The T-80s future in the Russian Army

That tank is used mostly as fire support for infantry, with indirect fire against enemy trenches and fortifications.

Respect to the previous model posted on Oct.13  this seem to allow turret rotation.
Now, it could be somewhat folded once they get in enemy contact or they have to stay like so?

T-80BVM model 2023

With the onboard Volnorez portable drone jammer system on board, the upgraded tank could be one of those game changers we always hear about. The specs on the EW system alone, up to 1 km omni-directional, wide-band jamming seem impressive.

Feature Overview

* Volnorez Drone Jaming EW System (solved the APS harming infantry problem, covering mainly drones, for IR targeting,  dazzlers and smoke as well as early detection are still superior to APS)

* 1PN96MT thermal imaging sights (superior to Sosna-U)

* Reverse now exceeds 20 km/h (better than 11km/hr on previous model)

* Relikt explosive reactive armor (helps protect against ATGMs and RPGs)

* More sophisticated targeting system


For me the most interesting element is the transmission modifications made, to achieve such a fast Reverse speed

As well as Volnorez EW blocker, I believe soft kill APS is superior to hard kill, as you need infantry near the tank when conducting any advance or urban operations and any projectiles prevent the use of infantry

In very rare occasions would hardkill APS be needed, like if for some reason, the tanks are without infantry in an exposed area, in which case you are dead anyway

Explosive reactive armor is also dangerous for infantry, but this was only a problem for early Kontakt series, the new T80BVM has Relikt, so it's not as big an issue

And so I would say the next big improvement, would be installation of MMW radar, for early detection of incoming projectiles, that can alert the crew to deploy smoke and IR countermeasures, as well as dazzlers like an improved shtora

Once a crew is alerted to the fact that they are being targeted, the commander can slew the turret to the threat

Maybe T14 would just be better in terms of integrating this technology onto the platform

The problem with MMW radar is that it can be detected and triangulated.

Some other technology needs to be used like LIDAR.

It's official. The t-72 has now been turned into a brick factory

The t-72 has now been turned into a brick factory

Yeah. I put the pics in the wrong thread.
Maybe GarryB can move them to the right one.

Holly shit

Technician: How many ERA bricks do you want on your tank?
Commander: YES!

Hole wrote:
Yeah. I put the pics in the wrong thread.

No worries mate it's just anothe brick layer

Its a T90M...not T72...

Mir wrote:It's official. The t-72 has now been turned into a brick factory

Look at the positives. When the T-72B3M 2023 models come out as lego kits they will be very realistic.

LEGO will sell the ERA bricks as extra and make a lot of money.

Jammer tank

Drones are very effective, but mobile gun platforms are necessary, so a combination of countermeasures will be applied to keep tanks useful and operational and in fact coordination of tanks using drones to spot ahead actually makes tanks more effective and more powerful.

ALAMO wrote:Pretty soon those FPV will be targeted by active protection or specialized gun turrets. It is just a matter of time.

There is already a version of lancet that explode 5-10m away with lidar sensor.

It will be very hard to counter those drones.

Jamming isn't a final solution because some models have image recognition. The operator will take it to the arear and will go on the target without radio control, gps or anything.

T-80BVM with turret roof cage armor + Anti-Drone jammer on top.

Jamming isn't a final solution because some models have image recognition.

Every drone is different so no single defence system is going to work against all drones, but the Russians are implimenting all sorts of systems and equipment from tank mounted jammers and cages and extra spaced layers of ERA, but also likely optical jammers and of course smoke and they have not finished yet.

There will likely also be EMP directed energy weapons (not lasers) and other systems to deal with drone attacks too, and of course an APS system that can detect an ATGM or tank fired kinetic round should also be able to detect a small drone and "intercept" that as well.

The fight against drones will be ongoing and Russia is getting lots of real experience on both sides of the drone war and appear to be rather good at using them too.

The most dangerous is going to be an AI controlled drone swarm that independently finds and kills enemy soldiers and destroys enemy vehicles and positions... and Russia seems to be getting rather closer to that than any Hollywood movie has managed.

Isos wrote:
There is already a version of lancet that explode 5-10m away with lidar sensor.

It will be very hard to counter those drones.

Jamming isn't a final solution because some models have image recognition. The operator will take it to the arear and will go on the target without radio control, gps or anything.

Actually removing the man out of the loop is more than enough. Most FPVs have miniscule warheads that need very precise delivery to the weakspots of heavily armored targets to guarantee a kill. It takes considerable skill to maneuver about at an advantageous angle to the target and weave through the anti-drone mesh cages, a capability that doesn't come preloaded on even the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles, mind you, nevermind drones that are designed to be made as cheaply as possible.

Hole wrote:
T-80BVM with turret roof cage armor + Anti-Drone jammer on top.

This plus some very comprehensive ERA plating. These must be very heavy vehicles by now and yet they still retain a lot of their original mobility. The NATO equivalent MBT decked out in the same gear would struggle to even move on their own power through hellish mudpit that is Ukraine.

Usually the drones are not visible till they are less than 50m away, they normally bob and weave at low altitude out of line of sight of the target till they get close and pop up and dive on the target... they don't need to see the target all the way because the other drone flying much higher that probably found the target in the first place is hovering overhead so the guy with the suicide drone knows exactly where the target is and what cover and protection it has around it so they can fly to gaps in trees and bushes and around any nets set out.

AI controlled drones are going to be far more effective than manually controlled drones because often there is lag in the video display which makes fine manouvering to hit a moving target not so easy... like landing on an aircraft carrier... not easy at all.

Vehicles have APS systems entering service to protect them from missiles and rockets, it just makes sense to extend that protection to include protection from drones as well. I would say a single gun would not be fast enough to be slewed in the direction of an incoming drone which could come from anywhere, so some sort of weapon that has a shotgun like effect that is ready to fire but can be angled slightly before firing for a better hit and wider range of fire including directly up to shoot grenades and light bombs released from above. Relatively light pellet loads would shatter propellers and components to make most drones crash before getting a hit but from directly above you might want heavier buckshot loads to detonate bombs and grenades and larger warheads.

Would love to work at such problems... lots of fun with shotguns and drones and APS systems.

Remember an APS system is already designed to operate with no warning from any angle and to solidly hit fast moving targets hard enough to either set them off or make them crash.

Some sort of directed EMP Weapon might also play a role and of course a dazzling laser or even a laser powerful enough to actually do physical damage might be interesting too... just blinding the optics of the drone and jamming its GPS signals could be part of the solution too, but I think a combination of all of these and rather more will be needed anyway.