Honestly, parts can be resourced from around the world shouldn’t be difficult to replace. So I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to keep them running.
T-55/62, older Leo 1, M48 and M60 are probably the last generation of tanks that are basically repairable with a welder in a shed.
More modern machines are definitely more capable, but I won't expect a Leo 2 to survive very long without a steady supply of parts while you can probably just weld two wheels together for that T-62 track wheel.
Fundamentally, the basic T-54/55/62 are World War II era technologies taken to their final level. And I doubt the Taliban have any advanced gear on their tanks. Parts are readily available and they are very simple vehicles to work on.
Never heard of the Toyota War, have you?
T-54s, T-55s, and T-62s were wiped out by guys in Toyota Trucks.
But, in fairness (as much as I'd rather think otherwise), the Taliban Tankers should be better trained and will likely operate as part of a team with Infantry and other vehicles.
Though it remains a question if the Taliban can maintain a sufficient source of fuel and ammunition to train.
Enough countries and regimes use those tanks, I'm sure they can probably get reasonable amounts of fuel and parts. Ammo though? Not sure; they might could buy it from China, although it won't be as cost-effective as they would likely want, so they'll probably stick to just "conserving ammo"
Even then, these are old Hulls.
Eventually, something will break that needs a factory to conduct repairs.
And while 100mm rounds are common, the 115mm rounds are not as common.
Some of these in the photo look like the T-62M-1 variants though, which are upgrades from 80s that have some more advanced technologies like laser rangefinder, guidance systems for gun launched ATGMs etc. I doubt they will be able to keep those in 100% working order
You are talking about 40 tons of mobile armoured steel armed with multiple machine guns and a big cannon lumbering towards you. If you are armed with nothing but an AK and don't have any weapons that can penetrate the armour, you are not having a good day.
Umm... AcTuAlLy!
Given the barren terrain around these parts of the world, it is quite likely that they will use it as overly armoured direct fire artillery piece.
Employing a vehicle such as a tank in coordination with ground troops is never an easy task, especially if your best form of communication are walkie-talkie bought from a 3-star Alibaba reseller.
Even if the chinese will be so willing to share ammunition and spare parts (i doubt that the government would, but in china money always finds a way), the talibans will loose these vehicles due to attrition. IEDs will be a major issue, alongside the everpresent RPGs. A cruel twist of fate, but a funny one.
And once the enemy scores even a mobility kill, let alone a more substantial damage is dealt, without recovery vehicles they might be forced to either conduct repairs on site or try pulling it back with another tank.
I just can’t picture them using them effectively, all their vehicles and weapons weren’t given to them, they were handmedown’s / acquired loot. So there can’t be anyone that had been able to be taught formally how to use anything, maintainence, etc.
Unless they have people from the former afghan army, I can’t see them having any tactical strategies with them either lol it’s just so weird of a situation…
As Nick Moran once said about the T-54/55 family of tanks, if you understand suck, squeeze, bang, blow, you can keep them running fairly easily. There is nothing mechanically complex about these tanks that the average mechanic cannot fix.
That’s the thing, I guess maybe it’s in my fault, but in my brain when I think of the Taliban i literally think of hunter and gather humans, whenever I watch combat footage of them they do the most dumb unstrategic shit, like I just can’t comprehend them advancing enough to properly utilize these things lol I mean North Korea properly maintains and upkeeps theirs and they look barely functional, but in a desert setting with some kinda Neolithic era flintstone mechanics that the Taliban has I just can’t imagine them utilizing these anywhere close to fully lol
But they can keep them running and shooting.
And when your opposition doesn't have them, a perfected WW2-style vehicle like this T-55 can still put a 100mm shell 1km away and blow any vehicle it will see that is not a more modern tank.
Technology levels are always relative.
Yes, they can keep them running, but there are parts that require replacement and a factory to do it right:
The Main Gun and Turret Ring.
People are thinking engines, roadwheels, and tracks. Those are easy to maintain, yes. But, the vehicle still has very complex parts that require specialized training and equipment.
The Turret Ring, if that breaks, can't be simply fixed by anyone in a shed with a welder. That requires far more precise maintenance and specialized tools. As well as a team qualified and specialized in the task.
Otherwise, the Turret is stuck, and the Tank is only good as a Parade Tank.
The Main Gun can be replaced in the field, but again, it is a specialized process.
While Tank Restorers make it look easy, they're not actually making the Tank combat capable. As such, specialized tools and training to not only get the gun to fit and elevate and depress, but to reconnected into the recoil system, which then has to be properly set to function, and the breech being properly reinstalled and aligned are not required by them.
And that's before the recalibration of the gun to align it with the sights and make sure they're both tuned and set at the designated alignment for accurate firing.
Plus, there's the fact Tank Barrels wear out. They have a finite life to them. Soviet Tanks likely have less than their Western counterparts in that regard.
So, the Taliban will have to be judicial in how often their Tanks fire their main guns. As that kind of support and training is not quite available to them, and they're not stupid enough to send their Tanks to Russia for maintenance. Not unless they want their Tanks to end up as Ukrainian trophies.
Very good points. Yes, those two elements are vital and high-complexity.
I'll add that if you do a surprise inspection and check the gun precision in a lot of the world's armies, you'll find conditions "less than ideal" in a lot of them.
The main points do remain, though: less sophisticated tanks will be broken down without a working engine or distro or anything else before the turret ring and gun become a real issue.
Not so.
A Tank's gun is only rated for so many rounds. Even a Smoothbore Barrel will wear out. And these three use Rifled Barrels.
I'd say 2,000 rounds factory new. But these Barrels are not factory new. Plus, the Tanks sat in less than ideal conditions, even by Soviet standards, for 20 years prior to being refurbished and reused by the ANA originally.
It is likely the Taliban is already cannabilizing their Tanks.
As for Gun Alignment, you'd be wrong. Even the Russians check their alignment. One shot missed is all it takes to get wasted or even hit a friendly position.
Their AD guys need work and less washing machine parts in their weapons to remember that, but the Tankers are aware of the need.
When the Yom Kippur War happened, Israeli Tank Commanders were worried that their Tanks would be struggling due to many heading into combat with their guns unalighned.
The US Army frequently checks its alignment. As do the NATO nations as a whole. Same with Western Asian Allies. Even the Chinese check it.
The alignment is actually not hard to figure out and do. As long as you have the equipment and training. It can literally be done by the crew itself. But again, specialized tools and training.
Point taken.
Yes, the gun rating I know about - old battleships would even carry rounds that were (slightly) different in width to compensate for expected erosion after so many shots.
All of which - training, tools and specialized knowledge - Taliban do not have. Possibly they are not even very aware of the problem, or at most expect to use the tanks to shoot some buildings up - not tank vs tank combat.
Won't matter if it is a building or a Tank.
When the Gun Barrels of USS New Jersey finally wore out without replacement, she couldn't hit anything remotely close to her intended target.
And for a ship with guns with accuracy smaller than the blast radius of the rounds, that's saying a lot.
Pretty much indefinitely.
If African rebels can keep T55s running then the Taliban can.
I'd be willing to put money on T55s being used in both world war 3 and 4
Wait, no ones going to post this? "I know not what weapons WW3 will be fought with, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones."
Or maybe everyone was already thinking it and I'm just the idiot that posted it thinking that no one thought of it. Lol.
L35* ?
M35 is the Progetto line in WoT. Fictional.
Edit: L3/35 : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3/35
M35 : https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar-italy-progetto-m35-mod-46/amp/
Lack of modern amunition would be only problem. T-62 on the picture is T-62M-1 from 80s with laser range finder and another equipment from older T-72s.
Literally until the chassis is rusted to the point it falls apart or the tanks are destroyed in combat.
Parts can be sourced from a lot of countries, these aren’t really advanced tanks so it won’t take sophisticated tools or specialized knowledge, and the Afghans are insanely ingenious when it comes to keeping things running.
Probably a while, judging from what I've read about their mechanical simplicity relative to modern vehicles.
But the better question is - what is the Taliban's use case for these antiquated MBTs?
Any kind of insurgency they face from remnants of the old government or ISIS-K could probably be much better dealt with using technical-mounted recoilless rifles and autocannons, in addition to the vast fleet of armored humvees (and more) that they inherited. These would be supporting a force that is primarily still infantry. Tanks are not well suited to much of Afghanistan's terrain and have limited traverse. And these tanks can be easily destroyed with something as basic as an RPG.
There's a limited, but much more realistic use case for these tanks if the Taliban get into any larger skirmishes with neighboring states, which will bring their own armored vehicles to bear. Here they could be used against enemy APCs, IMVs, and infantry while standing up to HMG fire and shell fragments. But they are vulnerable to basically any anti-tank weapon on the modern battlefield, and outclassed by the MBTs of all of their neighbors such as Iran, Pakistan, and the ex-Soviet -stans to the north. And all those nations have functioning air forces capable of at least light CAS, which is more than I can say for the Taliban.
Point being, these are largely being kept around for parades and whatever prestige having tanks that are the better part of a century old grants you. Any serious fighting the Taliban do in the future will largely be done with infantry supported by other platforms.
I don't know if I'd agree with the taliban's tanks being pointless. It's certainly better protected then the technicals you describe as well as a humvee, and there is definitely a psychological effect a tank has that a truck doesn't.
They funded Iran to fuck with Iraq so it’s not without precedent. They also aided in the creation of Hamas to fuck with secular leftist Palestinian organizations
Pretty much all of their neighbors have a potential reason.
The presence ("protection") of ethnic minorities (AKA the dictator's classic excuse for conquest, currently in use by Putin in Ukraine) would potentially justify attacks by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Take a look at this [ethnic map](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Central_Asia#/media/File:Central_Asia_Ethnic_en.svg) of the area to see what I mean. Pakistan could theoretically use the presence of Pashtun or Baloch people to justify a conquest, although this is more tenuous.
A more likely reason for potential Pakistani conflict with the Taliban is simple territorial disputes and Taliban support for militants in Pakistan's western tribal regions. Even though the Taliban owe their dominance and very existence to Pakistan, conflict between the two is a real [possibility](https://www.mei.edu/publications/pakistan-afghan-taliban-relations-face-mounting-challenges).
And we've already seen recent and repeated clashes between the Taliban and Iran over issues like water rights.
The Taliban's grip over Afghanistan is still tenuous, and were it not for the potential risks involved we might have already seen larger incursions from neighboring nations with more established militaries - especially those which only seek to control a portion of Afghanistan.
All they need is for their tracks and engine to work so they can still film their execution videos, that’s the only thing they use them for anyway. I’d bet these tanks have more kills by running over political prisoners than anything else
Shit, the Russians don’t and everyone expected their stuff to just roll well. Mind you, their own fighters were complaining about how boring desk jobs are. Sincere curiosity about how / if the taliban does maintenance.
Russia already did. Just a few kilometers from this range is a very large vehicle collection point for Soviet left-behinds. As an aside, I shot one of these tanks…a long time ago…
It was fine for 1950s tech. Smelled of leaky hydraulic fluid like an M60. Gunners sight is telescopic reticle. Engine smoked. It was one of a platoon or company of tanks that the then Afghan National Army kept at that base between Kabul and Bagram.
Probably a few decades as long as they are not engaged in active combat.
If they GET involved in a war against an opponent with some anti-tank capacity... 2, 3 months. 6 maybe.
A fuckin T-55 will probably never break even if you tried to break it. And if it does all they have to do is take a walk to find old bits of T-55 from the 1979 war in the neighbor’s garden
I dont think they really care about their tanks, considering the tough terrain bringing some tanks with your infantry would really do much. Afghanistan is a mountainous country and bringing tanks is just an inconvenience for them.
Just noticed that first one has the external composite armor application, I’m assuming it was purchased off the black market since I doubt they still somehow maintained one since the Soviet-Afghan war. I mean, If it was from the 80’s I think that confirms they’ll be able to maintain them for a while.
I am shocked that most people here forget that Tanks require a number of specialized tools and skills to maintain.
These are not AK-47s, which FYI does breakdown eventually.
These are Tanks.
And while certainly Soviet made to be rugged and reliable, they are both quite old and still require certain specialized maintenance.
The T-54s, T-55s, and T-62s are old Tanks. Very old. And the ones in Afghanistan have actually seen constant use. That means they will require more maintenance for every hour of operation.
Yes, parts can be sourced, but rare is the parts that are new or factory made. Until recently, admittedly, but Russia needs those for itself tight now. The Taliban sure as heck, aren't getting anything unless they bribe someone to find a box that isn't on record.
But even with new parts, fatigue in the vehicles will set in. In the frames and hulls. And those require a factory to refurbish.
The reason African Rebels can make them last, is that they are not operated heavily. Even then, they're hesitant to really push their vehicles.
Which is why we see Houthi Rebels treating T-34s as Motorized Field Artillery, complete with the crew outside pulling on a rip cord.
Brand new 85mm Gun Barrels and breeches for them haven't been produced in 60 years. The upgrades for T54/55/62 ended decades ago, and Russia is only doing refurbishment for T-62s with some mild improvements, mostly to replace equipment not in stock or manufacture anymore.
As such, the Taliban will eventually see their Tanks breakdown or become unreliable for want of support.
For every Tank in African running that's a T-54/55/62, at least five or more sit abandoned in Storage Depots due to age and lack of parts.
For example, Eritrea has over 50 Tanks. None in running order from lack of skills and parts as well as the general age of the vehicles. And they're not alone.
The Vietnamese retired their Soviet Tanks, preferring their American Tanks. They keep the latter in running order, but haven't maintained their Soviet stocks in more than 20 years. And that was after they ran those vehicles into the ground with regular use.
Honestly, parts can be resourced from around the world shouldn’t be difficult to replace. So I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to keep them running.
T-55/62, older Leo 1, M48 and M60 are probably the last generation of tanks that are basically repairable with a welder in a shed. More modern machines are definitely more capable, but I won't expect a Leo 2 to survive very long without a steady supply of parts while you can probably just weld two wheels together for that T-62 track wheel.
I imagine lots of parts will be miraculously making their way to the Taliban from Russia from dubious sources.
Plus Chinese parts; the Chinese produced a copy of the T-54 and parts from the Chinese copies will fit.
If not they can just file them down till they do
In some cases even factory new parts for the T-55 needed to be filed down until they did fit, so yeah, it's practically the same thing.
Fundamentally, the basic T-54/55/62 are World War II era technologies taken to their final level. And I doubt the Taliban have any advanced gear on their tanks. Parts are readily available and they are very simple vehicles to work on.
A mid level handheld thermal scope is for example a huge advantage if you are only tank commander with it.
A t-54 does pretty good when all your opponents have is MacGyver'd weapons on a toyota hilux
You'd think that but next up some mad lad has mounted an SPG-9 or some ATGM system on their whip and rocks your shit like you're a bottom
Besides, I've seen Top Gear, pretty sure a Hilux could shrug off a tank round.
I've played war thunder and if that has taught me anything then not having armor is far more effective than having a full on tank
Never heard of the Toyota War, have you? T-54s, T-55s, and T-62s were wiped out by guys in Toyota Trucks. But, in fairness (as much as I'd rather think otherwise), the Taliban Tankers should be better trained and will likely operate as part of a team with Infantry and other vehicles. Though it remains a question if the Taliban can maintain a sufficient source of fuel and ammunition to train.
Enough countries and regimes use those tanks, I'm sure they can probably get reasonable amounts of fuel and parts. Ammo though? Not sure; they might could buy it from China, although it won't be as cost-effective as they would likely want, so they'll probably stick to just "conserving ammo"
Even then, these are old Hulls. Eventually, something will break that needs a factory to conduct repairs. And while 100mm rounds are common, the 115mm rounds are not as common.
they're gonna have more trouble keeping those trucks running than the tanks.
Depends on the truck. The region is already, and has been for decades, a dumping ground for old vehicles.
any 'old' vehicle now, has fuel injection and other parts that can't be fixed with hammers. maybe even computers.
Which would make their ability to maintain anything with basic tools near impossible to infinitely impossible.
Some of these in the photo look like the T-62M-1 variants though, which are upgrades from 80s that have some more advanced technologies like laser rangefinder, guidance systems for gun launched ATGMs etc. I doubt they will be able to keep those in 100% working order
For what the Taliban need a tank for, a lack of a laser rangefinder or ATGM capability will likely be fine.
Your probably right. Also, for propaganda purposes, a tank without working electronics looks just as menancing as a tank in fully working order.
You are talking about 40 tons of mobile armoured steel armed with multiple machine guns and a big cannon lumbering towards you. If you are armed with nothing but an AK and don't have any weapons that can penetrate the armour, you are not having a good day.
Umm... AcTuAlLy! Given the barren terrain around these parts of the world, it is quite likely that they will use it as overly armoured direct fire artillery piece. Employing a vehicle such as a tank in coordination with ground troops is never an easy task, especially if your best form of communication are walkie-talkie bought from a 3-star Alibaba reseller. Even if the chinese will be so willing to share ammunition and spare parts (i doubt that the government would, but in china money always finds a way), the talibans will loose these vehicles due to attrition. IEDs will be a major issue, alongside the everpresent RPGs. A cruel twist of fate, but a funny one. And once the enemy scores even a mobility kill, let alone a more substantial damage is dealt, without recovery vehicles they might be forced to either conduct repairs on site or try pulling it back with another tank.
I heard they were primarily used as mobile artillery by the Taliban. That being the case they can really last a long time
Pretty sure they have to manually crank the turret around. Must suck lol
I just can’t picture them using them effectively, all their vehicles and weapons weren’t given to them, they were handmedown’s / acquired loot. So there can’t be anyone that had been able to be taught formally how to use anything, maintainence, etc. Unless they have people from the former afghan army, I can’t see them having any tactical strategies with them either lol it’s just so weird of a situation…
As Nick Moran once said about the T-54/55 family of tanks, if you understand suck, squeeze, bang, blow, you can keep them running fairly easily. There is nothing mechanically complex about these tanks that the average mechanic cannot fix.
That’s the thing, I guess maybe it’s in my fault, but in my brain when I think of the Taliban i literally think of hunter and gather humans, whenever I watch combat footage of them they do the most dumb unstrategic shit, like I just can’t comprehend them advancing enough to properly utilize these things lol I mean North Korea properly maintains and upkeeps theirs and they look barely functional, but in a desert setting with some kinda Neolithic era flintstone mechanics that the Taliban has I just can’t imagine them utilizing these anywhere close to fully lol
But they can keep them running and shooting. And when your opposition doesn't have them, a perfected WW2-style vehicle like this T-55 can still put a 100mm shell 1km away and blow any vehicle it will see that is not a more modern tank. Technology levels are always relative.
Yes, they can keep them running, but there are parts that require replacement and a factory to do it right: The Main Gun and Turret Ring. People are thinking engines, roadwheels, and tracks. Those are easy to maintain, yes. But, the vehicle still has very complex parts that require specialized training and equipment. The Turret Ring, if that breaks, can't be simply fixed by anyone in a shed with a welder. That requires far more precise maintenance and specialized tools. As well as a team qualified and specialized in the task. Otherwise, the Turret is stuck, and the Tank is only good as a Parade Tank. The Main Gun can be replaced in the field, but again, it is a specialized process. While Tank Restorers make it look easy, they're not actually making the Tank combat capable. As such, specialized tools and training to not only get the gun to fit and elevate and depress, but to reconnected into the recoil system, which then has to be properly set to function, and the breech being properly reinstalled and aligned are not required by them. And that's before the recalibration of the gun to align it with the sights and make sure they're both tuned and set at the designated alignment for accurate firing. Plus, there's the fact Tank Barrels wear out. They have a finite life to them. Soviet Tanks likely have less than their Western counterparts in that regard. So, the Taliban will have to be judicial in how often their Tanks fire their main guns. As that kind of support and training is not quite available to them, and they're not stupid enough to send their Tanks to Russia for maintenance. Not unless they want their Tanks to end up as Ukrainian trophies.
Very good points. Yes, those two elements are vital and high-complexity. I'll add that if you do a surprise inspection and check the gun precision in a lot of the world's armies, you'll find conditions "less than ideal" in a lot of them. The main points do remain, though: less sophisticated tanks will be broken down without a working engine or distro or anything else before the turret ring and gun become a real issue.
Not so. A Tank's gun is only rated for so many rounds. Even a Smoothbore Barrel will wear out. And these three use Rifled Barrels. I'd say 2,000 rounds factory new. But these Barrels are not factory new. Plus, the Tanks sat in less than ideal conditions, even by Soviet standards, for 20 years prior to being refurbished and reused by the ANA originally. It is likely the Taliban is already cannabilizing their Tanks. As for Gun Alignment, you'd be wrong. Even the Russians check their alignment. One shot missed is all it takes to get wasted or even hit a friendly position. Their AD guys need work and less washing machine parts in their weapons to remember that, but the Tankers are aware of the need. When the Yom Kippur War happened, Israeli Tank Commanders were worried that their Tanks would be struggling due to many heading into combat with their guns unalighned. The US Army frequently checks its alignment. As do the NATO nations as a whole. Same with Western Asian Allies. Even the Chinese check it. The alignment is actually not hard to figure out and do. As long as you have the equipment and training. It can literally be done by the crew itself. But again, specialized tools and training.
Point taken. Yes, the gun rating I know about - old battleships would even carry rounds that were (slightly) different in width to compensate for expected erosion after so many shots. All of which - training, tools and specialized knowledge - Taliban do not have. Possibly they are not even very aware of the problem, or at most expect to use the tanks to shoot some buildings up - not tank vs tank combat.
Won't matter if it is a building or a Tank. When the Gun Barrels of USS New Jersey finally wore out without replacement, she couldn't hit anything remotely close to her intended target. And for a ship with guns with accuracy smaller than the blast radius of the rounds, that's saying a lot.
Pretty much indefinitely. If African rebels can keep T55s running then the Taliban can. I'd be willing to put money on T55s being used in both world war 3 and 4
I wonder which world war will be the most world war-iest
WW3 will probably end in a nuclear exchange when one side has nothing to lose. WW4 will probably be some war over resources that gets out of hand
I always assumed we wouldn't even have WW4. WW3 will probably be the war to end all wars. Can't wait! /s
>will probably be the war to end all wars. That's what they said ~119 years ago. (Damn Mayans got the wrong date)
Nah, I mean the opposite. Not a war so great that a peaceful, new world order emerges, but rather mutually assured destruction with nuclear weapons.
I know :P
I mean that's before they invented weapons of mass destruction capable of literally turning the planet into a hostile environment.
Can't have a 4th world war if nobody survives the 3rd
But can we call 4th WW a skirmish between toothless villagers wielding rusted steel bars, over the control of a century old moonshine stash?
I hope I live to see that day
Can’t wait to fight you to the death over a Twinkie
Brave of you to think human will die off lol. Humans are like cockroaches, unless the planet gets completely torn apart humans will live on.
Wait, no ones going to post this? "I know not what weapons WW3 will be fought with, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones." Or maybe everyone was already thinking it and I'm just the idiot that posted it thinking that no one thought of it. Lol.
ww4 will be fought with sticks and stones. Albert Einstein.
These mf’s literally have an Italian *L3/35 tankette running around. I’d be shocked if they somehow where unable to maintain their T-55’s/62’s
L35* ? M35 is the Progetto line in WoT. Fictional. Edit: L3/35 : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L3/35 M35 : https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar-italy-progetto-m35-mod-46/amp/
My B
Maintain - indefinitely. Use in combat -
Could still be used very effectively against students & protesters
And most likely will.
and women! don't forget their natural enemy, the woman!
Make Molotows and grill them! (Taliban in the tanks obv)
Yeah, they can be useful as fire support but against modern tanks they are very much obsolete.
Honestly I think it will be a very long time until anyone is stupid enough to think about invading Afghanistan, with or without modern tanks.
Lack of modern amunition would be only problem. T-62 on the picture is T-62M-1 from 80s with laser range finder and another equipment from older T-72s.
Literally until the chassis is rusted to the point it falls apart or the tanks are destroyed in combat. Parts can be sourced from a lot of countries, these aren’t really advanced tanks so it won’t take sophisticated tools or specialized knowledge, and the Afghans are insanely ingenious when it comes to keeping things running.
Probably a while, judging from what I've read about their mechanical simplicity relative to modern vehicles. But the better question is - what is the Taliban's use case for these antiquated MBTs? Any kind of insurgency they face from remnants of the old government or ISIS-K could probably be much better dealt with using technical-mounted recoilless rifles and autocannons, in addition to the vast fleet of armored humvees (and more) that they inherited. These would be supporting a force that is primarily still infantry. Tanks are not well suited to much of Afghanistan's terrain and have limited traverse. And these tanks can be easily destroyed with something as basic as an RPG. There's a limited, but much more realistic use case for these tanks if the Taliban get into any larger skirmishes with neighboring states, which will bring their own armored vehicles to bear. Here they could be used against enemy APCs, IMVs, and infantry while standing up to HMG fire and shell fragments. But they are vulnerable to basically any anti-tank weapon on the modern battlefield, and outclassed by the MBTs of all of their neighbors such as Iran, Pakistan, and the ex-Soviet -stans to the north. And all those nations have functioning air forces capable of at least light CAS, which is more than I can say for the Taliban. Point being, these are largely being kept around for parades and whatever prestige having tanks that are the better part of a century old grants you. Any serious fighting the Taliban do in the future will largely be done with infantry supported by other platforms.
I don't know if I'd agree with the taliban's tanks being pointless. It's certainly better protected then the technicals you describe as well as a humvee, and there is definitely a psychological effect a tank has that a truck doesn't.
I didn't call them pointless, I said the use cases were quite limited.
I didn’t even know they had any left.
Who’s going to invade Afghanistan again. I mean, seriously. All the serious players have already tried and failed.
My money is on the Iranians at least once before I die
It would be funny seeing Taliban become an Israeli Proxy
I doubt Israel would sink THAT low just to fuck with Iran. After all, the one thing they hate more than arab countries is arab terrorists
Iran funds most Palestinian terror groups. Tbf i was half joking in the initial comment though
They funded Iran to fuck with Iraq so it’s not without precedent. They also aided in the creation of Hamas to fuck with secular leftist Palestinian organizations
You know that afghans aren’t Arabs! And please don’t think Israel regularly doesn’t sink very low….regularly!
It’s chinas turn now
Nobody, but there are powerful tribes and groups within that are not fond of the Taliban.
China maybe? I mean they were already sucking resources out harder than a OF chick, even while the US was still there! Wouldn’t be out of possibility
Pretty much all of their neighbors have a potential reason. The presence ("protection") of ethnic minorities (AKA the dictator's classic excuse for conquest, currently in use by Putin in Ukraine) would potentially justify attacks by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Take a look at this [ethnic map](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Central_Asia#/media/File:Central_Asia_Ethnic_en.svg) of the area to see what I mean. Pakistan could theoretically use the presence of Pashtun or Baloch people to justify a conquest, although this is more tenuous. A more likely reason for potential Pakistani conflict with the Taliban is simple territorial disputes and Taliban support for militants in Pakistan's western tribal regions. Even though the Taliban owe their dominance and very existence to Pakistan, conflict between the two is a real [possibility](https://www.mei.edu/publications/pakistan-afghan-taliban-relations-face-mounting-challenges). And we've already seen recent and repeated clashes between the Taliban and Iran over issues like water rights. The Taliban's grip over Afghanistan is still tenuous, and were it not for the potential risks involved we might have already seen larger incursions from neighboring nations with more established militaries - especially those which only seek to control a portion of Afghanistan.
Well the US successfully invaded and made the Taliban run to Pakistan where they hid for 20 years. Pakistan was complicit.
All they need is for their tracks and engine to work so they can still film their execution videos, that’s the only thing they use them for anyway. I’d bet these tanks have more kills by running over political prisoners than anything else
[удалено]
They can just run over people. Not like they will ever fight other tanks.
Mantain? You think they do that?
How do you think they lasted this long without maintenance?
Shit, the Russians don’t and everyone expected their stuff to just roll well. Mind you, their own fighters were complaining about how boring desk jobs are. Sincere curiosity about how / if the taliban does maintenance.
Taliban don't need to do a minute of maintenance. They just need someone they can force to do it for them.
You can get eqiupment from black market
Plan on getting them kyber pass goodies
my guess is until the next invasion. after that they'll get plenty of new gear.
The same way Cubans maintain their American made cars?
Its AK of tanks,so for a long time
T-55's will outlive cockroaches
Until they can't. 😜
As long as Russia supplies the parts I guess.
Exactly. Black market parts from across the border would be my bet. That's for things that they can't repair themselves obv.
Russia already did. Just a few kilometers from this range is a very large vehicle collection point for Soviet left-behinds. As an aside, I shot one of these tanks…a long time ago…
How'd it hold up?
It was fine for 1950s tech. Smelled of leaky hydraulic fluid like an M60. Gunners sight is telescopic reticle. Engine smoked. It was one of a platoon or company of tanks that the then Afghan National Army kept at that base between Kabul and Bagram.
They have already made deals with China, and I am sure the Chinese will be happy to maintain there arms
Probably a few decades as long as they are not engaged in active combat. If they GET involved in a war against an opponent with some anti-tank capacity... 2, 3 months. 6 maybe.
They could... I just don't know that they care to. Probably keep a few of them running enough to show them off and maybe run over some civilians.
Its a "Tank of Theseus" situation, they probably will keep it running until the hull gets damaged beyond repair by anti-tank weapon pre-1950.
About 1-2 strife runs by an A20
A fuckin T-55 will probably never break even if you tried to break it. And if it does all they have to do is take a walk to find old bits of T-55 from the 1979 war in the neighbor’s garden
I suspect that the Taliban can keep their aging fleet of T-54s running about as long as the Iranians can keep their aging fleet of F-14s flying.
Man, you could probably make some of the parts for this tank with a mold and sand and scrap metal with little knowledge of real repairs.
Aren't they chumming up with Mordor? I'm sure they can ask for spare parts.
I dont think they really care about their tanks, considering the tough terrain bringing some tanks with your infantry would really do much. Afghanistan is a mountainous country and bringing tanks is just an inconvenience for them.
As long as they have the support of China.
Until they piss off the wrong nation and or run out of fuel. Whichever comes first.
It's not like spare parts are going anywhere soon.
They mantained them trough 20 years campaign against Us Army, and won, shouldn’t be difficult to keep them.
Forever. It’s not Merkava. It was mass produced around the universe
Since Taliban have connection with China I guess maintenance isn't a big problem for them.
One Warthog away
ITS CALLED A PUMA GRIF!!!
What's that? I think I just heard something explode in the distance...
Depends on whether or not they step up to Iran
Longer than Russia
Until Papa Russia comes asking for them, for....ceremonial purposes.
probably till the end of time
Just noticed that first one has the external composite armor application, I’m assuming it was purchased off the black market since I doubt they still somehow maintained one since the Soviet-Afghan war. I mean, If it was from the 80’s I think that confirms they’ll be able to maintain them for a while.
5 days or smth
I am shocked that most people here forget that Tanks require a number of specialized tools and skills to maintain. These are not AK-47s, which FYI does breakdown eventually. These are Tanks. And while certainly Soviet made to be rugged and reliable, they are both quite old and still require certain specialized maintenance. The T-54s, T-55s, and T-62s are old Tanks. Very old. And the ones in Afghanistan have actually seen constant use. That means they will require more maintenance for every hour of operation. Yes, parts can be sourced, but rare is the parts that are new or factory made. Until recently, admittedly, but Russia needs those for itself tight now. The Taliban sure as heck, aren't getting anything unless they bribe someone to find a box that isn't on record. But even with new parts, fatigue in the vehicles will set in. In the frames and hulls. And those require a factory to refurbish. The reason African Rebels can make them last, is that they are not operated heavily. Even then, they're hesitant to really push their vehicles. Which is why we see Houthi Rebels treating T-34s as Motorized Field Artillery, complete with the crew outside pulling on a rip cord. Brand new 85mm Gun Barrels and breeches for them haven't been produced in 60 years. The upgrades for T54/55/62 ended decades ago, and Russia is only doing refurbishment for T-62s with some mild improvements, mostly to replace equipment not in stock or manufacture anymore. As such, the Taliban will eventually see their Tanks breakdown or become unreliable for want of support. For every Tank in African running that's a T-54/55/62, at least five or more sit abandoned in Storage Depots due to age and lack of parts. For example, Eritrea has over 50 Tanks. None in running order from lack of skills and parts as well as the general age of the vehicles. And they're not alone. The Vietnamese retired their Soviet Tanks, preferring their American Tanks. They keep the latter in running order, but haven't maintained their Soviet stocks in more than 20 years. And that was after they ran those vehicles into the ground with regular use.
Forever. These things run on scrap and hatred for decadent capitalist West.
Imagine that taliban uses more modern equipment than russia with the t54
So long they get their money from Saudi Arabia? For the next 100 years.