A Russian T-90M with a triple layer of protection just before it was destroyed by an FPV drone
Russia continues to produce T-90M tanks, the best tank in the world – according to Putin anyway – at a slow and steady pace. As soon as these tanks appear at the front, they are spotted by the ubiquitous surveillance drones surveying every inch of the front and targeted.
Recent videos show how last-ditch efforts to protect tanks long enough to reach Ukrainian lines are failing. Here is a lesson for Western tank manufacturers.
Make Mine A Triple Decker
The frontal armor of the T-90M is a high-tech sandwich of metal, ceramic and composite material that gives protection equivalent to more than three feet of steel. This would be an asset in tank-on-tank engagements, but useless against drones that attack thin top armor.
A ‘clean’ T-90M on parade with no battlefield additions
The latest T-90Ms are said to be equipped with the Arena active defense system, which fires radar-guided projectiles to shoot down drones, but this has yet to be seen in action and may never arrive. Meanwhile, tank crews have been trying to improve their chances by adding extra armor.
The upper surface of the T-90M is covered with explosive blocks. This Reactive Explosive Contact Armor or ERA disrupts shaped charge warheads and should prevent penetration from overhead attacks.
From the start of the war, Russian tanks began to sport roof screens or cages, improvised metal structures designed to provide further protection from attacks from above. A later development has roof screens which were themselves covered in ERA.
In the latest iteration, we see a T-90M with a roof screen covered in ERA with one additional roof screen on it for three-layer protection.
As the last video shows, the extra measures didn’t help.
The danger of mines
This Ukrainian video first shows the view from an FPV approaching the Russian tank which appears to be abandoned. Later in the video we get a shot from a surveillance drone that shows why: the T-90M’s right track has been blown off, immobilizing it.
Anti-tank mines have played a major role in this conflict, particularly the 21-kilogram TM-62 the size of a dinner plate, which are more commonly encountered. Both sides have deployed a wide field of TM-62 and attacks usually use tank-guided mine plows or rollers to open a path for following vehicles. In this case, neither the T-90M nor the destroyed vehicle next to it has a mine plow. This could be a sign that the crews did not know they were moving through a mined area.
The PTM-1 light anti-tank mine can be placed by small drones, but is powerful enough to break one … [+]
Also, damage to the tank appears to be minor. This may be a sign that this was not a hand-deployed TM-62 scope, but a smaller weapon such as the Russian-made 3-kilogram PTM-1. This was designed to be dropped by helicopter, but in this conflict it is more likely to be deployed by drones in the path of a potential enemy advance. Unlike the fields of visible TM-62s, some PTM-1s may not be discernible. While a small explosive charge cannot destroy a vehicle like a TM-62 can, it is large enough to damage a runway.
Losing a tank track is like having a broken bicycle chain. It stops the vehicle from moving, but is fairly easy to repair. If spare track segments are available, the tank crew can replace it within an hour or so. This is impossible when under fire, but an armored recovery vehicle can tow the tank back to safety. Russian engineers have the BREM-1M T-90 recovery vehicle for just that job — but it needs to get there before the demolition drones.
Tank destroyer
The video shows that all three hatches of the T-90M are left open. This is standard practice when vehicles are abandoned in battle. Russian tanks in particular can explode immediately on impact and crews have to get away quickly without bothering to close the heavy armored hatches behind them.
Triple protection is in place, but closer inspection reveals that the wire mesh is damaged. It looks like one or more previous FPVs poured into the net to blast a hole.
The skilled FPV pilot carefully flies through the opening and launches his drone through an open hatch. The explosion ignites a fire in the stored ammunition and the T-90M is last seen burning fiercely. Chicken wire is no match for demolition crews with a good supply of FPVs that make up a large part of Russian armor.
In another example from August, a T-90M with similar protection is destroyed by an FPV hitting a vulnerable spot under the turret.
Another T-90M was recently spotted with a drone jammer prominently mounted on the roof. The tank was immediately destroyed by a Baba Yaga bomber drone, another indication that Russian jammers are unreliable at best.
It is hard to exaggerate how many tanks are being lost to small drones. An outstanding Ukrainian FPV operator was recently decorated for destroying 42 Russian tanks and 82 other armored vehicles over a 5-month period. It would be hard to match these numbers with any other weapon; missiles like the Javelin just aren’t available in sufficient quantities. But Ukraine aims to produce 1.5 million drones this year, enough for multiple FPVs to not only attack every tank, but every Russian soldier. The Russians intend to produce a similar number.
Drone Age Warfare
Western tanks are not invulnerable either, and American Abrams and British Challenger 2 tanks have been lost to Russian FPV attacks. The Ukrainians have decided to add additional layers of reactive armor to their Western tanks, but Russian experience suggests that this will not improve them much.
The only way for tanks to survive currently is to simply not get within range of the FPV. Many reports indicate that the Russians now have a tank-free zone extending six miles from the front line.
“Heavy armor doesn’t come close to the front any more,” one soldier told Ukrainian-American freelance journalist David Kirichenko last month. “They move on motorcycles and ATVs [all-terrain vehicles] now. I can’t remember the last time I saw an enemy tank.”
Similarly, in April Ukraine reportedly withdrew its Abrams tanks from the front line in April due to the drone threat. There were very few sightings of Western tanks during the Kursk offensive.
The Russians will continue to wrap Mad Max armor on their tanks and send them forward, but for now the armored advances are taking heavy casualties rather than gaining ground.