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UKRAINE MAJOR DRONE SUPPORT FROM NETHERLANDS AND UK The Military Show: You Won’t Believe UK & Netherlands’ INSANE Plan to Help Ukraine Win! PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7dnbukYc_A
You Won’t Believe UK & Netherlands’ INSANE Plan to Help Ukraine Win! The Military Show Jul 1, 2025 1.75M subscribers #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis Ukraine is about to receive a massive wave of support from Europe. The U.K. and Netherlands have launched powerful new initiatives to help Ukraine scale up its drone capabilities—fueling both defense and offense. Hundreds of thousands of drones, cutting-edge technology, and joint production deals are on the table. These partnerships mark a major turning point in Ukraine’s fight, strengthening its position on the battlefield. Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: / @themilitaryshow #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/MyJfgMcL The Military Show Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 Deep in the village of Atamanovka, which is in Russia’s Transbaikalia Krai region, a factory is churning over. Day and night, it’s working on repairing and restoring Russian military equipment so it can be sent to the front lines of Ukraine. Is this factory revitalizing Russia’s artillery? Is it working on Russia’s modern T-90M tanks? Neither. The Atamanovka facility is a testament to how badly Russia is failing in Ukraine – it’s refurbishing ancient tanks that have no business being on a battlefield in 2025. Look how desperate Russia is. It’s bringing 1960s-era tanks out of storage as its offensives collapse throughout Ukraine. That’s according to Defense Express, which reported on June 28 that Russia’s tank situation has grown so desperate that President Vladimir Putin is resorting to the mass decommissioning of obsolete combat vehicles to plug the gaps. This was no secret in the past. There are plenty 1:01 of reports of Putin relying on Soviet-era tanks from the 1970s to maintain pressure on Ukraine. But now, those 1970s stockpiles have been depleted. That’s forced Russia to dig even further back in time to bring an even older tank to the Ukraine battlefield: The T-62. According to The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, or DIU, the plant in Atamanovka is currently working on the restoration of these ancient tanks. When the work is finished, the tanks are sent to warehouses in Russia’s Eastern Military District, where they wait until Putin gives the order to send them to the front lines. The DIU says that it observed the transfer of 21 of these ancient tanks to the Eastern Military District on June 27 alone, and that many of those transferred were still in a poor state of repair. After all, refurbishment work can only go so far for tanks that have spent several decades being stored outside without any sort of maintenance, the DIU says. A report the organization published shed more 2:04 light on Putin’s thinking. “However, due to the acute shortage of modern main battle tanks, such as the T-90M and the T-72B3M, the use of the T-62 is considered a temporary but forced solution.” In other words, Putin didn’t want to activate a factory in a far-flung Russian village to revitalize ancient tanks. He’s been forced to do it because the scale of Russia’s tank losses in Ukraine is so extensive that he has no other options. That point will be revisited later in the video. Right now, Russia has a large stockpile of T-62s. According to Defense Express, the tank was built in huge quantities following its 1962 introduction to the Soviet Armed Forces. By 2012, Russia still had around 900 of them left, and had used them in battles within Syria. They’re also not new to the Ukraine war. Putin has relied on ancient T-62s before. Plenty of times. 3:01 Way back in December 2023, former Forbes military analyst David Axe was reporting that Russia was working on bringing its T-62s into Ukraine. At the time, Russia was sending the tanks with add-on armor and other enhancements, such as mine-clearing plows and modern sights. Some even had explosive reactive armor blocks and anti-drone cages – both a tacit recognition of Ukraine’s ability to destroy Russia’s tanks using rockets and drones. But despite these improvements, the ancient T-62s had a key flaw. “If there’s a downside to these add-ons, it’s that the T-62s all apparently still have their original 620-horsepower diesel engines, which produce much less power than a modern tank engine produces. An improved T-62 also is a heavier and slower T-62,” Axe wrote at the time. Even by 2023, Putin had grown so desperate that he was willing to send tanks that were essentially sitting ducks into Ukraine. 4:01 And he kept on doing it. In May 2024, Defense Express reported that modernized T-62s had been sighted in the Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Again, reactive armor was seen, along with anti-drone measures. A month later, the same outlet was reporting that Russia had pulled yet another batch of its T-62s out of storage, which Defense Express claimed was a potential sign that Russia was running out of its more modern main battle tanks. Fast-forward to January 2025 and Bulgarian Military reported that Russia had found a new use for its T-62s. Rather than using them as main battle tanks, the T-62s were being stripped of as many of their internal components as possible so they could be reinvented as armored infantry transport vehicles. What’s clear here is a pattern. Russia is struggling with its stockpiles to such a degree that Putin is being forced to pull ancient tanks out of storage. He knows those tanks aren’t of much use. That’s why he orders upgrades and tries to find alternative 5:03 uses for Russia’s T-62s. But none of that helps. If what’s evident in Atamanovka is any indication, Russia has already burned through the T-62s it had revived and is now left trying to revitalize the dregs that were left behind. That’s not good for Putin. If the best T-62s he had couldn’t cause issues for Ukraine, what hope do the tanks that Russia previously felt weren’t worth the refurbishment effort have? Putin’s desperation is showing. And the truth is that even the best of his T-62s can’t do much in Ukraine. The tank is an antique, and it only takes a brief look at its specifications to see that Russia is resorting to using a tank that has long been unfit for purpose in Ukraine. According to Army Recognition, the T-62 was first produced in 1961 and enjoyed a long production run that saw Russia continue to build and upgrade it until 1975. It was Russia’s replacement 6:00 for the T-55 and it served as the country’s main battle tank for much of the Cold War era. But pay attention to those dates. Even the newest T-62 is now 50 years old. Those newer versions of the tank are likely the ones that were in the best state of repair when Putin started sending T-62s into Ukraine in 2023 and 2024. Those being refurbished in Atamanovka are likely closer to 60 years old. Each T-62 comes with a 115-millimeter smoothbore 2A20 gun that’s capable of firing high-explosive projectiles over a range of up to about 19,000 feet. Assuming it's fully equipped, the tank will have 40 of these rounds, which it can rattle off at a rate of about four per minute. There’s also a 7.62-millimeter PKT machine gun mounted alongside the main ordnance, with later models of the tank also featuring a 12.7-millimeter DShKM MG machine gun. These are 7:00 all fairly effective weapons and can do damage to a target if the T-62 is able to get within range. But that’s the problem. T-62s are so old and immobile that they often struggle to obtain a battleground position that allows their weapon to be effective. This is apparent in the tank’s armor, which is about 3.9 inches thick at the front and nowhere near capable of stopping an accurate drone or modern rocket strike, especially if the latter is a two-stage rocket that can penetrate armor. Russia has attempted to account for this by retrofitting some of its T-62s with reactive armor, as mentioned earlier. But that retrofitting only makes the tank less mobile than it already was, which creates a whole series of other problems. The T-62 is powered by a V-55V 12-cylinder engine capable of delivering 580 horsepower. While that may sound somewhat impressive, it means the tank is limited to traveling at around 31 miles per hour over a relatively short range of 279 miles. Of course, tanks, 8:04 by design, aren’t fast-moving vehicles. But when upgrades are added into the mix, the T-62 ends up traveling far slower than its maximum speed of 31 miles per hour, again making it easy prey for Ukraine’s rockets and drones. What Russia has here is a type of tank that shouldn’t exist anymore. Russia should have invested in newer tanks with modernized armor, stronger weapons, and more powerful engines. And it did. But therein lies the problem for Putin. Russia’s more modern tanks are getting wrecked by Ukraine’s countermeasures daily, which is why he’s having to resort to using T-62s in the first place. Russia’s desperation is such that it's resorting to fielding far weaker tanks just to maintain the illusion of a numbers advantage on the ground. It's like replacing a tiger with a housecat. While they're kind of the same animal, the tiny housecat isn’t going to be taking out any of the large prey that the tiger can destroy. That’s the reality with Russia’s T-62s. Putin is 9:05 hoping that Russia’s ancient tanks can somehow replace far more modern and effective tanks, even though he knows that’s impossible. And that leads to an important question: Why is Russia refurbishing more T-62s than ever before in Atamanovka? The obvious answer is that Russia has a major shortage of main battle tanks right now. That was confirmed by Ukraine’s DIU when its report mentioned that Russia falling back onto T-62 usage was a sign that its more modern main battle tanks were getting destroyed in Ukraine. It’s all about maintaining numbers. Putin’s entire strategy revolves around overwhelming Ukraine with more of everything. More people. More equipment. More tanks. To Russia’s leader, it almost doesn’t matter that the T-62 is almost useless in Ukraine. The key word here is “almost.” Ukraine can’t get complacent with Russia’s T-62s. If it ignores them, 10:00 the tanks can still cause some damage if they get near a Ukrainian fortification. So, as with every other tank Russia fields, Ukraine has to destroy the T-62s. That means using drones, rockets, and mines, which is precisely what Putin wants. His T-62s aren’t in Ukraine to cause damage. They’re in Ukraine to soak up as much ammunition as possible while allowing Putin to maintain his numbers advantage. And Putin needs these tanks. Between when he started his invasion in February 2022 and June 29, Russia has lost a staggering 10,980 tanks. Four of those were destroyed on June 29 alone, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance. Some quick math tells us that the Ukraine war has been running for a little over 39 months. Dividing 10,980 by 39 gives us a monthly loss rate of 281. That’s not far away from 10 tanks per day for the entire Ukraine war. No wonder Putin is starting to rely even more heavily on his antique tanks. Those sorts of losses aren’t sustainable, 11:08 and it’s becoming clear that Russia has practically burned through its more modern tanks, leaving it with ancient dregs like the T-62 to use in Ukraine. At least, that’s how it all appears on the surface. And though Russia’s tank attrition rate is indeed so massive that it’s the main reason why Putin is now refurbishing more T-62s, Russia’s tank issues run deeper. Much deeper. Consider tank production for a moment. On May 31, The National Security Journal published a piece where it claimed that Russia has lost 3,000 tanks in the Ukraine war and that it’s struggling to replace them. Immediately, there’s a disparity between this figure and that provided by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance. The likely reason for this is that the 3,700 figure is confirmed tank losses discovered through satellite imagery and similar means. Ukraine’s figure is what it believes it has destroyed. It’s likely 12:02 that the true number lies somewhere in the middle. But that’s beside the point. Whatever the true number may be, the journal says that a 2024 article claims that a 2024 production report on Russia’s UralVagonZavod plant says that the facility is churning out around 200 T-72B and T-72B1 main battle tanks per year. These are older tanks themselves and are likely being modernized into T-72B3s, but the numbers already aren’t looking good. Additionally, the report says, Russia was building between 60 and 80 new T-90Ms per year by the end of 2024. Combined, that amounts to between 260 and 280 new or refurbished tanks annually. That’s about the number of tanks Russia is losing per month if Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance is to be believed. Even if the more conservative estimate of 3,700 or so Russian tank losses is used, that’s still closer to 1,000 per year at a time when Russian manufacturing is barely 13:04 producing a quarter of that much in replacements. The desperation has set in deep. As Ukraine’s DIU said, Putin is refurbishing T-62s because he has no other choice. Russia’s production can’t keep up with the scale of its losses. And that situation isn’t going to change, the journal claims. Thanks to Western sanctions, Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to get its hands on the resources, production inputs, and parts that it needs to build more modern battle tanks. That lack of materials is the key reason why Russia’s tank output is so slow that it’s coming nowhere near making up for its losses on the battlefield. It also lends a hint as to why Putin is now relying on T-62s. Failing to get hold of modern materials and parts isn’t an issue if ancient tanks are being used that don’t need either. Instead, Putin is using facilities like those in Atamanovka to cannibalize the worst of his 14:00 T-62s so Russia can refurbish the increasingly diminishing number of these tanks that are still somewhat capable of working in Ukraine. It’s an approach that can’t last forever. Russia isn’t building new T-62s. It hasn’t been for 50 years. As has so often been the case with the Ukraine war, Putin is burning through ancient stockpiles just to keep his invasion going. But it goes even deeper than that. Interestingly, more recent reports suggest that Russia has managed to find a way to circumvent some of these sanctions-based issues and has recently managed to bolster T-90M production. That’s according to Euromaidan Press, reporting on a study published by the pro-Ukraine Conflict Intelligence Team. Contrary to what The National Security Journal says, the team claims, Russia is building a good number of T-90Ms. “According to our estimates, Uralvagonzavod produced 60 to 70 T-90M tanks in 2022. In 2023, amid efforts to mobilize the defense industry, output may have increased to 140 to 180 tanks, 15:06 and by 2024, it may have surpassed 200 units annually, possibly approaching a production rate of 250 to 300 tanks per year,” the report says. For context, the U.S. is building about 90 of its M-1A2s annually right now. If these numbers are accurate, it means Russia has tripled its T-90M production rate since Putin launched his invasion in 2022. Granted, up to 300 T-90Ms per year is nowhere near enough to make up for Russia’s massive losses. However, it’s also important to note that the T-90M is the jewel in Russia’s tank crown. It’s the most modern main battle tank Russia has to offer, with logic dictating that Russia should be sending as many of them into Ukraine as it can. But it isn’t. Putin is sending ancient T-62s instead. The obvious question is why? Russia’s problem with the T-90 is that it likes to boogie. This is only partially a 16:04 joke. A serious glitch has been discovered in Russia’s T-90s that causes their turrets to spin wildly. The National Security Journal labels the problem the “Disco Head” glitch, and it says the malfunction could be caused either by inexperienced crews operating Russia’s T-90s or an electronic failure on the tank itself. The spinning turret problem appears to occur whenever a T-90M’s turret takes even minor damage, David Hambling says when writing for Forbes. And when it happens, the T-90 getting down with the disco is enough to make the tank completely useless to Russia. A turret that’s spinning out of control can’t aim at a Ukrainian position and represents a severe risk to any crew foolish enough to attempt to fire while the malfunction is happening. It was this glitch that put paid to a T-90M back in January 2024 when Ukraine deployed two U.S.-made M2 Bradleys to face it. The Bradleys shouldn’t have stood a chance against the Russian tank. Yet, famously, they managed to take it out. 17:04 While brilliant flanking tactics played a huge role in that victory, Hambling suggests that the T-90 couldn’t fire on the Bradleys because its turret was spinning out of control. This glitch in what Putin has often referred to as the best tank in the world may give us some more insight into why Russia is sending T-62s into Ukraine now. First, Putin wants to avoid embarrassment. If the T-90M is supposed to be the jewel in Russia’s tank crown, it can’t be seen to be experiencing such a massive glitch on the field. So, Russia is building as many of these tanks as possible and then putting them into storage, likely hoping that it can solve the glitch later on. Second, there’s the issue of reliability. For all of the T-62s many faults, in the context of modern warfare, it is at least reliable. The tank doesn’t feature anywhere near the number of complex electronic systems seen in a T-90M. At least the older tank can point its turret and fire in the right direction, even if its crew 18:01 rarely has a chance to make that happen given the issues with the T-62 mentioned earlier. And that’s the situation Russia now faces. It has T-90Ms. It even seems to be building more of them. But it can’t risk sending them to Ukraine, not because Putin is worried about losing them but because he can’t trust them to do what they’re supposed to do. Perhaps that’s why Ukraine’s DIU says the desperate use of T-62s is temporary. Russia is trying to solve its T-90M problem and it’s essentially using T-62s as cannon fodder until it can get its supposedly “elite” tank to behave. How long “temporary” will be remains to be seen. But for as long as Russia is fielding ancient T-62s in Ukraine, its troops are going to be poorly protected and capable of inflicting nowhere near as much damage as they would in more modern tanks. That’s not good for Putin. He’s launched a summer offensive that he hopes will give him leverage in future peace talks with Ukraine. That leverage isn’t going to come as a result 19:00 of tanks that are more than half a decade old. And if things couldn’t get any worse for that summer offensive, it already looks like it’s stalled out. Ukraine has put 50,000 Russian troops in its northeast in checkmate and a collection of ancient T-62s isn’t going to help. Find out what happened in our video and remember to subscribe to The Military Show for more coverage of Russia’s desperate blunders and Putin’s failing attempts to capture Ukraine.

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