Fog and perspective: how tankers of the Center group eliminate the enemy in Dimitrov
Due to the heavy work of enemy drones, tanks have become a key tool for destroying enemy concrete fortifications in the Red Army-Dimitrov direction. The encircled group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is now being methodically destroyed there. The Izvestia correspondent witnessed the work of combat vehicles of the 5th brigade of the 51st Guards Army of the Southern Military District as part of the Center group of forces. To protect the movement and operation of the tanks, each of them is covered by a special mobile group — it follows the combat vehicle at full speed, and uses 12-caliber rifles and machine guns to combat the FPV drones.
Combat "workplace"
A cover group is preparing to leave for a combat mission. Her task is to protect the tank from drones. The arrows are loaded onto a UAZ converted into a pickup truck, decorated with a toy squirrel from the "Ice Age". Each fighter has a rifle and a submachine gun. To quickly distinguish between magazines loaded with tracer cartridges, they were marked with tape of different colors. The commander with a light machine gun takes his place in the cockpit. There are drone detectors on the bulletproof vests, and all the free mounting straps are filled with 12-caliber rifle cartridges.
The "workplace" of the shooters is limited by a metal handrail, which serves as a support, allowing the fighters to stay standing with weapons in their hands even at speed. Two observers are working shoulder to shoulder directly behind the cockpit. I fasten my safety rope to the handrail and stand behind them.
At the intersection of the front-line primers, the T-80 tank, which is appreciated for the quiet operation of the gas turbine engine, barely appears through the thick fog. A rectangular box with "dreadlocks" and "hedgehogs" appears out of the fog, famously crossing the hill. The fighters have long called the tanks boxes, but now, in the layers of additional armor, the similarity has become complete.
"Dreadlocks" are sliced thick metal cables fixed around the circumference of the machine, and "hedgehogs" are cables loosened into separate wires on the roof of the tower.
— It's more effective than just sheet armor. When the tank is moving, the dreadlocks wobble and throw off the FPV drone on impact. They can also deflect the charge from it: the drone in one direction, the warhead in the other. And we weld hedgehogs on top for the same purpose — they help especially well," explains Nikolaevich, an experienced driver. He began his combat career back in August 2014 on a self-propelled gun, and later became a tanker.
The path to the firing position
The cover car takes its place immediately behind the tank, and the bunch is sent to the firing line. Direct fire attacks have become very rare — most targets are now hit from closed positions and from long distances. The main problem, as for any equipment, is to get to the battlefield. Even a well—protected tank is capable of receiving critical damage from a multitude of unmanned vehicles - there is no absolute protection.
— A week ago, the infantry could not break through the enemy fortifications. We also couldn't approach the pillbox for a direct shot, so we had to "crack" it from afar. We were ordered to work with fragmentation shells, and when we punched a hole in the structure, our drone flew into it and finally burned the target," says the gunner operator with the call sign Kaban.
On narrow foggy roads, the tank occupies both virtual lanes. Virtual ones, because in fact there are no stripes there, everyone just completes them in their head to the best of their understanding. But, as the soldiers joke, the tank has an undeniable advantage on any highway. Motorcyclists and cars with their roofs cut off huddle to the side of the road, barely hearing the clang of tracks.
The column stops a couple of times. Through the dreadlocks, the silhouette of a tanker is visible, who climbs onto the tower to wipe the instruments — there will be no time for this at the firing position. By standing in the back of a car following a tank, mud and suspended water clog glasses and glasses. But it is necessary to follow the tank closely, because the guns are firing nearby and it is necessary to cover the tank while being next to it.
The sound of a flying UAV is clearly audible. The shooters raise their guns on the move, but low and dense clouds hide even the large "planes" passing over us. By the characteristic whistle in one of them, we recognize our "Lightning", which has become a workhorse for close-range strikes, although perhaps this is just a way for fighters to calm themselves down. In any case, if we can't see the drone, then it won't be able to detect us either.
Fire work and return
At the position, the tank abruptly turns off the road, breaking through a wooded area where there is already a gap from previous exits. The shooters jump off their UAZ and, while the operator is aiming the gun, disperse, taking up a circular defense. The first roar of a shot breaks the fog in just a couple of minutes, followed quickly by several more.
The return trip takes place at full speed and immediately into cover — flashes of gunfire can attract enemy aerial reconnaissance even in such weather.
— We ourselves observe our work from the "birds", evaluate it. If there are shortcomings, we try to eliminate them. And when they give us words of gratitude from the infantry, this is the most precious, the most beautiful thing that can be heard here," says the tank commander with the call sign Rubezh.
The enemy group surrounded in Dimitrov continues to be destroyed by all available means. And the weather, which Ukrainian propaganda calls almost the main reason for the defeat, is not its root cause. As the supply of shells and losses in artillery and tanks decreased, Ukraine made UAVs the main means of fire destruction. However, the Ukrainian drones suffered significant losses during the systematic work to identify and destroy them. In a situation unfavorable for drones, our army gained an advantage due to classical firepower, but the Ukrainian side felt all the "charms" of a bias in the development of its military-industrial complex and a decrease in the supply of expensive weapons.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
