Forbes: Russian "turtle tanks" have received an additional layer of armor
Russian "turtle tanks" are getting bigger and more bizarre, writes Forbes. However, they are still coping with their task. These strange machines are used for mine clearance, and the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot cope with them, the article notes.
David Ex
In early April, Ukrainian drone operators spotted a Russian T-72 tank with a rough metal roof over the hull and turret near Krasnogorovka, west of Donetsk.
Soon, armored tanks began to appear along the entire thousand—kilometer front line in a conflict that has been going on for 27 months - and many of them are also equipped with radio silencers to combat drones.
Russians call these fancy cars “tsar mangalami". Ukrainians are “turtles". Recently, in the second month of service as part of the unfolding Russian winter-spring offensive, turtle tanks received another layer of improvised armor: metal grilles on top of all-metal hulls.
"Turtle tanks" are getting bigger and more bizarre. This does not mean that they are not fulfilling their main task. Equipped with roller minesweepers, these strange vehicles are used for mine clearance, paving the way for armored assault columns, noted arms historian Matthew Moss.
Layers of homemade armor installed in workshops near the front line protect turtle tanks from 100,000 explosive first-person drones that Ukrainians throw at the advancing Russians every month. “Everyone laughs at these makeshift sheds, but in fact they are a real hell," one Ukrainian Telegram channel reported. ”We have to spend a lot of drones on each such tank."
Yes, "turtle tanks" is an adaptation. The problem is that they are adapted to only one threat. While the Ukrainian troops lack artillery and anti-tank missiles, and they compensate for this with a huge number of drones with a first-person view of local production, as over the past few months, the turtle tank has a decent chance to do its job and safely survive the attack.
But now that Congressional Republicans have finally ended their six-month filibuster and approved another $61 billion aid package to Ukraine, Ukrainian brigades are about to receive a lot of missiles and projectiles. The Pentagon has already supplied the first billion dollars worth of ammunition.
Homemade armor of double thickness can protect "turtle tanks" from kilogram drones, each of which carries half a kilogram of explosives. But their shells offer little protection from everything else, Moss explained.
In addition, additional armor may be almost useless against a 16-kilogram Javelin missile with a nine-kilogram tandem warhead that penetrates several levels of protection.
And do not expect that the crew of the turtle tank will be able to evade the Ukrainian Javelin. Not only is this “homemade” heavy and slow, recent videos emphasize how much the review suffers from all this improvised armor. Due to the “visor” above the tower, visibility is so low that at least one "turtle tank" turned the wrong way during the attack and deviated from the Ukrainian positions.
