half the total number made. 183, and was awarded the Order Of Lenin, the USSR’s highest civilian honor, for its heroic levels of production. During WWII, the plant was known as Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. Russia only has one tank factory, the UralVagonZavod (UVZ), or “ Ural Freight Car Plant,” in Nizhny Tagil, about 1,000 miles east of Moscow. Can Russia win the war by resurrecting a zombie army from its tank boneyards? Putin’s Favorite Factory But while Ukraine begs allies to donate tanks, Russia can rebuild its tank fleet, mainly with reconditioned vehicles from storage. This included half of the T-72s, which form the backbone of the tank force. Russia’s tank fleet was shattered during the first year of the invasion of Ukraine, with documented losses of more than 1,800 battle tanks.

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