🧵The T-90M is known for being arguably the most protected tank of all the in-service russian MBTs but the turret side protection leaves a lot to be desired...
#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar
The turret side is protected by two segments of Relikt ERA (Explosives sandwiched between 2x flyer plates). One of them is angled, while the upper one is not. This leaves a large gap in the side protection, as the non-angled ERA will perform much worse.
Russian forces had to learn the hard way, as issues with this area of the tank have appeared over the course of the war, with some tanks being penetrated in the side of the turret.
They began deploying an impromptu solution to this problem, by mounting small bags of ERA on top of the flat portion, in an attempt to improve the protection. This improves it against RPGs and ATGMs, but not armor piercing tank shells, due to the lack of heavy flyer plates.
This is only one of the many examples of russian tank features which have been overlooked by the designers. The russian army is constantly having to adapt as they discover the flaws of their vehicles from combat experience and attempt to field quick solutions.
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During the year 2000, the development of the TOS-1A was taking place. Realising that the T-80U tank was not going to be produced anymore, Omsktransmash made a last ditch effort to remain relevant and used the chassis with the new TOS-1A turret module.
The usage of the T-80U chassis significantly improved the mobility of the system, however there were several issues. The suspension was less reliable than on the T-72 platform and the gas turbine's air intake sucked in propellant fumes and dirt after firing a salvo of rockets.
🧵 VACUUM - The tangled history of Russia's high-power armour piercing shell.
Disclaimer: The information in this thread has not been adequately verified to be true due to a lack of quality data on the topic at hand!
For the purposes of this thread, I will assume that Vacuum is a real project and will present its alleged history as I have understood it.
In the early 1990s, Yekaterinburg Plant No.9 received a request to create two new cannons of different calibers, but using a similar technology and design. The resulting cannons were the 125mm 2A82 cannon and the 152mm 2A83 cannon respectively.
The exact same tank has appeared on footage from 2020, on the "Combat Approved" series by russian state television channel Telekanal Zvezda.
Specifically, it appeared during the BMPT Terminator episode.
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How can we verify that this is not just a new tank? Well, to start off, everything is laid out the same. Tools, items and other vehicles are in the same place as in 2020.
Secondly, the T-14 appears to have the OLD frontal armor arrangement, from before 2022.
A bore evacuator creates a pressure differential in order for the toxic fumes created by firing a shell to leave through the barrel.
No crew member wants a puff of toxic gas when the breech opens!
It is thin and surrounds a part of the barrel that has holes in it.
The bore evacuator can be seen at work when a tank fires a shell. The toxic gas (a white plume of smoke) can be seen leaving the barrel AFTER the shell has already been fired.
Every modern tank has one. It usually appears as a "bump" in the barrel, a portion of bigger diameter.
More footage has been released by russian media, showing an older T-72B tank that has received upgrades recently. Let's check out some of the features...
We can see the 1PN-96MT-02 thermal sight, which further strengthens the previous analysis.
The tank seems to lack a DVE-BS weather sensor, which is needed for the fire control system to make accurate shots in different types of weather. The tank will be much less accurate.
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Another feature is the new ERA protection. The "soft bag" ERA previously used has been replaced by a steel case design, which has been planned for a while.
There are possible issues with the soft bag design, such as damaging it by hitting it on buildings or vegetation.