Quote:
Originally Posted by Vespers War
To play devil's advocate, they might not want to use the T-54/55 very much because it requires a fourth crewman that normally isn't part of Russian tank crews and trained crews are better used on the newer tanks. Semi-trained crews can probably handle them adequately in the artillery role that the T-54/55 and T-62 are allegedly being used in, but not in the armored assault role.
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The Russian armored corps has already been shattered and almost all instances of using tanks since mid-2022 has been in the form of an assault gun or armored field gun.
The problem of the fourth crew man is something I already predicted when the Russians began using T-62s about a year ago. It will put additional strain on the Russian recruiting and training systems. Although it's just the loader, the lowliest and least training demanding position in the tank, the training system of the Russian Armed Forces is already overburdened.
However, other options are lacking, T-72 production is simply not high enough to keep up with losses. And training crews on newly built or repaired T-72s takes much longer time than training conscripts on T-62s and T-55s. So, Russia will retain a very small number of T-72 crews, but the majority of drafted conscripts will end up in these iron-age coffins.