And we still put drop-tanks on our jet fighters.
The idea makes sense: you use the fuel in the drums to get to the battlefield, and then dump them when you get to where the shooting is. It extends range.
They put them there out of poor design. The interior of Russian tanks is very cramped. The auto-matic loader they use is more likely to load the poor loaders arm into the breach. The Russkies put fuel tanks in the rear doors of their APCs. Generally Russian armor is crap.
You mean ‘’cfts’’(conformal fuel tank) yeah but they produce a certain drag. Why use the damn things anyway when you have in-flight refueling capability? My point is the Russkies make crappy armor.