Photos, showing decommissioned Russian military hardware, delivered to Tartus and handed over to the Syrian Army, have been published online.
Photo: Twitter
Photos of Russian military hardware in Tartus, handed over to the army of the Syrian Arab Republic, were published online. The photos show the T-62 tanks, the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, and an old model of the GAZ military truck.
The T-62 is a Soviet medium tank, which weight is 36.5-42 tons (in various modifications). The tank’s development was started in 1957; it was passed into service in 1961. The mass production of the T-62 had been carried out in 1961-1975. In total, about 20,000 tanks were produced. The T-62 was removed from service in 2011. As it was previously reported, the full utilization of the tanks’ park in storage (about 1,000 pieces) was started in 2013. At the same time, according to Western analysts, 2,500 tanks continue to be stored (data of the end of 2015). The supplies of the T-62 to Syria indicate that this type of tanks is in storage of the Russian Army.
Photo: Twitter
Photo: Twitter
The BMP-1 weighs 12.6 tons. In contrast to an armored fighting vehicle, the first in the Soviet history infantry fighting vehicle was designed not only to deliver infantry forces, but also to maintain it in a battle. The BMP-1 was passed into service in 1966. Its mass production had been carried out in 1966-1983. In total, about 20,000 BMP-1s were produced. According to the IISS, 7,000 vehicles are in storage (data of 2016).
In conditions of the war against the poor armed enemy and the acute lack of funds in the Syrian Arab Republic, supplies of this military hardware, which long ago is not used by the Russian Armed Forces, seems to be enough good support for the Syrian Army. It is quite possible that this hardware is intended to militias’ formations, but not for the regular Syrian Army. Most likely, the vehicles will be upgraded by local masters, like the BMP-1 in the photo below.
Photo: Twitter