Russia rigs tank to explode in Ukraine lines

 War Zone:

Russia appears to now be packing nearly antique T-54/55 tanks with explosives and pointing them at Ukrainian positions on the battlefield, before detonating them under remote control in an attempt to blast their way through. A recent video seems to provide the first confirmation of a T-54/55 tank being rigged for this purpose, as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), although exactly how effective this effort was is open to debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meu4uATSMAU

In a post on its Telegram channel over the weekend, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that an uncrewed tank was used successfully to destroy a Ukrainian stronghold. The ministry stated that the tank had been filled with “about 3.5 tons of TNT and five FAB-100 bombs” that were detonated by remote control. The FAB-100 is an air-dropped bomb weighing around 220 pounds.

https://twitter.com/conflictudapte/status/1497700400786460676?s=20

The same Telegram post included quotes from a Russian tank commander, with the callsign “Bernaul,” who, it is said, was responsible for executing the attack.

“About 300 meters [980 feet] away from the enemy, the tank operator put the vehicle on manual gas, directing it [to the enemy’s] direction. He jumped out and went to the rear. I stayed behind to observe, and after the vehicle approached the enemy’s positions, I detonated it by radio control,” the Bernaul said.

“The explosion was very serious, there were a lot of explosives … as a result, according to radio intercept data, the enemy suffered significant losses,” the commander added.

The accompanying video, taken from a drone, shows the tank — either a T-54 or a T-55 — rolling over ground pockmarked with shell holes, presumably toward the Ukrainian position. Before reaching Ukrainian lines, the tank is then brought to a standstill by an explosion. Multiple reports — including from pro-Russian bloggers — have stated this was likely caused by a mine.

The tank finally explodes in an enormous fireball, leaving a pall of smoke towering over the battlefield. Only moments before that detonation, there is a distinctive flash emanating from the Ukrainian positions ahead of the tank — there have been some suggestions this was an anti-tank missile or a rocket-propelled grenade, but we can’t say for sure. Regardless, it was clearly an attempt to knock out the VBIED, but whether that shot led to the huge explosion, or if that had actually been triggered by the earlier mine or detonated via remote control, isn’t known definitively. Still, based on the timing and what is shown in the video, it was likely a killshot from the Ukrainians that caused the tank to detonate.
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There is more.

Whether the tank was stopped by an anti-tank weapon or by a mine, it appears that it did not reach its objective before being exploded.  That the Russians tried it suggests they are having trouble penetrating Ukraine lines.  This model of tank was designed near the end of World War II.  Russia has lost over 2000 tanks so far in its war with Ukraine and has been pulling older models out of the warehouses for use.

See, also:

Russia claims to have remotely detonated tank laden with explosives, in apparent new tactic

There is a video of the explosion at this link. 

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