Russia bolts together crude ‘tankensteins’
RUSSIA is welding ageing naval turrets on to old armoured vehicles to make crude “tanks” as Vladimir Putin’s forces face worsening arms shortages.
The “tankenstein” vehicles are being deployed in a likely attempt to shoot down Ukrainian drones.
Footage from an undisclosed location appears to show a 25mm 2M-3 twin-barrelled naval anti-aircraft turret fitted to a Soviet-era MT-LB amphibious fighting vehicle. The amalgamation, which was constructed with parts made as early as 1945, could be seen being transported by rail, potentially to Ukraine. Its 25mm guns were likely procured from a patrol boat, an area in which where Russia has a rare surplus.
Moscow likely turned to a naval turret because its navy has been much less depleted than its land forces, according to Justin Crump, of Sibylline, an intelligence and geopolitical risk firm. “I suspect it was improvised,” he said.
Hamish de Bretton-gordon, a former British tank commander, said: “The fact that a supposed first-world army is cobbling together different bits of kit not dissimilar to terrorist organisations like al-qaeda and IS hopefully shows the perilous state of the Russian army.”