In the early days of April 2024, the battlefields near Krasnohorivka witnessed a peculiar sight
captured on camera: a Russian T-72 tank encased in a robust metal shell and maneuvering through
the war-torn fields. Outfitted with roof paneling and thick armor reminiscent of a turtle's shell,
this tank was specifically designed to counter the swarms of first-person view drones.
Dubbed the conqueror of Krasnohorivka by Russian media yet mockingly called a Ninja turtle tank
by Western social media observers, this armored behemoth, reminiscent of century-old technology,
was Russia's latest response to the relentless Ukrainian drone assaults.
Featured in several now-viral combat videos,
this "turtle tank" led a column of armored vehicles through intense artillery fire and
drone barrages. While its companions sustained hits and explosions, the turtle tank, equipped
with a 360-degree electronic jammer, emerged unscathed. After the skirmish,
as other vehicles lay destroyed, the turtle tank trundled back to safety.
Blinded by its own armor yet seemingly invincible,
the appearance of the tank has made analysts ponder if the wild-looking
Russian 'turtle tanks' that keep showing up might not be as impractical as they seem.
Amid numerous threats on the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine have escalated their
defenses by bolstering their tanks and other types of armored vehicles with extra layers
of protection. This makeshift armor, often just a welded chain-link cage, serves as a crucial
defense against artillery, anti-tank missiles, and especially drones packed with explosives.
Recently, Russia introduced a peculiar but seemingly effective innovation to this
defensive strategy, adding another unusual twist to the arms race.
On average, within the first 26 months of Russia's war on Ukrainian territory,
the Russian forces lose about 100 tanks per month—approximately three per day.
This already high number is only rising as the vehicles have since become the favorite target
of Kyiv's extensive fleet of first-person-view drones, or FPVs, which are now being built at
a rate of upwards of 100,000 per month, each laden with a pound of explosives.
Now, faced with a centuries-old rule
of warfare—adapt or perish—Russian tankers are increasingly targeted.
On April 8, 2024, an airborne drone captured footage of a prominent Russian tank,
likely a T-72, moving through a field near the town of Krasnohorivka, west of the
Russian-controlled regional capital, Donetsk City. This tank was outfitted with a turtle
shell-like metal contraption designed to enhance its defense against drone attacks. It features a
rigid frame, strategic metal sheets, and added layers at the back for engine protection.
On its combat debut, the tank led a column of armored vehicles on a quick mission,
pushing through Ukrainian fire to drop off infantry near Krasnohorivka,
where the Russians are attempting to advance as part of their latest 2024 offensive.
After completing the mission, the tank made a U-turn and returned to its hangar. From then on,
Russian media dubbed the vehicle the conqueror of Krasnohorivka.
Yet, its story had just begun.
The footage of a never-before-seen vehicle in and around the frontlines garnered wide
online attention, quickly earning the nickname "Turtle Tank." The model was also compared to the
Sturmpanzerwagen A7V, the first operational German Tank, introduced during World War 1.
But this large, clunky model also attracted plenty of mockery and online memes.
Many social media users say the turtle-modified Russian tank must have limited functionality.
Its protective metal shell adds weight and size, seriously impeding the tank’s
mobility and complicating movement across forested or urban terrain. At the same time,
the supporting struts restrict turret rotation to just a few degrees. The massive model
likely doesn’t have aquatic obstacle-crossing equipment, and its design prevents the use of
smoke grenade launchers. Going even further than this, the add-on armor also won't work
during a targeted strike, as Ukrainian FPV drone operators excel in targeting tanks at their most
vulnerable points. The armor installation for the turtle tank leaves substantial gaps
between the tank and its shell, wide enough for Ukrainian explosive drones to penetrate easily.
These numerous constraints drastically reduce the Turtle Tank’s T-72 capabilities.
This controversial model was so viral that in less than 24 hours,
social media users managed to find a Russian soldier's video of the tank inside its hangar.
Then, it was only a matter of time before web surfers geolocated the bizarre tank's position
and its home base and passed the coordinates along to Ukrainian artillery batteries.
Sure enough, only a day after its viral appearance on the front lines, a Ukrainian drone team spotted
the 51-ton, three-person tank sheltering in a hangar in Donetsk's Petrovskiy district.
The Ukrainian army then unleashed a direct and precise artillery barrage against it,
destroying the structure, other military equipment in the vicinity,
and the vehicles inside, likely including the Turtle Tank.
However, this was not to be the last appearance of the Russian Turtle Tank.
A few days after the viral footage was published,
a turtle tank was spotted again on the active eastern front.
Then, a week later, a third model popped up.
It has become clear that the Russian Army is likely arming a fleet of turtle tanks,
even improving the design, as the third one, in addition to the turtle-like hull,
has additional anti-drone defenses in the form of a cluster of radio jammers,
supposed to block the radio signals FPV operators use.
Once again, online commenters criticized the supposed improved project, with many stating that
Russian electronic warfare systems aren’t the best in the world and are often makeshift and homemade.
Most of the so-called turtle tanks belong to the 5th Motor Rifle Brigade,
a once-Ukrainian unit that separated and joined the Russian army in 2023;
the group is known for making do with whatever weapons and vehicles they can borrow, steal,
and modify. With all the undeniable drawbacks to its design, experts believe
that an additional role of the turtle tank might be something other than FPV protection.
Upon inspection of the footage and still photos of the vehicles popping up all over the frontlines,
Matthew Moss, a weapons historian, has noted that the vehicle’s role seems to be as a breacher,
a plow-equipped engineering tank with the primary mission to lead other vehicles and
infantry through minefields, to get them close enough to enemy lines to attack.
The Russian Army lacks a dedicated Breacher vehicle,
unlike the United States M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle. Now, confronted with
a Ukrainian minefield and swarms of tiny FPV drones flying like angered bees all around them,
the 5th Motor Rifle Brigade’s technicians may have decided to build their own.
Every breaching vehicle has two key elements: extra armor and powerful mine-clearing gear.
While the former’s presence is clear as day, the latter is trickier to identify. Analysts,
however, have pointed out mine roller equipment on the third model,
noticing a set of rugged wheels that are made to trigger mines slightly ahead of
the vehicle. This was seemingly confirmed when the model continued to advance normally
after driving over multiple mines during an assault on Krasnohorivka.
To many, this multi-role tank is nothing to make fun of. According to Analyst Rob Lee: [QUOTE]
"I know people are laughing at this, but I don't think it is a crazy adaptation. The
Russians are adapting to the particular conditions of the battlefield in which
Ukraine has a lot of FPVs but not enough ATGMs, anti-tank mines,
and artillery [...] So sacrificing observation and the ability to rotate the turret on one tank
per platoon that can jam many FPVs frequencies at once makes sense."
With this added gear, the turtle tank can now face Ukrainians head-on with powerful armor,
jammers, and mine rollers ahead of other armored vehicles and across open fields,
clearing up a safe path for them and even delivering infantry.
If this is true, then the Russian Turtle Tank might be filling in for a niche yet necessary
role. The problem for the Russian Army is that the warfare environment is about to change.
The early April 2024 appearance of the bizarre turtle tank has become a trend all
over the front lines. In addition to the 5th Motor Rifle Brigade, these models have begun
appearing in the workshops of better-equipped Russian units, like the 90th Tank Division.
Nonetheless, the long-term future of the turtle tanks remains uncertain.
Since the fall of 2023, the Ukrainian forces have fought the war amidst a
massive ammunition shortage, particularly American-made artillery shells and Javelin
anti-tank missiles. The nation has thus installed a nationwide network
of workshops that produce as many as 100,000 FPV drones per month.
Just like building and launching FPVs became the Ukrainians’ priority,
protecting against them became the Russians’ top priority, leading
to the shell-like armor and jammers on an ever-growing number of tanks.
However, the first batch of a United States-funded aid package will arrive
in Ukraine sooner than expected. This package, worth about one billion dollars,
contains hundreds of millions of dollars worth of artillery shells and anti-tank missiles.
While FPVs are likely not going away any time soon,
they will most likely not remain the priority.
It is now only a matter of time before the lumbering turtle tanks and their mostly blind
crews become viral once again, this time as the Ukrainians test it against 100-pound shells and
35-pound missiles at them, in addition to the two-pound drones it was made to counter.