One Very Tough Russian Tank Got Hit 25 Times—And Kept Coming

Up-armored turtle tanks actually work

A heavily up-armored Russian turtle tank wrapped in layers of add-on metal plating ate around 25 Ukrainian mines and first-person-view drones before the 26th munition—an FPV drone—finally disabled it during an assault toward the city of Siversk in eastern Ukraine.

The tanks’ durability underscores an important truth as Russia shifts back to vehicular assaults after a year of mostly infantry-led operations. On average, it takes around eight drones to disable a tank. It takes just two to disable the kind of light vehicle—a golf cart, four-wheeler, motorcycle or even a compact car—the infantry favor for their un-armored assaults.

Russian mechanized columns stand a better chance of getting across the drone-patrolled no-man’s-land before the drones halt their advance. They may also deplete a defending Ukrainian unit’s drone stocks, forcing the Ukrainians to switch to other, less effective weapons.

The upshot is that mech assaults “are definitely being faster in terms of advance and capturing the territory,” Ukrainian drone operator Kriegsforscher noted.