Russian armor suffers from a design flaw that makes them prone to losing their shells on direct hits – a well-documented flaw that Ukrainian troops exploit to smolder enemy forces.
The decapitated tanks, with turrets detached from their bodies, are victims of what military experts call the “jack-in-the-box” effect, the resulting pressure shock wave caused by the explosion of stored ammunition.
“What we’re seeing with Russian tanks is a design flaw,” Sam Bendett, a consultant with the defense research group Center for Naval Analyzes, told CNN.
“Each successful hit…quickly ignites the ammo, causing a massive explosion and the turret is literally blown away.”
Unlike modern Western main battle tanks, many of the tanks deployed by the Russian Army keep large stores of ammunition directly under their turrets in an automatic loading system designed to speed up the loading of the main gun.
Russian tanks suffer from the “jack-in-the-box” effect, making them prone to losing their tops on direct hits. AP
The tanks are also smaller than their Western counterparts, making it easier for exploding munitions to set off a chain reaction with other nearby rounds, military news site Task & Purpose reported. The rounds are also stored behind less layers of ballistic protection than in their larger, Western counterparts.
“If you penetrate inside the tank, there is a high probability that you will hit something [explosive]’ tank expert Steven Zaloga told the outlet.
The bug in the Russian armor is also not new information. The Soviet-built T-72 tanks used by Saddam Hussein’s army during the first Gulf War showed the same tendency to blast their tops.
Russian tanks store large amounts of ammunition directly under their turrets, which sets them apart from modern western main battle tanks. EPA
And while more modern Russian tanks have upgraded their armor, they all use similar loading and ammo storage systems.
“[Western militaries] Everyone learned from the Gulf War and from seeing tanks killed during that time that you have to compartmentalize your ammunition,” defense analyst Nicholas Drummond told CNN.
Ukrainian Armed Forces use many of the same Russian-designed tanks, but so far the fighting has mostly involved only Russian armor. It remains to be seen how Ukrainian tanks will fare in the current battle for Donbass.