New Tank Model of the Russian Army: Turtle Tank
While the West is working on these new tanks, which are planned to be equipped with active armour, automatic loading system and many other innovations, Russia also has a new tank project known as Armata. However, for some time now, another unexpected tank model has been seen on the Russian side.
In recent years, we have seen the massive destruction of Russian tanks in Syria, Libya, Karabakh and Ukraine by UCAVs, new generation anti-tank weapons, tanks, artillery, aircraft, helicopters and other anti-tank weapons from the most primitive to the most modern.
This has fuelled the debate that tanks have lost their former strong position on the battlefield. At first, however, Western military sources and commentators claimed that the tanks that were hit were old Soviet and Russian-made tanks and that this was due to the low quality and inadequate technology of Soviet/Russian tanks. According to them, Western tanks were much better and could not be shot down on the battlefield like Russian tanks.
With this confidence, Western countries supplied Ukraine with German Leopard 1 and 2 tanks, British Challenger 2 tanks and American M1 Abrams tanks. But it soon became clear that they were as easy to hit as Russian tanks. Some Western tanks could even be shot down by Russian tanks, which were said to have inferior technology.
This accelerated Western countries' projects to produce new tanks equipped with new technologies. While the West is working on these new tanks, which are planned to be equipped with active armour, automatic loading system and many other innovations, Russia also has a new tank project known as Armata. However, for some time now, another unexpected tank model has been seen on the Russian side.
Actually, this is not a new tank. It is probably something invented by the tank crews against the destruction of a large number of tanks with anti-tank weapons placed under simple drones for civilian purposes in battles. Because what is being done consists of adding additional armour to existing tanks with a method called ‘continental manufacturing’.
When Ukrainian drones shared images of these tanks, they were ridiculed in the Western world. The tanks to which additional armour was added in this way were ridiculed as ‘Turtle Tanks’. However, it was seen that this continental armour, although it did not provide protection against all weapons, did provide protection against attacks by dropping bombs from drones.
Bombs dropped from drones cannot reach the tank's gaps and either explode on this additional armour or slip and explode away from the tank. This ensures the survival of the tank and its crew even if the tank is wounded. On the other hand, turtle tanks also make aerial detection by UAVs, UCAVs and drones somewhat difficult.
Drones have proven to be the simplest and cheapest means of destroying tanks. For this reason, they are widely used tank destroyers. Finding a cheap means of defence against this cheap threat (even if they are of little, if any, use) seems a logical solution.
On the other hand, there is nothing else for the Russian crews to do. So, from the very first days of the war, they added a piece of chicken coop on top of the towers. This must have worked, because they developed and extended it day by day.
After the additional chicken coop-shaped armour, the first new model of armour was seen outside Krasnohorivka (in eastern Ukraine, just west of Donetsk). This image was of a T-72 tank with a metal roof-like shield over its hull and turret. What the Russian crew outside Krasnohorivka was trying to do was to put an additional shield on the tank to counter the thousands of explosive devices dropped by drones of the Ukrainian forces.
Incredibly, it was not the only tank protected by this bizarre top armour, and as more and more Russian tank crews came to the conclusion that the bizarre improvised armour worked, such armour proliferated in the Russian army. Because this turtle tank managed to survive the first battles at Krasnohorivka.
Images taken from https://www.quora.com/
For this reason, new models of continental-made additional armour reinforcements continued to appear. It is clear that most of them will not be able to provide adequate protection against anti-tank and artillery fire, but it is possible that they will be able to protect against drones.
Russian tank units may want to take advantage of at least this much protection. Since they have not yet found a technology to prevent tanks from being hit, they have nothing to do. Weapons of desperation are a last ditch attempt to make things better with what you have on the ground when you have no better solution.
Western sources continue to ridicule these tanks, despite the fact that they have proved to be partially useful. They also claim that covering the tanks with continental armour in this way will reduce their mobility and manoeuvrability. They are right in their claims, but there is a point they overlook. Russia is on defence, not offence. As far as it is understood, it has no intention of going on the offensive again in the near future. In other words, the Russian army does not need manoeuvre and mobility.
Similar to the classical Soviet defence doctrine, Russia has organised its defence in three successive defence echelons protected by mines, wire barriers, tank barriers and tank ditches. Artillery and rocket fire supports these defences. Tanks are used in fixed positions to provide visually accurate firepower.
