What To Do with T55 or Vijayanta Tanks in Reserve?

What to do with T55 or Vijayanta Tanks in reserve/storage? This is a question we need to ask, as to why these tanks (even operational) were put in reserve. As per reports, the Indian Army operated around 2000 T55 and 2200 Vijayanta Tanks in their heydays. Currently due to advancements in protection, technology, and firepower; some T55 and Vijayanta Tanks have been relegated to secondary static artillery roles while the rest of them are put in reserve.

As per reports (including Wikipedia), the India Army operates 200 Vijayanta tanks and 700 T55 tanks in secondary static artillery roles on the LOC mostly in the Jammu sector and some in the Kashmir sector.

While the Vijayanta tank is a derivative of the British Vickers Mk.1 tank and after the initial lot was built in the UK the rest of the lot was built at the Heavy Vehicle Factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, and subsequent upgrades were done in India. The T-55 tank was built entirely in the Soviet Union/Russia and other Warsaw Pact countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia and imported outright, subsequent upgrades were done in India.

Supposedly since both these tanks are now out of production, spare parts are hard to come by, and so in comparison to the numbers in use currently 3 or 4 times of those are kept in reserve meant to be mothballed for keeping the operational tanks working. But what about the rest in reserve. While many Vijayanta Tanks have been gifted to various institutions including colleges, what about the rest.

Logic says these tanks should be put to use, and their hulls should be used as launch platforms for Pinaka rockets, 120 mm breach-loaded mortars, Nag Mk1/2 ATGM, and other rocket and missile systems. They can even be used as pill boxes. Recently an image was circulated in social media that showed Russia using a T-80 from storage (possibly) to fire RBU 6000 naval rockets. These rockets were installed on top of the hull/chassis of the T-80 tank as a launch platform and it allowed Russia to increase its firepower spectrum in the Russia-Ukraine War.

India too can adopt such an innovative approach to use tanks kept in storage like Vijayant and T-55 tanks for different uses, thereby giving the Indian Army more options and means to increase its firepower delivery. For all purposes, the Vijayant is more powerful than the T-55 tank.