07 January 2022
Russian air assault division fields tanks with cage screens
by Tim Ripley
TV Zvezda posted footage on 24 December 2021 of Russian 7th Guards Air Assault Division T-72B3 tanks with top-attack defence screens, during an exercise on the Opuk training range in Crimea. (TV Zvezda)
Screens to defend against top-attack weapons have been seen fitted to Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) T-72 tanks during an exercise in Crimea.
The Russian Ministry of Defence's TV Zvezda posted footage on 24 December 2021 of the exercise involving the 7th Guards Air Assault Division during major manoeuvres on the Opuk training range.
Several of the division's T-72B3 main battle tanks were fitted with raised mesh screens above their turrets. These screens appear to be designed to defeat top-attack weapons such as the US-made Javelin anti-tank guided weapon or guided missiles fired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by detonating high-explosive anti-tank warheads before they contact a tank's turret roof.
The top-attack defence screens have been seen fitted to Russian T-72B3s since last summer but this is the first time VDV tanks have fielded the upgrade.
From the TV Zvezda imagery, the 7th Guards Air Assault Division tanks appear to have a single flat screen fitted. Other Russian tanks, seen earlier in 2021, appear to have been fitted with a more robust cage design of the screen with a tapered front. The official designation of the screens has not been revealed in public.
The US and Ukrainian governments have linked the deployment of the Novorossiysk-based division to the Opuk training range to the buildup of Russian forces around Ukraine's border.
According to TV Zvezda, the exercise involved 1,200 troops of the division and 250 items of heavy equipment overseen by VDV Commander Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov.
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Screens to defend against top-attack weapons have been seen fitted to Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) ...
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