Russia's tanks in Ukraine have a 'jack-in-the-box' design flaw. And the West has known about it since the Gulf war

CNN ^ | 28-APR-2022 | Brad Lendon

[SpeedyInTexas]

Russian tanks with their tops blown off are just the latest sign that Russia's invasion of Ukraine isn't going to plan.

Hundreds of Russian tanks are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive, with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday estimating it had lost as many as 580.

But Moscow's problems go beyond the sheer number of tanks it has lost. Experts say battlefield images show Russian tanks are suffering from a defect that Western militaries have known about for decades and refer to as the "jack-in-the-box effect." Moscow, they say, should have seen the problem coming.

[larrytown]

Autoloaders are awesome, until they’re not.

Crew survivability is not an expectation, much less a feature of Russian equipment.

[HombreSecreto]

So it’s NOT an ejection seat?

[BiglyCommentary]

“and I can confirm, having worked on the Abrams and a lot of other armored vehicle designs, “

Was that while serving or as a contractor?

[Petrosius]

As the article stated and I can confirm, having worked on the Abrams and a lot of other armored vehicle designs, the number one concern for every design feature is, what does it do to crew survivability?

And was not this the whole idea of an armored vehicle in the first place? Someone forgot the basic reason for a tank.

[Chainmail]

Just the suspension - the rest of the design, the turret, the 76mm and then 85mm gun, the rugged diesel engine, the solid transmission, and the sloped armor came from Soviet designers.

Give credit where credit is due - even the Nazis tried to emulate some of the T-34's design features but too late.

[montag813]

Any other geezers remember playing this baby in the arcade? Good times.

[buwaya]

This has been “open” info since the Abrams was in prototype. Heck, probably since the MBT-70 program.

[ConservativeInPA]

The tank design flaw is true. I don't buy into our involvement in the war, and Russia's crap military is just another reason to not be involved. Russia may be an equal nuclear threat to us, but on the ground, air and sea they are substandard. Additionally, their command and control doctrine is inferior to ours (less our woke generals). Here's the important fact to understand: Russia knows this too.

Quite simply, Russia is not a threat to us. They have to prey on pissant countries like Georgia and Ukraine. They know they don't stand a chance against us, and really I don't think there is any desire for them to be against us.

Here's an apt and pithy quote that fits the sitution: “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” - Sun Tsu

This is true for our military. Our woke military industrial complex constantly bemoans our weaknesses. Yes, there are some, but it is completely over inflated. They do this to stay on the tax dollar gravy train.

Meanwhile, there is no honest investment in the things that would really make our military stronger. More importantly there is never any effort to rid our military of the things that are weaknesses.

Let's get our house in order before spending America deeper into inflation and debt.

[USS Alaska]

In today's world, with drones and rapid fire controlled precision artillery, the tank has about the same combat value as horses were to the 7th Calvary to Custard at the Little Big Horn.

They were OK to ride in on, but hell to die on.

If it were Pickett's Charge, with an army carrying single shot rifles, OK, I'll take the tank.

In today's war, the enemy may not even be in the same time zone, and he sends a rocket up your ass {or turret}.

I was a medic attached to an artillery battery {155MM split trails} six decades ago, and even back then, I always questioned the mentality of the troopers that jumped into the belly of those rolling coffins.

Our guys were 10-12 miles behind the tanks, pouring hell on the poor bastards that were shooting close up.

But back then, the tankers had an edge against the foot soldier, today, they never even see the laser pointer that seals their doom.

The tank is good for crowd control, against un-armed, rock throwers, but against today's technology, only the beltway bandits {and their paid pimp brass, at the bloated Octagon} are in favor of more tanks.

Teats on a bull.

[Chainmail]

"But the number one thing protecting the lives of US service members is that we elect our leaders."

Sort of. Doesn't completely explain why we stuck with the gas-fueled M4 Sherman when we knew that the Tigers and the Panthers and most of the German antitank weapons easily defeated them and turned them and their crews in funeral pyres. Or for that matter, why they pushed an unfinished and incompletely tested M16 on us while we were in combat. Left a lot of friends dead because of that travesty.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

CNN - wow
NYT,WaPo and DM must be among your favorites too

[FreshPrince]

dont know but was told the chassis was US designed

[DUMBGRUNT]

—”You JewNaziSoros lover who wants war with Russia! “

You seem to have struck directly at the crux of the matter.

[dforest]

I don’t care about whose tanks have what or what they do not have.

CNN is so informative. /s

[Manly Warrior]

Because all modern (post 1960s) western tanks have improved crew protection. Improved armor all around, Ammo compartments and blast doors operated by the gunner, NBC over-pressure etc.

Build one M1 or 20 T72s. 4 men to 60. Which is more cost efficient and capable?

[FreshPrince]

Correction...use the US invented Christie suspension desing

[BiglyCommentary]

Compare the tank battles of Israeli vs Syria in the Golan Heights and us vs Iraq during DS.

[RinaseaofDs]

Amen. The T-72 had a porcelain liner in the tank somewhere. Autoloader too, so if it jammed, there was no one there to unjam it.

[buwaya]

This was obvious since the T-64 in the 1960’s. People have been working on tank designs for a VERY long time and this obvious sort of a thing was never secret. The Soviets decided on this basic design as a tradeoff. There is no way to get everything you want. Western armies did different tradeoffs.

[DIRTYSECRET]

What I’ve heard over the years:
1) American tanks have air conditioning + automatic transmissions. Russian tanks have neither. The theory being in an all-out war the component-making factories will all be destroyed so in the summer the crew gets to deal with 160 degree temperatures inside.

2) A tank can travel 75 miles before breaking down.

3) Mitsubishi(Japan) makes the best tank in the world.

4) Battle of The Bulge was a great tank flick. Underrated, especially Robert Shaw.