Russian tank turret reaches record heights after massive blast
Soldiers from the Ukrainian 60th Mechanized Brigade have shared recordings of repelling a Russian assault in the Donetsk region. One of the hit tanks exploded with such force that it became a record holder in the "turret tossing" competition. We explain why Russian tanks explode so spectacularly.
The recording below shows how soldiers of the 60th Mechanized Brigade, operating near the town of Torske, eliminated one of the Russian assault groups consisting of BMP infantry fighting vehicles and tanks with the distinctive "armoured barn" superstructure. More details here.
The Russians were attacked with artillery, including cluster munitions and swarms of FPV drones. One of them hit a Russian tank, which exploded with enormous force. The explosion is highly spectacular, and the turret rose, as calculated by OSINT specialists, to about 76 metres. This was calculated based on the number of pixels, knowing the diameter of the turret, whose real-world width is known.
Construction flaw of Russian tanks — makes them rolling bombs
Russian tanks starting with the T-64 and T-72 and their modernizations rely on the application of a very low-positioned autoloader due to the then-requirements of nuclear warfare. This allowed for the elimination of the loader and the use of a very low turret, making it more difficult to detect the tank.
This was an interesting concept, but in practice, it resulted in zero safety for the crew. The ammunition supply for tanks from the T-72 and T-90 families uses a carousel with horizontally arranged shells and propellant charges. It holds 22 pieces of shells and propellant charges and is placed at the bottom of the hull.
The only thing separating it from the crew is a steel plate, but there are no structures that can redirect the force of the explosion outward as is the case, for example, in Leopard 2 or M1 Abrams tanks. This means that any damage to the ammunition store directs the force of the explosion towards the weakest spot, which is the mentioned plate and turret mount.
Additionally, in the case of carrying a larger number of shells and propellant charges, these are simply stuffed all around the turret. Apparently, the hit Russian tank was full of ammunition characterised by a much more powerful explosive or propellant mixture. As a result, it led to the strongest recorded explosion of a Russian tank (at least among those analysed).
