The 3rd Tank Brigade “Iron” is a reserve armored Brigade of the Ground Forces of Ukraine. The unit’s reserve personnel was recalled for training in winter 2021 and deployed soon after the beginning of the full scale invasion.
3rd Tank Brigade notoriously took part in the 2022 Kharkiv Counteroffensive, supporting several other units, and is currently deployed all over the frontline in seemingly separate Battalions.
Analysis/Notes
The Brigade’s armored element consists of three Battalions, numbered 9th, 10th and 11th Separate Tank Battalions. All three are equipped with T-72 variants, mainly T-72AVs and uparmored T-72Bs, along with a small unknown number of T-84 Oplots probably grouped in a single Battalion.
The Battalions’ callsigns, “Alkut”, “Arnaut” and “Udar”, are used more frequently than the numbers but the correlation between the two could not be determined.
The Reconnaissance Platoons’ actual equipment is unknown.
The Anti-Aircraft Platoons have been seen employing 9K38 Iglas, FIM-92 Stingers and Mistral MANPADS.
The remaining supporting units likely use utility or civilian-procured vehicles.
Specific information was found on Battalion Alkut being involved in the opening of the Kharkiv counteroffensive, specifically near Bairak. (Additl. Source)
Battalion Arnaut was spotted in the southern front during the same period, so it likely did not take part in Kharkiv maneuvers.
As per doctrine, the Brigade also has one Mechanized Battalion, referred to with the callsign “Frank” in a few occasions. Evidence of this unit is, in general, lacking but its existence and its equipment of BMP-1 IFVs was confirmed. The level of actual mechanization of the unit is uncertain, as BMP-1s are not frequently shown on the Brigade’s social media.
Supporting elements are likely similarly equipped to those belonging to the Tank Battalions.
1st Rifle Battalion is one of the additional infantry elements of the Brigade, but it could only be identified from a donation screen, with no further info.
2nd Infantry Battalion, callsign “Joker”, seems to have been added to the Brigade following the full scale invasion. While its equipment could not be determined, these new infantry/rifle Battalions are generally not mounted on any combat vehicles and mostly hold the line, only using light utility vehicles for movement of troops and supplies.
The Battalion has possibly been deployed in a task-organized group with, or in the vicinity of, Tank Battalion “Udar”.
36th Separate Rifle Battalion “Steppe Wolves”, originally belonging to the 61st Mechanized Brigade, seems to have been attached to 3rd Tank Brigade for the past several months. This is likely due to the vicinity of deployment areas between the units, with 36 OSB being under 3 OTBr command (or one of its battalions deployed in northern Kharkiv oblast).
The employment of a custom-made pickup-mounted MLRS nicknamed “Soroka” in a specific Platoon has been noted.
The Artillery Group is equipped as close to Ukrainian standard as possible: 1st Battalion uses 2S1 Gvozdika (122mm) SPHs and 2nd battalion has 2S3 Akatsiya (152mm) howitzers. It should be noted that these aren’t frequently spotted, so the actual supply level is uncertain.
30th Rocket Artillery Battalion has recently been seen with BM-21 Grad MLRS, though older material shows Bastion-01 vehicles. It is possible that these were moved to a different unit since then (possibly 3rd Assault Brigade).
FGM-148 Javelins have been employed by the Brigade, based on doctrine specifically in the Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion.
The BUAR (Headquarters and Target Acquisition Battery) UAV Group of the Brigade seems to be focused on artillery correction and grenade drops.
The Anti-Aircraft Defense Battalion possibly only has ZU-23 AAA guns and MANPADS as no self-propelled missile systems were seen in use by 3rd Tank Brigade.
The Engineer Battalion, among other vehicles, uses BAT-2 tracklayers.
The Maintenance (Repair & Restoration) Battalion has been interviewed by the press in several occasions, showing BREM-1s as their main armored recovery vehicle.
Other Information
In general, the Brigade’s Battalions seem to be separately employed in various areas of the front, as is the case with other Tank Brigades. This is likely to compensate for the lack of armored elements organically belonging to the units present in those parts of the front. A similar purpose seems to be covered by the 12th Separate Tank Battalion.
For example, a task group composed of one or two Tank Battalions, the BUAR and an artillery element of 3 OTBr (and with the attached 36th Separate Rifle Battalion), is currently the northern-most Ukrainian element deployed on the frontline, near Kupyansk.
Another Battalion might be deployed on the southern front.
A UAV Group going by the name “Phoenix” was apparently attached to 10th Tank Battalion specifically at some point in 2022. This unit has likely become “Sons of Thunder” and is originally part of the TDF.
The Brigade has taken part in task-organized joint training with 22nd Separate Special Purpose Battalion (Separate Presidential Brigade) in multiple occasions. It would not be surprising to see these two units deployed together.
A Border Guard unit with the code 9951 seems to have operated alongside 3 OTBr in a few occasions.
A notorious early war video of a Ukrainian tank repeatedly targeting a Russian BTR column was later revealed to involve a 3rd Tank Brigade T-72.
A short 2021 video about the Brigade’s activity pre-full scale invasion is available on YouTube.
Sources
3rd Tank Brigade Facebook, UA Wikipedia, MilitaryLand
Tank Battalions: “Alkut”, “Arnaut”, “Udar”, T-84 Oplot, T-72B, T-72AV, Air Defence Platoons
10th Tank Battalion: Kharkiv, Source #1, Source #2, Source #3
Mechanized Battalion: “Frank”, BMP-1, BMP-1, BMP-1
36th Separate Rifle Battalion: attached, attached with additional Soroka footage, has mortars
Artillery Group: BUAR, 1st Battalion - 2S1, 2nd Battalion - 2S3, 30th MLRS Battalion - Grad, AT Artillery Battalion - Javelin
Sniper Platoon, Reconnaissance Company
Air Defense Battalion (ZU23 & MANPADS)
Maintenance/Repair Battalion (BREM-1)
Phoenix Group (additional)