Russian Slat Armor

StrategyPage ^ | January 24, 2006

[Cannoneer No. 4]

When the Stryker entered service in Iraq with it’s slat armor “cage” (to protect against RPGs), there was some criticism, and some crude humor, directed at that particular rig. But the slat armor did the job, and now Russia is offering it’s similar BTR-80 vehicle, equipped with slat armor. While the United States abandoned wheeled armored vehicles after World War II, Russia kept theirs, and constantly improved their BTR series. While not as heavy, or as high tech, as the American Stryker, the BTR vehicles are popular with many nations, especially for use by police and paramilitary forces. The current export model of the BTR-80, the BTR-90, is equipped with a turret and a 30mm auto-cannon and weighs about 16 tons. The BTR-80, introduced about twenty years ago, is actually more similar to the U.S. Marine Corps LAV, which entered service about the same time.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Rolling Russian bird cages

[af_vet_rr]

humvees are already overloaded as it is - you would be trading off a huge amount of speed and gas mileage for the additional protection, not to mention the inconvenience - remember you have two doors on each side not to mention any optional hatches/doors in the rear (depending on how the humvee is configured).

I like humvees for what they are originally intended for, and while it's amazing what the troops are scrounging up and adding on to protect themselves in humvees, I think it's time to start work on a better-suited vehicle for what they are using them for.

I remember years back seeing some 4-wheeled vehicles with good armor and good clearance that were fairly maneuverable - these were basically armored cars spec'd out. This was during some NATO maneuvers in Germany, and I believe they were German or British, it's been years ago.

Do they make a smaller version of the Stryker? That would be ideal, because you could share parts between them - then again the Stryker is "Interim" (which in the military could mean they'll be around for the next 40 years).

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Not Invented Here.

Why do we want to do the Russians any favors while putting friendly Canadians and patriotic Alabamans out of work?

[archy]

I was never in armor, but I'm presuming the slat armor is the wire cage effect I see, correct? Does the armor set off RPGs prior to their hitting the body of the vehicle?

Partially, though that can actually increase the effectiveness of some shaped charge warheads. But that of the Soviet versions of the PG-7 antitank rocket used in the RPG-7 shoulder-fired AT launcher uses the conical charge liner as one conductor for the firing circuit, and shashing the metal ogive of the outside of the rocket warhead against that liner can result in a short-circuit of the electrical path from the piezo crystal in the nose to the electrical detonator in the centre rear of the warhead. In somewhere around 60% of the hits, detonation is prevented, and a deflection preventing the focus of the blast from being presented directly toward the armour is almost as good.

The Russians have also experimented with water-filled tubes mounted alongside their vehicles, also handily providing a means for carrying additional water for the troops inside and for engine cooling. The Swedes used the same idea by mounting 20-liter/5 gallon water cans alongside the hull of the STRV-103 *S-Tank* in hopes of disrupting the shaped charge of 125mm HEAT rounds from Soviet T-72 tanks and from the various AT guided missiles in Soviet service.

[archy]

Why do we want to do the Russians any favors while putting friendly Canadians and patriotic Alabamans out of work?

It's always helpful to have a fallback plan in the event a critical piece of equipment we have turns out to be less than effective, at best, or a real deathtrap in the worst case. While we may order our troops to go to war in vulnerable crackerboxes, it's most unlikely that any of our allies will want to follow our example, so having available alternates is a useful thought. Besides, the former Soviet APCs are amphibious, unlike our recent efforts.

Too, it should be remembered that the Soviets were killing Islumic terrorists as far back as July of 1979...and America's Democratic politicians were arming the terrorists even then.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I thought this might interest you.

[archy]

next time you see a picture of a tank in Nam, look at the back and chances are, you'll see a roll of chainlink fence across the rear deck to set up at night or in a static position to catch RPG's...

A lot of the ACAV drivers liked having them on the front slope, where the old splashboards had been installed before their removal.

[archy]

Do they make a smaller version of the Stryker? That would be ideal, because you could share parts between them - then again the Stryker is "Interim" (which in the military could mean they'll be around for the next 40 years).

Sort of. That's the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle [ASV]

Which the military wanted to cancel so they could buy more Strykers. Though it's better armed than the Stryker [a 40mm Mk 19 grenade launcher and a .50 under armor that works] Their best use has been airfield defense and convoy escort, similar to the role of the forerunner Caddilac Gage V150 escort vehicles of Vietnam. But some US M1117s have turned up with KFOR in Kosovo, and certainly beat a maybe-armored Hummvee for such duties. In early 2004 the 984th Military Police Company in Iraq had one hit from behind by an RPG that pretty much took out the entire engine casing, but there were no deaths, no injuries.

[archy]

The current export model of the BTR-80, the BTR-90, is equipped with a turret and a 30mm auto-cannon and weighs about 16 tons.

Sometimes. Not always. There's an effort afoot to fit the coaxial 30mm gun and 100mm main gun of the BMP-3 on a stretched BTR chassis for use as an APC killer; for tanks it relies on a Kornet guided missile. And the twin-23mm autocannon version is nothing to sneeze at either.

Meanwhile, Stryker mounts a .50 caliber MG in a mount with feeding problems, or a Mk 19 that can't be used during convoy escort missions with fuel trucks present.

[archy]

I am not an unbiased observer. Viewed from the driver's seat of a Ford Ranger, an oncoming LAVIII appears less threatening than an oncoming TAB-77. That might be more because the Canadians are known to be very courteous drivers and the Romanians are known to be crazy.

The locals know to cross from behind, it seems. But as young treadheads, we were taught to always cross paths while in the other driver's field of vision...which isn't much help if his vehicle commander orders him to run you down, or even just scare you a little.

The life of a Military Liasion Mission M151 Jeep driver around a Soviet motorized rifle regiment was not a happy one. Ivan liked to play hard....

[AppyPappy]

While the United States abandoned wheeled armored vehicles after World War II

The LAV not withstanding

[A. Pole]

Why do we want to do the Russians any favors while putting friendly Canadians and patriotic Alabamans out of work?

In general I am not for free market, but in this case the equipment which is the best but not very expensive should bought and delivered as soon as possible. The soldiers in Iraq deserve it.

[Yasotay]

I think there are two outcomes:

The RPG gets stuck in the slats.

The RPG detonates early causing the shape charge to improperly form a plasm jet.

[rmlew]

Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina took out the main assembly plant for the M1117.

[Chode]

yup, there it is...

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Another BTR-80 with slat armor

[murdocj]

Sorry Cannoneer...for some reason my hotlink protection was disabled...I had to restart it, which killed the pics here.

Not sure what I did, but I just found out I'm WAAAAY over my bandwidth for the month due to (others earlier) hotlinking pics on my site.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Well, I apologize for hot linking your pics. I hot link all the pics I post on FR. You sure have some purty pictures.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

[murdocj]

No prob, Cannoneer. Your hotlinks weren't the issue. It's the bad apples that ruin it for everyone...