Altogether by 1980 there were 39 tank battalions in Afghanistan, including the tank battalions of the motorized rifle divisions. However, in June 1980, the 234th tank regiment would be withdrawn to the Soviet Union, since in Afghanistan there was no one to conduct tank battles with. The 285th tank regiment of the 108th motorized rifle division stayed as part of the 40th Army, stationed in Bagram. Also, the Prague 24th guards tank regiment of the orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky, which belonged to the 5th guards motorized rifle division, was stationed in Shindand.
Initially, the 40th Army tank units were armed with T-55 tanks. However, as General Gromov recalled, from January 1980 T-62 and T-64 tanks were delivered to the troops in anticipation of military operations. T-64 tanks, however, were unable to pass the test at high altitude: a two-stroke diesel engine proved to be a failure and they did not stay for a long time in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. But the T-55 and T-62 tanks fought in the mountains long enough.