Turtle Tanks, "Cope Cages" & Modified Vehicles in Ukraine - Purpose, Evolution & Effectiveness

When you fight a war against a backdrop of shortages, emerging threats and Slavic ingenuity, perhaps it's not surprising that you end up with a bunch of systems being used that aren't exactly factory standard.

One of the first images of the Russian invasion were tanks equipped with add-on overhead cages, but in 2024 the most extreme examples of anti-drone protection now include vehicles with entire structures built over them to provide near all round protection.

In this episode, I look at vehicle modification in Ukraine, examine some of the main classes of modification and ad-hoc vehicles we've seen and ask why they exist, and what sort of military value they might have.

Patreon:  / perunau  

Relevant Reading/sourcing (incomplete due to late release):

CBO - Technical Challenges of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA591...

Special thanks to the Armourer's bench for their work tracking individual turtle tanks in Ukraine
   / @thearmourersbench  

Likewise thanks to Chris at Task and Purpose for discussing modifications for vehicles in the US Army
https://www.youtube.com/ @Taskandpurpose

Julien Potin - Finabel - Understanding Cope Cages: From Origins to Standardisation
https://finabel.org/understanding-cop....

As a throwback - RUSI comment on cages in 2022
https://www.rusi.org/news-and-comment...

Attribution of Ukrainian MT-LB 100mm modifications to a unit level effort
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/20...

Russia showing off drone cage options at Army 2023
https://www.twz.com/cope-cages-go-mai...

Reporting on various modified or ad-hoc vehicles
https://www.kyivpost.com/analysis/22054

https://en.topwar.ru/212469-specopera...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe...

https://www.businessinsider.com/video...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe...

https://www.economist.com/science-and...

https://www.rferl.org/a/makeshift-arm...

Israeli tanks with cope cages
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-new...

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mili...

https://www.twz.com/israeli-merkava-t...

Kazakh army showing off a tank with a cope cage
   • #QazaqArmyNews с 11 по 17 марта 2024 ...  

The image of the Libyan Humvee
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/libya...

Drone hunting teams:
https://www.economist.com/1843/2024/0...

Drone cages around buildings:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/...

ERA meme
  / ukrainian_explosive_reactive_armour_on_leo...  

Caveats & Comments:

All normal caveats and comments apply. In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:00:50 — What Am I Talking About?
00:01:25 — Modifications & Motives
00:16:48 — Protection
00:19:21 — Spaced Armour & Cope Cages
00:33:06 — Other Adopters?
00:40:51 — Extreme Evolutions
00:48:14 — Protection - Reactive Armour
00:54:46 — Protection - Improvised
01:01:45 — Channel Update