Ukrainian tank tactics challenged by Russian Lancet-3 drones
Due to insufficient support weapons, Ukrainians are using tank charges as a substitute to shell areas with high-explosive shells. This risky tactic exposes them to attacks by lethal drones, among other threats. Here, we explore the clash between the Lancet-3 drone and the T-72 tank.
The video below shows how the tank fires at a building on the left, where Russians are likely to be, and then gets hit by a Lancet-3 drone, which seems to have detonated prematurely. Unfortunately, the recording quality is inadequate for clear viewing. In recent months, folding anti-drone nets have gained popularity on Ukrainian tanks.
These nets serve as an effective barrier against single-warhead drones or even tandem ones if the tank’s turret is equipped with reactive armour blocks. After the hit, which was not damaging, the tank quickly decided to retreat. It is also noteworthy that it is not a T-64BW but a variant of the T-72 due to the exhaust being located on the side instead of the rear.
The T-72 tank: The USSR's workhorse with a critical flaw, popular on both sides of the war
Introduced into service in 1973, T-72 tanks were a simplified version of the revolutionary T-64 tank. Fifty years ago, they were more advanced than anything the West had, but much has changed since then. Even its deepest modernizations in the form of the T-90M variant are nowhere near the latest M1A2 Abrams or Leopard 2 tanks.
A distinctive feature of T-72 tanks is their relatively low weight of 40,000 kilograms for the applied armour, low profile at 2 metres, good mobility, and an autoloader, which reduced crew size to three soldiers.
However, as the war in Ukraine has shown, the autoloader, although very helpful, can be deadly if there is a design error. This issue exists in the entire family of post-Soviet tanks, where the autoloader housing 22 shells and propellant charges is located in the hull and not isolated from the crew in any way. Any damage to it guarantees a spectacular explosion and the death of the entire crew. For this reason, crews began to create various types of protection or install jammers, which do not always work.
Lancet-3 drone: The nightmare of Ukrainian tank crews
Lancet-3 drones, which debuted for the first time in 2020 during fighting in Syria, are long-range constructions capable of staying in the air for 40 minutes and covering 40 kilometres. Initially, they were equipped with a 3-kilogram engineering-shaped explosive charge KZ-6, capable of penetrating 20 centimetres of steel armour, but new versions are said to have a larger 5-kilogram warhead with significantly greater destructive power.
The main problem for Ukrainians is that these drones are quite difficult to jam, unlike FPV drones, and essentially, the crew of the targeted T-72 was quite lucky. Russian drones are also reportedly capable of attacking autonomously in the final phase, but their accuracy is said to be lacking, and there is no talk of hitting a specific piece of armour.
