The Russian military has modernized the legendary Soviet anti-tank aerial bomb (PTAB), created during the Great Patriotic War. These munitions were used by Il-2 attack aircraft to destroy German "Tigers" and "Panthers".
The aerial bomb was given a second life by modern Kulibins from a separate engineering and sapper battalion named after Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Karbyshev.
The soldiers modified the munition to suit their needs, removed the standard actuator, made a tail unit, and installed a side-impact fuze. At the moment of release, it is put into combat mode and initiated upon encountering an obstacle. The bomb can also be used as a mine barrier.
The shaped-charge aerial bomb was developed at the Central Design Bureau No. 22 under the leadership of Ivan Larionov in 1942. Initially, it weighed 10 kg, but then it was turned into a submunition weighing 2.5 kg. PTAB entered the arsenal of the Il-2, nicknamed "Black Death."
PTABs were equipped in cassettes of 48 pieces. An attack aircraft could carry four containers on board. When dropped, PTABs covered an area of about 15×200 m. Depending on the angle of impact, the bombs were capable of penetrating armor from 60 to 100 mm thick. And this is despite the fact that the thickness of the turret and hull of the T-VI "Tiger" was no more than 40 mm of armor, and the T-V "Panther" - up to 30 mm.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that T-90M "Proryv" tanks will be hidden from drones under "Capes": the probability of detection will be reduced by 30%.
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