British experts ‘acknowledge’ the effectiveness of Russian tanks

06/05/2022 08:30 GMT+7

In particular, the authors of the document “Technical Reflection on Russian Armored Combat Vehicles” say that most Russian tanks have very good frontal armor that allows them to resist grenade launchers. hand-held anti-tank.

In addition, the tilt angle of the armor also positively affects the security of the tank. The tank’s turret also provides a fairly high level of protection.

“Russian tanks are well protected in the front. For head-to-head engagements and especially in defensive positions where tanks can be buried in the ground, they can be highly effective when used properly. Even with poor performance, the Soviet T-72 still performed well in the Iran-Iraq war,” British experts said.

British experts ‘acknowledge’ the effectiveness of Russian tanks. (Photo: RIA)

At the same time, tanks like the Russian T-72B3M are equipped with a 125 mm 2A46M-5 cannon that can fire advanced ammunition capable of penetrating 500 mm armor at a distance of 2 km. Along with that, their shooting accuracy will be higher than that of Soviet tanks.

Among the disadvantages of the Russian tank, British experts say that the level of development is not high enough of the fire control system and the stabilization of the weapon to fire on the move. They also found the shortcomings were the limited space inside the vehicle and the crew, consisting of 3 people, not 4 like Western tanks.

According to the British authors, this can make it difficult, for example, to correct and reduce cognition in some situations. But these problems can be overcome with crew cohesion.

However, the authors note, the ideal tank does not exist in principle. Win in some traits, but they lose in others. In addition, much depends on the tactics and methods of using tanks.

“It is necessary to take into account Russian tactics and doctrine, which often emphasize weapons operations using artillery and aircraft. The delegation of authority to lower levels of management is rare in Russian military training.

This meant that armored formations operated independently of support forces capable of doing things for which they were not trained. In general, Russian armored vehicles work quite effectively. But it is important to look at them in what context, ”emphasized British experts.

Earlier, on April 25, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that Russian forces had lost about 580 tanks since the opening of the military operation in Ukraine, of which mainly the T-72, a battle tank model. The main battleground was widely used in the conflict.

Meanwhile, on April 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army destroyed more than 1,000 Russian tanks, nearly 200 aircraft and nearly 2,500 armored vehicles.

According to Zelensky, preliminary estimates of Ukraine’s losses from the conflict with Russia to date have reached 600 billion USD. More than 32 million square meters of living space, more than 1,500 educational facilities and more than 350 medical facilities have been destroyed or damaged. About 2,500 km of roads and nearly 300 bridges have been damaged or destroyed. Economic establishments of Ukraine were also severely damaged, hundreds of enterprises were destroyed.

Peace (translation summary)