Russian forces resort to welding war relics on to ‘tankenstein’ vehicles

Russia is welding ageing naval turrets on to old armoured vehicles to make crude tanks as Vladimir Putin’s forces face worsening arms shortages.

The crudely engineered vehicles are being deployed in a likely attempt to shoot down Ukrainian drones as the armed forces grapple with crippling shortages of fighting machines and ammunition.

New footage from an undisclosed location appears to show a 25mm 2M-3 twin-barrelled naval anti-aircraft turret fitted to a Soviet-era MT-LB amphibious fighting vehicle to form a new hybrid weapon.

The amalgamation, which was constructed with parts manufactured as early as 1945, could be seen being transported by rail, potentially to Ukraine.

Its 25mm guns were likely procured from a naval patrol boat, an area where Russia has a rare surplus, while its tracks could date back to the 1950s.

Military experts said Russia is likely being forced to improvise from dwindling stockpiles to backfill for destroyed or lost hardware in Ukraine.

Moscow likely turned to a naval turret because its navy has been far less depleted than its battle-stricken land forces, according to Justin Crump, of Sibylline, an intelligence and geopolitical risk firm.

“I suspect it was improvised from naval turrets as they had access to them and the relevant ammunition,” he said.

The new machine could be used to counter the growing number of Ukrainian aerial drones in operation or sent to a quieter part of the front-line so that Russia can move better technology closer to the main battles.

Old tanks out of deep storage

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British tank commander, said he had witnessed similar vehicles adapted by Islamic State fighters in Syria.

“The fact that a supposed first-world army is cobbling together different bits of kit not dissimilar to terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda and ISIS hopefully shows the perilous state of the Russian army,” he said.

In its daily intelligence briefing on Monday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Russia had taken as many as 800 60-year-old tanks out of deep storage in response to its heavy losses of armour.

“There is a realistic possibility that even units of the 1st Guards Tank Army, supposedly Russia’s premier tank force, will be re-equipped with T-62s to make up for previous losses,” it said.

In recent days, Russian BTR-50 armoured personnel carriers, which first entered into service in 1954, have also been deployed to Ukraine.

Unmounted infantry has also been ravaged by Russia’s worsening supply issues, with some fighters sent to target fortified Ukrainian positions with shovels.

They were reportedly sent into combat with just “firearms and shovels”, likely being employed for hand-to-hand combat.