Fragmentation is also lost into the ground or up. The majority of the scatter is to the left and right of the shell. Schematic of a Russian tank HE-Frag shell strike. Scatter on the strike angle may be as much as 20 metres. Due to the cylindrical shape and design, ‘the largest number of fragments scatters perpendicular (or so) to its axis, therefore, when a projectile hits a surface (the ground, and so on), a significant part of the lethal elements goes either into the ground or up.’ Dependent on angle of incidence, lateral scatter may be as wide as 60 metres.
These shells are used against fortifications and defensive positions. There is a variety of these shells but a common shell used on T-72 series tanks is the 3VOF36 round matched with the 3OF26 (HE/FRAG-FS) projectile. Russian tank high-explosive fragmentation (HE-Frag) shellsĪll Russian tanks can fire high-explosive fragmentation shells, known as OFS shells. This article explains why this is a problem. Instead, tanks are being used as howitzers to lob shells at Ukrainian positions. But there is a hidden, non-combat reason why Russian tanks have become scarcer: they are not being used as tanks. And as many as 534 tanks have been captured as ‘trophy tanks’, including fourteen T-90 series vehicles now in service with the Ukrainian Army.Ĭombat losses account for the overwhelming majority of tank losses. At the time of writing (December 2022), the Oryx database records 1,579 Russian tank combat losses. Basically, they use funny cars …’Īccording to Russian defence journal Voennoye Obozreniye (‘Military Review’) the Russian Army fielded around 2,600 operational tanks on the eve of the invasion. It was destroyed… No more equipment was seen. And here … In the last month, we noticed one MTLB that brought ammunition. There they went in battalions for an assault.
‘ The most extreme massive use of armour was near the Lysychansky Oil Refinery. On the use of armour and combined arms tactics he says:
Mezhevikin offers many interesting observations on a Russian Army he has come to know well. Group ‘Adam’ subsequently fought in the Severodonetsk pocket and today the unit is committed to the contest for Bakhmut. His unit then re-deployed to Zhaporizhzhia and was involved in the forlorn hope attempt to open a corridor to Mariupol. In February 2022 he fought against the Russian armoured columns that descended on Kyiv. What has happened to the Russian tank fleets? Ukrainian commander of combined tactical group ‘Adam’ Yevhen Mezhevikin, a twice decorated Hero of Ukraine and People’s Hero of Ukraine, has had a busy war.
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