Engineers of the russian invasion army have come up with a new kit of additional passive protection for their Terminator tank support combat vehicles (BMPT in russian). The extra armor kits look similar on two different Terminators featured in the video report from a russian state-owned news agency, indicating a standardized solution for this type of vehicle.
The main feature of the kit is the already traditional slat armor cage on top of the turret, but unlike the "grills" installed on top of main battle tanks, the ones on Terminator have a simpler design and don't have any explosive reactive armor tiles. Instead, the cage looks like a sandwich with solid bars on top and chains hanging from the sides. The chains are fastened to the turret and are supposed to protect the flanks against incoming FPV drones and rocket-propelled anti-tank projectiles.
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The whole superstructure, additionally covered with a camouflage net has a drawback: significantly reduced angle of view, which is normally fairly wide thanks to the panoramic sight integrated into the weapon station. There is also a potential interference in the wind sensor's normal operation coming from the slat armor; the data from the sensor is directly fed into the fire control system which might affect the accuracy of fire.
The front of the vehicle remained unchanged in terms of protection. In the footage, we can see no ERA tiles on the hull front, though they may be added upon arrival to the front line, right in the field. Notably, one of the Terminators features rubber elements installed in this area.
On the rear end, there are shields of additional armor that are commonly installed on other russian tanks.
These shields are made of two steel sheets squeezing a rubber sheet in between.
From the sides, the Terminators appear to have no extra protection, the standard armor consists of the same shield elements installed in three rows.
To sum things up, although the new armor kit for the Terminator tank support combat vehicles is intended to ensure more safety against FPV drones and droppable munitions delivered by bomber drones, there are quite a few flaws that russians may need to find a way around in the future.
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