Posted on 12/01/2021 4:39:52 AM PST by tlozo
As Russian mechanized forces massing near Ukraine raise fears of an invasion this winter, tank watchers on social media have identified more and more Russian tanks sporting unsubtle field modifications seemingly aimed at fending off Ukraine’s newest weapons: U.S.-supplied Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and TB2 Bayraktar drones supplied by Turkey. Both pose a deadly threat to the top armor of armored vehicles, where protection is drastically weaker... Russia’s military is visibly experimenting with at least two new methods to protect against top-attacking menaces.
The first is to fit an umbrella of slatted armor on top of the tank. Slat armor is intended to disable or misdirect the fuse of the chemical-energy HEAT munitions in an anti-tank missile, causing it to unleash its jet of armor-piercing molten metal at an ineffectual angle and/or distance vis-a-vis the tank’s turret... These modifications, which have been seen on Russia’s workhorse T-72B and T-72B3 tanks, are non-standardized, suggesting experiments implemented in the field to address a possible operational contingency, rather than a factory-issued perfected solution...
Furthermore, according to munitions expert Neil Gibson, the molten jet projected by a Javelin’s warhead is likely long enough and a tank’s top armor thin enough that the cage armor would provide insufficient protection even if its triggers the main warhead from 0.5 to 1.5 meters away.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I would not want to be on the receiving it end of a Javelin missile.
But that’s just me.
Now I wish I had a whole collection of 360 and 401 AMC Javelins.
But that’s just me
Some folks think Russia is just posturing when it comes to the Ukraine. Going through the effort to make those modifications argues against that.
The slat armor is because the Arena APS systems on the T-72s they’re rolling have a sixty degree “blind spot” behind the tank turret where the APS cannot sense or fire. It’s an older version of the system; in the rest of its arc, Arena is hell on wheels against suicide drones or ATGMs.
Later versions of Arena don’t have the blind spot.
The Palestinians blew up the one factory in the world that was still making the consumable external oil pumps the AMC V8s require to continue running. :P
Replacement operations since have been very sporadic.
As for the missiles, these tanks have APS systems that can shoot down Javelins - neutral combat experience around the world versus the Russian Arena system indicates that you need saturation attacks, preferably with heavy ATGM (which the Jav isn’t), in order to defeat Arena well enough to get a hit. The Chechens found that they had to use six or more heavy ATGM simultaneously on average to get a decent chance of one hit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_(countermeasure)#
If Putin is going to move, now is his opportunity. His first response to any NATO meddling will be a total shut off of Russian energy flowing into NATO countries. How about that Trump guy and his crystal ball?
> If Putin is going to move, now is his opportunity. <
Good point. Winter is coming on and Europe needs that Russian natural gas. Perhaps Putin has already reminded NATO of that fact.
"The Javelin can defeat Arena while in top-attack mode, due to the missile descending from too steep an angle for the system to engage properly."
https://mwi.usma.edu/on-killing-tanks/
If the Russians make a move, wanna bet they do it in concert with the ChiComs...
.
I really don’t know who to root for here. The vast majority of Ukrainian women I have met were total smoke shows, but then again the more I learn about Russians, the more I find I have in common with them.
Tired of the neocon line that Russia is the one on offense. Given the corruption of Ukraine and its Biden Crime Family handlers, Russia probably feels that the failed state of Ukraine may strike first.
Russia takes Ukraine.
Chicoms take Taiwan.
President poopy pants blames covid.
Nice modification, now need to use two missiles per tank. Of course the Ukrainians could alway build bridges with low clearance preventing the tanks from going under the bridge..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It can defeat Arena-E that way from any aspect, but the non export version (which did get some upgrades) not so much. In order to successfully top-down-attack the upgraded (but still older) Arena, it has to attack from the ‘blind’ 60 degrees in the back of the turret. Javelins were fired against Russian tanks in Syria to little effect, most being shot down by Arena.
Russians invaded Ukraine in 2014. The war has continued nonstop.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War
You may also want to look at the replies to the article below, especially Jakub Janovsky’s reply. There are many factual errors and assumptions in the article and he sums many of them up nicely.
It would be highly amusing if Russia moves on Ukraine, takes it over, and then starts releasing evidence directly confirming the Biden Crime Family’s corruption and involvement in the Ukraine.
Were those motors 100% AMC or did they have Chevy blocks with AMC heads?
Thanks for tipping us off Pootie-poot. Noted.
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