These Turtle Tanks are niche designs focused on countering drones. This class of armor is best thought of as improvised heavy mineclearing vehicles, but they aren't tanks.

What these Turtle vehicles gain in imperviousness to FPV drone attacks they catastrophically give up in situational awareness and vulnerability to all other anti-tank weapons whether that be direct fire cannons tank cannons, artillery, AT guided rockets or physical tank traps.

Does anyone else feel like tanks were unquestionably obsolete when Russia stopped using them and now that Russia is using them again tanks are unquestionably powerful?

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The thing in the picture is no-longer a tank, it doesn't have a working turret or cannon, so it's more an APV.
It's probably based on the T62 which has way insufficient armor for modern warfare, so I doubt things looking like the picture will be a major new problem for Ukraine.

On the contrary it seems to me to show desperation by the Russians, that they are trying to find use for 50-60 year old equipment.
It still takes a lot of effort to get that old crap to even drive, and they wouldn't do it except they are out of options.

[–] rustyfish@piefed.world 13 points 1 day ago

I think it’s time to stop the smekalka and start putting bullets in your corrupt leaders heads. Ukraine will never fall, Russia will never win. If you want this to be over, end Putin and his goons.

(but I still appreciate the Russian soldiers willingness to make me laugh)

[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh yeah, it's time for St. Javelin to come back in fashion!

[–] RiikkaTheIcePrincess@pawb.social 8 points 1 day ago

Oh, it's so sad to imagine those being wasted on these pieces of crap 😅

[–] RiikkaTheIcePrincess@pawb.social 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh no, the Ukrainians will be screwed (for one battle) if Russia can "up-armour" 🤣 about, lemme check... forty or so (assuming "few hundred drones" means 300 drones and not a thing besides) vehicles into "turtle tanks" for a single attack? ... And the Ukrainians don't just dig a moat or something so they can ignore the turtles and wreck everything else? Nor learn some trick(s) to more easily deal with these balls of crap?

It's baffling to me that this is still going on. There must be multiple people who think any of this makes sense, no?? Freakin' embarrassing.

[–] Salamanderwizard@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Know what else is embarrassing? This could've been an easy win for America. If we would've gave Ukraine the full force of our weapons and tech, this war would've been over before Putin could say, "Trump rapes kids." We could've literally had an easy win in our hands as "good guys" and an enemy superpower would've been smacked back down in their place.

But nope. We fuck ourselves with a broom and we don't even bother to give our selves a tug.

Sorry for ranting.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 15 points 1 day ago

Diogenes bursts into Plato's military lecture: BEHOLD! An unstoppable armored column!

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Btw, are there no rockets that just explode a piece of tungsten into flight direction?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They are called APFSDS tank shells

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armour-piercing_fin-stabilized_discarding_sabot

A CV90 (not even a true main battle tank) with a 120mm gun would eat these piece of shit "tanks" for breakfast. Not as a hero vehicle that charges to the front and singlehandedly breaks through enemy assaults, but rather as part of a hunting pack working in close concert with drones to surgically dismantle and devastate enemy armored assaults without putting Ukrainian lives at unnecessary risk.

https://defensemirror.com/news/39227/BAE_Systems_H__gglunds__introduces_CV90120_light_tank__a_Lighter_Alternative_to_the_German_Leopard

Not shoulder launched though, unless you ARE a tank then technically...

[–] heyWhatsay@slrpnk.net 14 points 1 day ago

Maybe give the drones some thermite to drop.

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

I mean it could protect reasonably well against drones but other than that it seems to be pretty much useless like that.

[–] ladicius@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Would this stuff protect against classic anti tank missiles?

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Maybe RPGs, if the distance of the plate was far enough away from the main hull of the tank. The blast from shaped charges in RPGs can dissipate fairly quick once it has gone through one bit of armor, so, it needs to detonate against the actual tank hull itself so the jet of molten copper has a higher chance to give a big hug to one of the shells in storage.

But an AT missile? Highly unlikely it will be stopped. It's probably also going to have a shaped charge, but it will be much more powerful than an RPG and could penetrate multiple layers of armor. A top-down trajectory is also more likely where actual tank armor would be the weakest. (There are multiple types of anti tank missiles and some can be set for different attack trajectories.)

Turtle tanks may or may not still have an active main gun. If they don't, they shouldn't be carrying any live shells so crew survival rate should be a touch higher depending on where the missile strike happens.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Maybe RPGs, if the distance of the plate was far enough away from the main hull of the tank. The blast from shaped charges in RPGs can dissipate fairly quick once it has gone through one bit of armor, so, it needs to detonate against the actual tank hull itself so the jet of molten copper has a higher chance to give a big hug to one of the shells in storage.

This is misinformation, an RPG warhead being detonated before it hits the main armor HELPS PENETRATION as it gives space for the molten jet to form more coherently. There is of course a distance where it falls off but don't be fooled by this nonsense cope that is repeated everywhere.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1736002/FULLTEXT01.pdf

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

A Russian RPG detonates on impact or with a timer. The correct distance from the hull is a built-in factor of the warhead.

You are presenting data that wasn't relevant to the topic and you didn't read the full paragraph, it seems.

Are you done being a jackass now or don't you understand that what makes a turtle tank the way it is, is the extra armor placed further away from the main hull?

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago

Lol no.