Slovenia's M‑55S tanks: A troubled journey in Ukrainian ranks
The M-55S tanks, sent to the front from Slovenia, are, according to a Forbes analyst, the worst Western-made tanks to enter the Ukrainian army. Instead of actively participating in combat against the Russians, they are merely being transferred between various Ukrainian brigades.
"The Ukrainian military never really figured out what to do with its worst Western-made tanks. Shuffled between brigades for more than two years without seeing much direct combat, the survivors of 28 ex-Slovenian M-55S tanks have reportedly found a new home: the newly formed 159th Mechanized Brigade," writes David Axe.
Are M-55S tanks useless in Ukraine?
The M-55S is a heavily modernised Soviet T-55 tank that entered service in the late 1950s. The work on the M-55S was completed in 1997. Ukraine received 28 of these tanks by the end of 2022, while Slovenia received 40 combat vehicles from Germany in exchange for its assistance.
Data from the Oryx group, which documents equipment losses of the warring parties in Ukraine, indicates that so far, Ukrainians have lost only two such machines. Compared to losses associated with other tanks, this is very little, which confirms reports that the M-55S hardly participates in battles.
M-55S in another brigade
Compared to their Soviet predecessors, the M-55S primarily uses a rifled L7A1 gun with a 105 mm calibre (instead of the 100 mm gun), allowing Slovenian tanks to use a wider range of ammunition with greater destructive power. There is also a focus on a new fire-control system, improved internal and external communication systems, and reactive armour.
According to David Axe, it is primarily due to the change in the main gun that the M-55S tanks still retain acceptable offensive capabilities (although they obviously lag behind newer Western tanks in this regard). At the same time, despite the installation of anti-drone cages by Ukrainians, the overall durability of these machines is not the highest.
The fact that the M-55S tanks are already being allocated to a fourth unit within two years is assessed by David Axe as a lack of a solid plan by the Ukrainians on how to utilise these machines. It's uncertain if this will change in the 159th Mechanized Brigade, one of 14 new brigades that the Ukrainian ground forces established last year.
"Don’t be shocked if the M-55S battalion gets transferred again if and when the 159th Mechanized Brigade disintegrates the way the 155th Mechanized Brigade did," the analyst concludes.
