Yesterday russian media started actively sharing a message that they're modernized T-62M tanks are no worse than the Challenger 2, Leopard 2 or Abrams, and in fact, they say, "outperform on the battlefield the Western tanks supplied to Ukraine."
The bold statement comes midst the news of russian starting to take their old T-54 and T-55 MBTs out of long-term storage, the original source writing about the "advantages" of the modernized T-62M was the Military Watch Magazine, the article was titled, "Russia’s New T-62 Tank Variant Built For 21st Century Engagements: Will It Be Effective in Ukraine?"
Read more: No "Armata" On Ukrainian Frontlines, But Here You Have the "Modernized" T-62 of 2022 Edition
The main argument supporting the idea of T-62 superiority was that the T-62M was adopted by the military in the early 1980s "with integrated upgrades to prepare them [the T-62M tanks] for the XXI century warfare." Then, the Leopard 2 and Abrams that Ukraine is receiving from its allies and partners "belong to the late 1970s and early 1980s."
Though we should note, even if we compare the tanks just by the years of production, we must take into account that the Leopard 2A4 were produced from 1985 to 1992, and these tanks have digital fire control systems, thermal imagers and all the other features that make them a modern-era MBT. Moreover, the 2A6 version that is currently being delivered to Ukraine, appeared in 2001. The same goes for the Abrams that is present in a variety of modern variants.
Actually, while singing T-62's praises and stating the advantages over Western tanks, the authors offer not to use the T-62M against them: "The [T-62M] tanks were generally used to support the infantry on the Ukrainian battlefield, not for fighting other tanks."
And again, there was a staged video featuring russians already preparing to fight the Western tanks with their advanced T-90M tanks and looking for vulnerabilities on the Challenger 2 and Leopard 2A4.
The media was especially complimenting the 1PN-96MT-02 thermal sight on the T-62M. Although the only advantage they mentioned was its nighttime target detection range of 2000 m.
Worth noting, this very sight was chosen for the T-80BVM tanks, then for the T-72B3 "of the 2022 edition" because of the lack of much better Sosna-U sights, and this replacement can hardly be deemed as an upgrade.
Generally speaking, it is not the first time the russians tried to convince themselves that their T-62M is a wunderwaffe with outstanding capabilities and performance on a par with much more modern tanks. In the meantime, according to Oryx, the russians have lost at least 73 T-62 tanks in variations.
Read more: Why russians Squirm Inside the T-72B3 and Abandon Them on Battlefield so Often
