A rare video shared last week showed a Slovenian M55S main bank tank fighting with Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, according to a report by the defense and national security website 19FortyFive. The unit was reportedly formed in April 2022 as an assault battalion before it was expanded to include tanks, artillery, and fire support units.
The unit had prior experience fighting in the Battle of Vuglegirska. The addition of the M55S was revealed by @front_urkainian, an open-source military analyst who shared the video on social media. The unit not only includes three mechanized battalions, but a tank battalion that is likely supplied with the M55S, which will be supported by artillery, reconnaissance, logistics, and engineers.
The tank was first described as a T-55S, a Soviet-era tank, but the M55S does not date that far back. It is reportedly more recently developed and used the Soviet tank as a model. The tanks stopped being produced in 1999 and Slovenians eventually chose to use the new M84s instead.
The new tanks are expected to be used in an upcoming counteroffensive. A video posted by “Ukraine Weapons Tracker” on Twitter says that the tank is “a deep modernization of obsolete T-55 with new 105mm L7 guns, ERA, digital ballistic computers, etc.”
The video comes amid intensified fighting between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has recently used the American Patriot air defense system to intercept Russia’s hypersonic missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin was mostly unimpressed with the system and said that they will counter it. He added that the weapons NATO is sending to Ukraine are only going to prolong the conflict.
Putin has reportedly said that Russia is ready to negotiate peace but alleged that Ukraine has refused to come to the table. “One way or another, all armed conflicts end with talks,” he said.
