Amid growing US concerns about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian tanks may be upgraded to protect against barrage ammunition and other unmanned aerial vehicles at Kiev's disposal, the American edition of The Drive says.
The material tells about experimental samples of tanks, in particular, T-72 and T-80, which are distinguished by the presence of special armor and mesh structures that provide additional protection, including from above. The publication writes that, probably, we are talking about experimental products, and not serial machines.
The Drive admits that such modernization could potentially reduce the effectiveness of the use of FGM-148 Javelin missiles, which the United States handed over to Ukraine. Currently, Russia is "learning lessons from the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijani forces used Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones."
In addition, Ukraine now has weapons from the United States, Turkey and Israel at its disposal, which previously performed well in the fight against tanks.
In November, John Denis, a professor at the Institute for Strategic Studies at the US Army War College, spoke in a column for Defense News about the likely actions of NATO in the event of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The expert is confident that if the Russian military crosses the borders of Ukraine, formations of NATO Rapid Reaction Forces will be sent to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, which "would calm the population of these countries, would mean the solidarity of the entire alliance and would strengthen security in the east."
In the same month, the Military Times, citing a statement by Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, reported that Kiev had used the American FGM-148 Javelin man-portable anti-tank missile systems in the Donbass for the first time.
Ivan Potapov
