Both sides of Ukraine war using scrapheap weapons

 Telegraph:

Heavy casualties suffered by both sides in the Ukraine war have ignited a race to replenish vehicles lost in combat and protect those that remain operational.

With Ukraine’s supply of Western-donated vehicles beginning to dry up after its counter-offensive failed to produce a breakthrough, and with Russia losing hundreds of tanks in failed eastern assaults, engineers are using every means at their disposal to plug the gaps in their forces.

In some cases, they have had to reach deep into storage facilities and scrap heaps, pulling out weapons systems and parts of vehicles that have not seen combat for decades and grafting them together to create entirely new vehicles.

The Telegraph has analysed imagery and video from the Ukrainian front lines to identify several of these new creations, ranging from pick-up trucks fitted with helicopter rocket pods, to tanks with makeshift cages.

They have been nicknamed Frankentanks.

Russia’s generals have relied heavily on Soviet-era rocket artillery systems such as the BM-21 Grad to provide fire support for its ground forces, and BMP-1 armoured personnel carriers to act as infantry fighting vehicles.

Such outdated vehicles, many sporting little more than steel plate as armour protection, have been easy pickings for Ukranian drone operators and troops armed with sophisticated Western anti-tank missiles. In an effort to replace its stocks of MRLS and infantry-fighting-vehicles, Russia has turned to up-gunning domestic vehicles.

On the Zaporizhzhia front, soldiers of the 21st Guards Motor Rifle Division were filmed using a UAZ Patriot pick-up truck as a makeshift multiple rocket launch system (MRLS).

The truck had been fitted with a UB-32 57mm rocket pod more commonly seen hanging from the wings of attack helicopters and fighter jets, and was filmed providing in-direct fire.

Other UAZ trucks have been pictured with mounted Kornet anti-tank missiles, and another was shown with an improvised launcher for S-8 rockets – also borrowed from aircraft, with a sighting system adapted from a mortar.

But the Russians are not alone in modifying civilian vehicles into weapons of war.

Near Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops converted a BMW 3-series into a mobile rocket launcher.

A black model of the German four-door was filmed launching a salvo of missiles at enemy positions from the side of a muddy road.

Ukraine’s 114th Territorial Defense Brigade said its men had “fried enemies” using Soviet-designed 122mm Grad rockets fired from the car.
The Frankentanks

While the Ukrainians can lean on their Western allies for tanks, or at least spare parts, the Russian forces have had to dig deep into their stocks of antiquated, Soviet-era equipment.

With Russia now believed to have lost at least 2,400 tanks, including hundreds destroyed in attacks on the eastern town of Avdiivka, engineers have had to get creative.

Many of their creations are centred around upgrading the MTLB armoured personnel carrier, which dates back to the 1950s, into an infantry-fighting vehicle role.

In one example a soviet 2M-3 naval turret containing twin 25mm cannon was mounted to the rear of the hull. Footage of this vehicle in action shows it to be highly unstable when firing, calling into question its combat effectiveness.

Another MTLB was fitted with a helicopter rocket pod and an 80mm mortar – both totally exposed and unprotected.

In another video, an MTLB with a pair of S-8 rocket pods fires a salvo of rockets.

Images of several MTLB’s with the same modifications being moved by train suggest that these are not always thrown together by individual crews, but are being produced in dedicated workshops away from the front.

Ukraine has not shied away from the Frankentank either. Pictures surfaced of a machine dubbed the Terminator being constructed from parts of captured vehicles. Consisting of a T-62 hull modified with the turret and 60mm cannon of BMP-2, coated in reactive armour blocks for better protection against anti-tank missiles.
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The wide use of drones by both sides has also led to the use of cages atop the tanks' hatches where they are vulnerable to attacks from above.  The Russian loss of its armor units has been extraordinary and made Russia far more vulnerable to NATO forces.  The Russian tanks were also vulnerable to Western anti-tank weapons provided to Ukraine troops.