The Russian-Ukrainian war forced many military experts to review their opinion regarding the Russian army and the weapons it uses. Famous Wunderwaffe turned out to be not such a wunder. As it turned out, Russian tanks burn very well and burn a lot. Therefore in a new rating of the worst tanks in the world from Popular Mechanics , (by the way, the media has recently turned 120 years old) there are several Russian tanks. If we count the Soviet T-34-85 as Russian (they consider themselves the heirs of the USSR, so why not), as many as three.

Т-34-85 (North Korea)

You will be surprised, but the legendary “thirty-four” with an 85 mm gun, which was produced from 1944 to 1958, and which played an important role in the Korean War (1950-1953), is still used in the Korean People’s Army, more precisely, in auxiliary units – so-called Worker-Peasant Red Guards. T-34-85 are involved in exercises and in numerous parades.

In addition, T-34-85 is still used in Vietnam, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Cuba armies. And in Yemen and Syria, these vehicles were even noticed on the battlefield. Well, in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia have a number of such tanks in storage.

Clearly, being one of the best tanks of the Second World War, T-34-85 is not able to withstand modern tanks. Even with fashionable protective grids on the sides. That’s possible only in World of Tanks.

Arjun (India)

Arjun is the first major battle tank created by Indian specialists. The problem of this vehicle is an unusually long development period, and several significant changes in the technical task in the process. According to Popular Mechanics experts, India was simply not ready to create their own tank.

The decision to develop the tank was adopted in early 1970s and it was planned that the tank would be in service in 1985, but … production of Arjun started only in 2004 and in 2009 the first tanks were adopted.

And it turned out that the replacement of guns and armor buildup has made a new tank almost unsuitable. The weight of the tank in the development process has increased from 40 to 62 t, turning a vehicle which was planned as one of the fastest of modern tanks into a clumsy giant.

Some disadvantages have been corrected in the MK1A version of 2021, but Arjun is still considered extremely unreliable and is unpopular in the army.

Т-72 (Russia)

Once created at the end of the 1960s, T-72 was one of the strongest tanks of the world; armada of these vehicles threatened NATO in Europe. But now T-72, even with an additional active armor is easy prey for modern anti-tank systems. No wonder 250 of such vehicles have been destoyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that is, most of the Russian tanks destroyed in Ukraine are the T-72 in modifications of T-72B and T-72B3.

The main problems of T-72 are a weak gun by modern standards, insufficient armour, outdated night vision system, small gun lifting angle. But the main problem is bad placement of ammunition. That is why in most cases when the armor in T-72 is damaged, the tank “loses its head”, clear thing, together with the crew.

Т-80 (Russia)

T-80 is the same age as T-72 and has similar problems. The main difference between them is a gas turbine powerplant. Theoretically, such an engine withstands the cold better than diesels, but T-80 needs too much fuel. In addition, when using it, among other things, one must keep in mind the supply of two types of fuel to the troops. And with this, as we know, Russians have some problems.

That is why Т-80 in Т-80У and Т-80БВМ modifications are most often among the tophies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Of the 57 Russian T-80s, only 15 were destroyed, others abandoned and captured by Armed Forces. With 21 T-80BM – 6 destroyed, 15 captured.

Tiam (Iran)

This tank is a real monster, Frankenstein of the world tanks. Iran decided to dispose of the two types of tanks that were in the country: Chinese Type 59 (clone of the Soviet T-54 / T-55) and its own Sabalan tanks, which are actually a bit upgraded American M47 Patton of the early 1950s.

In 2016, the Type 59 turret was placed on the M47 Patton body. They also added composite and active armor. But this is still a monster made of two tanks from the 1940-50’s and there is nothing for it to do on a modern battlefield. Tiam took the worst from the Type 59 and M47 Patton and did not add anything new to them, and the extra armor will not save it from Javelin or Nlaw.