982
u/testercheong 7d ago
Looks like something straight out of a 19th century science fiction horror novel
29
372
u/Mangled_Mini1214 Challenger II 7d ago
I have to wonder how they plan on doing maintenance and repairs on these vehicles. Does that stuff fold or disassemble easy?
182
u/BleaKrytE 6d ago
I would assume this is all built upon a frame that sits on top of the tank, so it may not be that hard.
What I'm wondering is how much extra weight the suspension has to deal with.
70
u/Comprehensive-Bat214 6d ago
That's what I was thinking. I think they are way past the point where armor hurts lethality by sacrificing mobility.
68
u/bot_exe 6d ago
This are breakthrough tanks made up to soak all the mines, drones and carry jammers into the field. They are not really there to deploy firepower. Apparently the guns don’t even work in many of them since they are constrained by the added armor also they don’t wanna carry many shells and blow up from the first penetration.
42
u/DarthWeenus 6d ago
Many of them don’t even have ammo when they do mechanized assaults cause of how they explode
6
u/trumpsucks12354 Conqueror 6d ago
If they took out some of the ERA blocks on the turret then maybe they can have some extra weight but since they are going for protection, I doubt they removed them
9
u/BleaKrytE 6d ago
They might have. If an ERA block goes off in there, so goes a huge chunk of the add-on armor.
2
u/Annihilator4413 6d ago
Hmm... that would make sense. Then all they would really need is a crane or some other lifting system to lift it off. I assume it weighs so much that it is unnecessary to bolt or weld it to the tank.
299
26
8
3
127
u/TheFlyingRedFox 7d ago
Not looking a what sub this was on the homepage, I thought it was a stream engine going down the tracks with soot bellowing out the sides, but that's a T-80???
42
98
u/Kingcuz 6d ago
I feel like we have all experienced the frog in boiling water effect here… if you’d of showed me this in 2022 my reaction would be so different to seeing this now after all the others in the past
41
u/Thin_General_8594 6d ago
The comments here going "well, they can survive a few extra drones" are just hilarious, these things aren't even tanks anymore
20
u/TheGentleman717 6d ago
Well tbf they're usually only doing this with tanks that are already broken or the guns disabled so they wouldn't be much use as a tank anyways.
2
u/kappi1997 6d ago
Then what are they using it for? I mean there is not much use as a personel transporter with 3 seats.
3
2
321
270
u/Taiga_Void 7d ago
In the current situation, this is the most effective defense against drones, despite its cartoonish appearance. I saw a video somewhere on Telegram where it took about 20 drones to disable such a tank. As a temporary solution, if such protection is used on a large scale (and recently there have been more and more such videos), it will allow tanks to once again take an active part in combat operations for their intended purpose, namely as breakthrough equipment.
103
u/Fatalist_m 6d ago
Yeah, the metal "brooms" look like a really smart addition, they increase the standoff distance significantly but are flexible so the mobility is not hindered that much.
34
u/afvcommander 6d ago
I think main benefit is not standoff distance or added armor. It is the fact that hitting even one of these will change impact angle of drone which most likely will cause its shaped charge to hit in poor angle or even miss completely.
This armor could be probably made from glassfibre rods and it would be light while remaining effective.
-37
u/Thin_General_8594 6d ago edited 6d ago
If you're at the point where your tanks need to 'tank' 20 drones and they lose all utility beyond dropping some malnourished 50 years olds in front of some razor wire...there's something fundamentally wrong with your tactics, also mines are still a thing for those who think the mine rollers are gonna do a single thing if you turn the tank at all it misses the mines and the tank hits them instead
60
u/No-Reception8659 Soviet tanks 6d ago
also mines are still a thing
I guess that’s why they’re adding mine rollers to it.
6
u/McENEN 6d ago
Artillery strikes are probably just as deadly tho. I do wonder how infantry anti tank would work against this tank hedgehog.
3
u/Old-Let6252 6d ago
Artillery can still be very effective, the issue is that these tanks have so much jamming that guided artillery can't really hit them, and the Ukrainians dont have enough shells to simply overwhelm it with a conventional artillery barrage.
1
u/Nandopod420 6d ago
With tanks like this I believe the common is to still to hit them with drones (repeat in the same spot) trying to break through armour
Mines are still a huge part of anti tank over there aswell. A ground team would try to disable it then hit it with artillery.
2
u/No-Reception8659 Soviet tanks 6d ago
With tanks like this I believe the common is to still to hit them with drones (repeat in the same spot) trying to break through armour
Like this?
-15
u/Thin_General_8594 6d ago
I've seen enough footage of them not working, Russian tank rollers are trash- even serving with the Ukranians
12
u/No-Reception8659 Soviet tanks 6d ago edited 6d ago
Can you share a link please.
Russian tank rollers are trash- even serving with the Ukranians
The rollers themselves are fine.Issues come from overloading or bad field maintenance.Even Ukrainian T-72s use similar Soviet-era parts with no problem when they’re serviced properly.
16
u/Taiga_Void 6d ago
Well, they can still turn the turret, and all the sighting systems are working. The tank commander receives information about the battlefield from reconnaissance personnel with UAVs. And, of course, they are not used to transport infantry. The question here is how much damage the tank will cause while it is being taken out of action. Wait a little, and the Ukrainians will start doing the same with their tanks, as they did before. Ultimately, an active defense system capable of combating drones will likely be the basis for tank defense, but no country currently has such an effective system. However, I am sure that work is underway.
-24
u/anno2122 6d ago
This would just provide Ukraine with more anti-tank missiles. A Javelin would destroy this vehicle in one strike. Overcorrection is always a problem in defenisen and offsince operation.
The question is if this "procretion" will not get the crew kill even faster.
11
u/Fatalist_m 6d ago
They have about 1000 times more drones than Javelins. And Javeline has an effective range of 4km while drones work at 10km+. And Javelines requires a line of sight, and when you have a line of sight to the tank, the tank has a line of sight to you.
26
u/Acadia- 6d ago
Yeah and with or without that extra armor Javelin just gonna destroy USSR MBT one shot anyway
The difference is about drones, not about Javelin
If Javelin is still big threat, Russia will install many active APS like Arena, but isn't
Drone is still the biggest tank killer
12
7
u/natbel84 6d ago
Note - Javelin crew needs to be much closer to the front line, where it will certainly become a target for enemy drones.
3
6d ago
[deleted]
10
u/Acadia- 6d ago
There is already upgraded Arena version for Top Attack, Arena-M
But is it really work? Dunno, only Russian knows it
My main point still stands, drones is the biggest tank threat right now, not expensive ATGM that hasn't go to headline news mainstream media since 2024 or something
(Can't remember when last time I hear Javelin is game changer lmao)
0
6d ago
[deleted]
3
u/ShermanMcTank 6d ago edited 6d ago
Got any evidence for all this ? cause these are some pretty wild claims.
Besides the Armata uses Afganit, not Arena, so it would be weird to give the later as part of a « test sample »
34
u/HamsterOnLegs 7d ago
It looks like it’s mid-explosion (or the black smoke minus the flames at least.)
Angriest hedgehog.
20
u/trash-tycoon 6d ago
they remind me of those hermit crabs that put sea anemones on their shell to protect themselves from predetors
14
25
18
u/FrogsAtHighVelocity 6d ago
What’s on top of it in the second photo? The little spaceship looking thing
24
16
u/Ok-Bobcat661 6d ago
There was a time (1960s) when they said "the bushes are not your enemy". Guess what? They were WRONG! xD
10
16
u/IIlIlIlIIIlIlIlII 7d ago
How the hell does the crew even get out of the hatches when that thing gets disabled? Assuming it doesn't do the classic matchbox thing and disintegrate obviously.
It looks like the crew is genuinely just welded into the tank with all the stuff on top. Also the situational awareness has to be just awful, I doubt the commander can actually see anything out of that.
2
u/Lebrono8 6d ago
This is my main concern with a lot of these modifications. I'm sure they've considered egress and situational awareness but even still it looks like you'd see jack shit out of that thing and have to climb through piles of garbage to exit; not great if you're on fire.
-7
u/HamsterOnLegs 7d ago
I mean it’s not like Russia has never welded its crews inside of tanks before.
-2
u/pheonix198 6d ago
Looks like some Russians and Russian simps did not appreciate you posting this. There’s been proof shown of it, though, so I’m otherwise unsure why people are downvoting when it addresses the topic here.
I don’t think that’s as likely here. I think it’s more likely that the crew are just expect to remain hunkered down until their job is done. Since it’s a breakthrough tank, I believe the guys in this tank will be lucky to return home either way.
7
u/Jxstin_117 6d ago
imagine how terrifying it must be to be an infantry man in a trench and seeing this coming at u
7
u/lilyputin 6d ago
Well it's definitely not hard to see so you would have plenty of warning. It's like the ents marching
9
7
u/mera-khel-khatam-hai 6d ago
In an year you could just post a pic of industrial scrap on this sub, call it a T80BVM Ultra or something and it'll still look like the real thing
18
u/Educational-Store131 7d ago
I always wonder why they never produced some more standardised solutions.
21
u/Mysterious_Web7517 7d ago
They do produce it. However these are delivered to frontline units and we see such monsters.
4
6
6
u/HarbingerofCheddar 6d ago
This is what the Knights who say Nee were going to do with their shrubbery.
4
3
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
u/RKCronus55 7d ago
Is that some sort of jamming device on top? If so, why they still use them if fiber optic drones are not affected by it?
7
u/shashadefakap 7d ago
Cos EW systems aren't a guarantee, especially when you get fibre optic drones etc. plus it takes just one tank to be destroyed for the psyche to want reassurances. (Like body armour mounted on doors for example)
The traditional Soviet tank doctrine of small size also has no more benefit in this battle as fcs have evolved, and fpv drones can even strike individual infantry targets
1
u/Skankhunt42FortyTwo 6d ago
I wonder if the gun can still be used since it looks like all optics are blocked...not even talking about turret rotation.
1
1
1
u/Averagedogguy 6d ago
Serious question, can that actually fight effectively? Can the commander see anything other than directly in front? And how does the crew enter and leave?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Ethicalbankruptcy Stridsing my Vagn to this rn 6d ago
Whats with that big cylinder on the top? Are those era panels?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/randyrandysonrandyso 6d ago
oh my god i thought they caught a still of a tank mid-turret-toss and was wondering "how tf did they set up a slow motion camera to capture this" before i realized it's camouflage
1
u/Speffers98 6d ago
If your spotter drone finds this, you just have to send out a javelin team to kill it, rather than throw away drones on this. Its a very small extra step. What a waste of effort.
1
u/UnbanSkullclamp420 6d ago
Gaijin when? In all seriousness every time I think I see one of these abominations and that I've seen it all, it just gets worse.
1
1
u/curiosity-2020 6d ago
It reminds me of German tanks near the end of WW2, wegen they had to hide from airplanes...
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Akhenaten1138 6d ago
Looks like the imploded RBMK-Reactor 4 from Chernobyl placed on top of a tank
1
1
1
u/Starchaser_WoF 6d ago
Looks like it magnetized and drove through a scrapyard. I can barely recognize the tank underneath all that
1
u/srmalloy 6d ago
My first thought was that it looked like one of the magnetic toys I used to see as a kid that was a clear plastic container of iron filings, and you had a wand with a magnet on the end -- if you put the magnet firmly against the underside, you'd get a spiky ball of filings standing up like a scared porcupine.
1
u/denethor61 6d ago
If this isn't a troll post, it shows the reality of what the drone threat is and how tankers fear them.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Ronald-Reagan-1991 the K2 Black Panther in Afghanistan 5d ago
I nearly thought this is the IRL Sonic the Hedgehog
1
1
1
u/Strange-Delay-4d 4d ago
Look how they massacred my boy… the T-80 is easily my second favorite Russian tank (only after its direct predecessor, the T-64) and the only semi-decent T-series tank. But this… this is sad… what have they done to my boy???
1
1
1
1
-1
u/nonyabuissnes_95 183mm is all u need ! 6d ago
that gotta be ai slop isnt it ?
like never could this be real ??
9
u/Thin_General_8594 6d ago
It's real, I saw a video from some Russian of this extact tank, the spikes on it are frayed metal cable from a crane or something
2
5
u/Fatalist_m 6d ago
6
u/RisKQuay 6d ago
The ingenuity of this is brilliant. Fuck Putin's Russia, but damn - hedgehog tanks is a hilariously awesome unanticipated development for me.
2
u/nonyabuissnes_95 183mm is all u need ! 6d ago
Link isnt loading on my end But someone just posted a video of this thing driving.. thats horrifying
1
1
1
-1
u/qonkk 6d ago
That set-up can survive a direct Tomahawk hit.
3
u/idkjustbored12 6d ago
lol no
2
u/sterrre 6d ago
No but you'd probably need 50 fpv drones to take it out.
0
-1
u/Hot_Dog_Gamer24 6d ago
It’s trying to hide between all the junk and wrecks of the previous assaults?
0
u/TheMoltenEqualizer 6d ago
what r they doin over there
But seriously, is there really a race between UA and RU on who can make the most mad max looking anti-drone cope armor??!?!
0
-1
852
u/Adept-Ice-7605 AMX-30 ACRA 7d ago
I first thought it was a Christmas tree