Russian military personnel have begun installing unusual protection on T-80BVM tanks, nicknamed the "kartuz." It is a cocoon made of steel sheets and grilles that covers almost the entire vehicle.
From the side, the tank looks like an old cap with a visor, with only the gun sticking out from underneath. The crew has almost no visibility from inside, but the tankers do not really need it. The driver and gunner move literally "blind," while drone operators, who see the whole picture from above, guide them along the route and direct them onto targets.
The tank commander with the callsign Aza clarified that without a constant voice in the headset, operating in such a "kartuz" would be impossible.
We stay in contact the whole way. Command guides us along the route, tells us where to turn, and adjusts the fire. They help us engage targets accurately. Communications work clearly from the very moment we set out until the moment we return: there are no pauses or dropouts on the air.
This kind of protection does not look as flashy as the "hedgehog" type of protection, but it performs the task 100%. Thick metal walls on the sides and above stop drones and prevent their shaped-charge jet from burning through the armor.
Earlier, it became known that the crew of the Russian T-90M Proryv main battle tank hit a target at a range of 11.5 km while firing in an arcing trajectory from a concealed position.
Read more materials on the topic:
- Tanks were changed beyond recognition: "dreadlocks," a "barbecue grill," and lots of "Kontakt"
- An expert urged not to rely only on the "Tsar-Mangal" tank: other means of protection must be sought
- T-80 and T-72B1 tanks were improved with the clever "Yozh" protection against fiber-optic drones
