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/
Growing up playing video games with the Bradley in it used to make me think… this thing is kind of a monster, it doesn’t really feel like an APC, it feels like an angrier version of a tank that exchanged heavier armor and a larger gun for a set of attributes that allows it to be more bloodthirsty than a tank… and then seeing that yes in real life the Bradley is in fact a monster like that has been wild.
I just figured it was American-centric wargame developers always making the Bradley a beast “because 'Murica the best” but nope… the Bradley is just a terrifying machine to fight that can shit out a full crew of infantry and then send you straight to hell with its gun. It seems like you have to physically coax the Bradley away from the frontline after it has dropped troops off as the driver, it just instinctually wants to turn around and charge the enemy autocannon blazing.
Russia has nothing even close to the Bradley IFV while Europe is building a new generation of Bradley inspired IFVs that will likely outclass any Main Battle Tanks russia can field in a meaningful amount for the forseeable future… while being able to carry AT infantry crews in the back to boot (with Manpads or AT drones).
Bradley is surprisingly good considering all the “Pentagon Wars” development hell. I think a lot of people still think its junk. When it was more effective than the Abrams in Iraq the theory was that the fighting there mostly didn’t require tanks. In Ukraine of course, the fighting was very mechanized in the beginning until equipment losses and drones ended it.
And the Bradley still did very well, better than the MBTs. At this point I think it’s reasonable to wonder if MBTs are obsolete, if not all tanks. A lightly-armored vehicle like a Bradley is going to be no more vulnerable against modern MANPATS and drones than a MBT, but it’s going to provide just as effective protection against small arms. It’s easier to maintain, longer range, and it can do more missions.
A modern Abrams is terrifying, they can acquire a target in seconds and hit it while moving over uneven terrain at 30 mph. If the objective is to hit the enemy at a concentrated point there is literally nothing on earth more well suited.
This isn’t a bash on the Bradley, the Bradley is clearly built by people who deeply understood armored manuever warfare and knew how to make a monster IFV.
The tank is very much not obsolete, the Bradley just gives it a run for the money because of how forward thinking, uncompromised yet balanced the design is. Also manpads/drones have become so powerful it multiplies the power of a vehicle like a Bradley…
…still though, doesn’t beat a main battle tank like the abrams.