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Russia touted the upgraded T-80BVM as indestructible as it received additional protection against Javelin anti-tank missiles and an electronic warfare system to suppress drones. However, there are no indestructible tanks and Ukrainian defenders were convinced that the T-80BVM would burn like other Russian tanks.
Regular Russian T-80BVM tanks without extra protective measures and electronic jammers. Image credit: Mil.ru via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine destroyed an upgraded Russian T-80BVM tank, which got advanced protection against drones. The attack was carried out with a drone.
The attack was carried out at night. A drone with a thermal imager successfully attacked a Russian tank with three air-dropped shells. The first one hit the rear of the T-80BVM turret. The drone then dropped two more shells, which also hit the turret.
Then the tank’s ammunition detonated and it was instantly engulfed in flames. The destruction of the improved T-80BVM has become an undeniable fact.
“A few days ago, Russian propagandists released a video about the “ultra-modern and impenetrable” T-80BVM tank. The National Guard’s 27th Brigade Aviation Scouts have already conducted a real-life test, not a staged one. The result: the T-80BVM burns beautifully and explodes,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko commented on the video.
On September 10, the Russian media showed the updated T-80BVM, which was modernized taking into account the experience of combat operations in Ukraine. Russian journalists emphasized that the tank received a new turret protection, including a slat armour roof, and an electronic anti-drone system.
Not all T-80BVMs were updated this way. Russia has already lost at least 96 T-80BVM tanks in Ukraine, but only one had that kind of extra protection.
The upgraded T-80BVM, as Russian channels said, has a powerful electronic warfare suite capable of jamming satellite navigation and drone communication channels. The manufacturer said that such improvements had to be made after seeing the results of the fighting in Ukraine.
It was claimed that the cage and other additional measures would protect the T-80BVM from drones and even Javelin missiles with top-attack modes. But the defenders of Ukraine have already proven that all that tech doesn’t work.
The war in Ukraine is characterized by particularly frequent use of drones. Small commercial drones help gather real-time information and transmit it to soldiers on the ground. In addition, even small drones now can drop grenades, adjust artillery fire or participate in combat in other ways.
However, at the same time, drone jammers systems have become widespread and they will definitely find their way into armoured vehicles. It just seems like the T-80BVM doesn’t have as good protection as the Russian media has been saying.
Written by Povilas M.
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