Instead of refurbished tanks leaving the facility, analysts increasingly observed support vehicles built using old T-80 hulls, including armored recovery vehicles and heavy weapons platforms. This may indicate that many remaining hulls are too degraded to restore as operational tanks.
The trend, according to the researcher, could signal that Russia’s remaining T-80 reserves are no longer viable for combat
The T-80 is a piece of shit tank. The reverse speed sucks which makes it a deathtrap and also the ammo and propellant is stored close to the crew making it a deathtrap when it cooks off from a hit.
Still, this was one of the better tanks russia had given their bar is so low. It is pretty amazing how terrible russia is at making tanks and how much they refuse to accept their tank design lineage is a dead end.
edit as a reminder -> No tanks are not obsolete because of drones.
Before diving into the analysis of this matter, it is important to note that armoured forces and heavy armoured vehicles have proven indispensable in all recent armed conflicts since 2020, despite the changing and increasingly hostile conditions on the battlefield. Armoured forces continue to play a critical role in modern ground warfare, while many militaries across the globe plan to expand and further develop this branch of service. The tank is not dead, and armoured forces are not going to go extinct in the near future.
Undoubtedly, armoured forces and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) have to adapt to the new combat environment – technically, tactically, and doctrinally. However, this has been a normal part of their evolution since the beginning of the 20th century.
https://euro-sd.com/2026/01/articles/armed-forces/48794/countering-the-drone-threat-to-heavy-armour/
A heavy chunk of armour with a gun and optics that can hit a gnat at 2500 m is far from obsolete. However, combined arms warfare has quite recently seen the introduction of small drones as a branch in itself. These will require dedicated counter-measures just like any other facet of combined arms.
Man portable anti-tank weapons didn’t make the tank obsolete. They made it clear that tanks needed reactive armor, active protection systems like TROPHY, and supporting units that prevented infantry from shoot-n-scoot’ing from places the tank can’t see. Aircraft didn’t make the tank obsolete either, even though an attack helicopter can absolutely wreck a tank column. They just made it clear that any mobile armoured unit needs sufficient air cover. The same is true for small drones: Today, there are very few effective counter-measures available, which makes any tactic other than “hide underground” seem obsolete. However, counter-measures like the PROTECTOR CUAS are likely to become more commonplace, and once the tanks move together with those, they won’t be as easily countered by small drones anymore.