What You Need to Know: Ukraine’s aging T-64 tanks, originally developed in the 1960s, have proven surprisingly effective against Russian forces in the current conflict, despite their outdated design.

-Modernized variants like the T-64BM Bulat have performed well in close-range engagements, particularly in defensive missions like the defense of Chernihiv. However, Ukraine faces a dwindling tank supply as the war of attrition grinds on.

-While Western tanks like the Leopard-2 and Abrams haven’t significantly impacted the battlefield, Ukraine’s reliance on the T-64 highlights the adaptability of Ukrainian forces. Still, Ukraine’s aging arsenal may not be enough without a diplomatic resolution to the war.

Ukraine’s T-64s are Old and Getting Crushed...But are Somewhat Effective

Hey, Ukraine, the 1960s called. They want their Main Battle Tank (MBT) back. 

The Ukrainians have been lavished with a vast amount of resources from a desperate NATO that seeks to use Ukraine as a proxy force to, as one Air Force general said to me, “break the Russian Army in the field.” But none of those advanced Western tanks, like the German-built Leopard-2 or the American Abrams, have been anywhere near as effective in combat as have the ancient, by modern standards, T-64 MBTs.

Built-in the 1960s in Kharkiv, Ukraine by weapons designer Alexander Morozov, the T-64 is undoubtedly the best-performing tank in Ukraine’s dwindling arsenal of MBTs. Possessing a 125mm smoothbore gun, composite armor, and an autoloader, the design philosophy behind the T-64 was that it needed to outperform its Cold War Western rivals. Specifically, in the arenas of protection and firepower. 

T-64: An Enduring Platform 

This is a durable weapons platform. There is one story of a Ukrainian T-64 MBT going face-to-face with a slightly newer, though still old by today’s standards, Russian T-72 MBT and the Russian tank turning tail and running, even though the twitchy Ukrainian tank operators missed a shot at point-blank! 

Ukraine’s most modernized variants are the T-64BM Bulat and the T-64BV. These tanks have blasted Russian tanks at extremely close range. In fact, that tends to be the preferred method of attack by Ukrainian T-64 crews. 

Ukraine’s Armed Forces have deployed these ancient tanks in a variety of roles, ranging from offensive to defensive maneuvers. One notable defensive mission occurred when Ukraine’s First Tank Brigade defended the region of Chernihiv from a much larger force of better-equipped Russian T-72s.

Kyiv has overseen a coterie of upgrades for this antique, notably in the T-64BM Bulat. They’ve enhanced the engines, created better fire control systems, and added reactive armor, all of which made this system much more competitive against modern tank threats, though these platforms are still vulnerable to Russian anti-tank weapons and drones. 

Sadly, these old platforms still have limits. In many cases, extreme limits. 

For starters, Ukraine is simply running out of tanks in general. The Russians have opted to engage in a war of attrition, and while Russia is losing equipment and manpower at ridiculously high rates, Russia has a better industrial base, stronger supply chain, and more manpower at its disposal than Ukraine. What’s more, the T-64s do not perform well in open terrain or when facing top-attack munitions, which as the name suggests, bypass the T-64’s frontal armor.

It's Not Enough

America and its NATO allies foolishly attempted to turn the Ukrainian Armed Forces into a mini version of itself. The Ukrainians have struggled to adapt to those ridiculous, foreign standards. Instead, whenever Ukraine has enjoyed tactical successes, it has been with older, Ukrainian-built or Soviet-era systems, like the T-64. 

What the West should have been doing is helping the Ukrainians to produce more T-64s and letting the Ukrainians develop their own tactics. The only reason that Ukraine has even held on is because they have all but abandoned the NATO standards resorted to a model of attrition and deployed older platforms ingeniously. 

Alas, even these moves, untethered from effective diplomacy and grand strategy, will not yield the desired results for the ailing Ukrainian forces. They must get a deal from Moscow to end the war forthwith. 

About the Author

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images on the page come from Shutterstock or Creative Commons. 

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