A destroyed Russian military tank with the turret shot down pictured April 21, 2022 in Dmytrivka, Ukraine. Alexey Furman/Getty Images
Russian tanks have a design flaw that makes them vulnerable to being decapitated in Ukrainian attacks, CNN reported.
Unlike Western tanks, Russian tanks carry multiple ammo shells in their turrets.
The mistake means the Russian tank crews are sitting ducks, experts told CNN.
Images of wrecked Russian tanks with their turrets blown off have become commonplace since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Experts say Russian tanks have a design flaw that makes them vulnerable to being decapitated by Ukrainian attacks, dubbed the “jack-in-the-box effect,” CNN reported.
The problem lies in the fact that Russian tanks carry their stockpile of up to 40 shells in their turrets, which means that even an indirect hit can detonate the entire ammo stockpile.
“What we’re seeing with Russian tanks is a design flaw,” Sam Bendett, adviser to CNA’s Russia Studies Program, told CNN.
“Each successful hit quickly ignites the ammo, causing a massive explosion and the turret is literally blown away.”
A video posted to Twitter appeared to show a Russian tank turret landed on the fifth floor of an apartment building in Mariupol after an attack.
A similar video from Chernihiv showed a turret on the second floor of a house.
The problem is particularly common on Russian-made T-72 and T-80 tanks because they have automatic loading mechanisms that typically store around 20 rounds when fully loaded, said Steven Zaloga, an expert on Russian and Soviet armor. to the military magazine Task & Purpose.
He added that the internal volume of Russian tanks is much smaller than Western ones.
“If you get inside the tank, there’s a high chance you’ll hit something,” Zaloga told the outlet.
It’s not a new problem — many Russian-made T-72 tanks used by Iraq during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf Wars were similarly decapitated.
Nicholas Drummond, a defense industry analyst and former British Army officer, told CNN that Russia hasn’t learned the lessons of Iraq, which is why many of its tanks in Ukraine have similar design flaws.
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The flaw means the Russian tank crews are sitting ducks, Drummond told the outlet.
“If you don’t get out in the first second, you’re fired,” he said.
Although the newer Russian T-80 and T-90 tanks had improved armor, they suffered from similar problems with ammo loading systems, making them vulnerable to the same fate.
The problem also affects other Russian vehicles deployed in Ukraine, such as the BMD-4 infantry fighting vehicle, which is operated by a crew of three and can transport an additional five soldiers.
Drummond told CNN that the vehicle was a “mobile coffin” that was “simply obliterated” when hit by a missile.
Russia’s BMD-4M, a new generation amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, is seen at an exhibition in the town of Kubinka in Moscow, Russia, June 25, 2019 (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
As of April 29, open-source intelligence monitoring website Oryx has documented at least 300 Russian tanks destroyed in Ukraine and over 280 tanks damaged, abandoned or captured.
The website only lists destroyed tanks, of which photo or video evidence is available, so the true number is likely much higher.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace estimated on Monday that Russia had lost up to 580 tanks in Ukraine.
The latest statistics released by Ukraine’s land forces reportedly claim that 873 Russian tanks were destroyed along with 2238 armored vehicles.
Read the original article on Business Insider