Does “Tsar Mangal” Protect russian Tanks from Ukrainian Stuhna-P ATGM? (Video)
russians continue the practice of armoring their tanks by installing a solid construction, the so-called Tsar Mangal, which is slat armor installed on so-called tank sheds. Although this design does provide solution against FPV drones, there were questions about providing protection against anti-tank missiles.
One way or another, this “shed” is about spaced armour, which is brought to an absolute, but still affects the formation and dissipation of the cumulative jet. However, the answer to whether the Tsar Mangal protects against ATGMs was provided by the video of the 33rd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The video, which, according to Ukrainian warriors, was filmed in the Kurakhove sector, shows the operation of Stuhna-P ATGM against russian armored vehicles. The video shows that the first tank to be hit has the slat armor on it. A single missile with a high explosive warhead was enough for this task.
Moreover, as a result of this action, another russian unit of armored vehicles began to flee the battlefield, which was also hit in the stern, and then was finished off. At the same time, the destruction of tank sheds with the help of ATGMs is a stable result. At the end of the video, the Ukrainian warriors hit another armored vehicle.
In addition to the destruction of russian armored vehicles by the Stuhna-P ATGM, the usage of a new missile flight algorithm should be noted. In particular, this can fly along a higher trajectory and it returns to the reticle after a certain time (7 seconds in the video).
This mode makes it impossible for the missile to hit the ground, which is possible if the ATGM position is in a lowland or on a flat surface, because the missile flies slightly lower for the first 40-50 meters after launch. According to the video, this mode is optional, as the second launch, aimed at the final destruction of the damaged enemy tank, took place without it.
It also becomes clear from the soldiers’ conversations that the Stuhna ATGM receives not only a cumulative, but also a high-explosive version of the missile, which is ideal not only for destroying enemy defended positions, but also light armored vehicles.
Earlier War Ukraine-Russia News Hub reported that russians had claimed that they repaired T-90M Proryv tank in 4 weeks after 26 drone hits.