Transnistria, which calls itself the “Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic” (PMR), has started equipping the T-64BV main battle tanks (MBT) of its grandiosely named First Independent Guards Motorized Infantry Brigade with anti-drone “grills.”
The Brigade’s tank battalion is stationed in the village of Vladimirovka, just four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border holds a total of 17 of the Soviet-era MBT, of which 12 are operational, claiming the other five are in “reserve.”
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During recent military exercises two of the tanks deployed fitted with protective structures designed to shield the upper part of the tank turret, which is where the armor is thinnest, from drone attacks. Given the limited number of MBT held by the PMR it is probable that the protection has been installed on all its fleet.
The threat from first person view (FPV) kamikaze drone on the battlefield in Ukraine has seen both the Ukrainian and Russian military fitting similar technology. Russia’s latest MBT production now comes equipped with factory-installed “grills,” which many of Moscow’s units modify further, which in many cases has been taken to extremes with its so-called turtle tanks.
The T-64 main battle tank was introduced into service by the USSR in the 1960s and has been widely used by several countries, including Russia and Ukraine. The tank was designed and built by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau, as the next-generation main battle tank to replace the Soviet army’s main battle tank, the T-54/T-55
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It is 6.54 meters (21.5 feet), 3.41 meters (11.2 feet), and 2.17 meters (7.1 feet) high, and weighs around 38 tons. It was designed to be a balance between armored protection, mobility, and firepower using the latest technology available at the time.
This tank is operated by a crew of three, with its low silhouette made possible by the installation of an automatic lading system for its 125 mm smoothbore main armament, the first of its kind.
The use of grills to protect tanks against drones in Ukraine has been adopted by other armed forces including that of Israel. Just what prompted PMR to carry out the modification is not clear. It may be linked not only to what is happening in Ukraine but may be related to attacks by unidentified kamikaze drones that took place in the spring.
The first attack took place on March 17, when a PMR Mi-8 helicopter was attacked and destroyed on a military base close to the Tiraspol airfield and an April 6 strike on a military base in the district of Rybnitsa, six kilometers (four miles) from the Ukraine border.
The Ukrainian military issues website, Militarnyi, reported that another of Russia’s regional allies, Belarus, was also equipping its T-72B tanks with grills.
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