Turtle Tank (Russian: Царь-мангал,[1] also Tsar Mangal) is a series of modified Russian T-62, T-72 and T-80 tanks supplied with an extra steel roof and siding, as well as anti-drone slat armor which cover the entirety of the original vehicle. For the first time it was spotted in early April 2024 on the battlefield of the Russo-Ukraine War. They also have anti-drone radio jamming equipment.[2][3] Newer models are equipped with mine-clearing rollers KMT 7 with electromagnetic mine detector/trawl (Russian: Электромагнитный тральщик /приставка ЭМТ.) [1] The consistent appearance of the tanks also noted to be similar to the World War 1 era German A7V tanks.[4]
Name
The Russian name derived from the Russian slang "mangal" for anti-drone slat armor, in an analogy with Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bomb.
It was also named "turtle tank" for their turtle shell-like armor.[3]
Ukraine military also dubbed it "mobile barn".[5] Other monikers are ‘Blyat-mobile’ (Блятьмобиль) and ‘assault garages’ (штурмовые гаражи).[6]
Effectiveness
Its major drawbacks are poor visibility and mobility, as well as having a non-rotating turret, although it reportedly serves well as a demining vehicle during armored assaults.[3][2] It was also reported that it can be damaged by mines and artillery.[4] Despite these vulnerabilities, the tanks were effective against Ukrainian forces, mainly because they were better protected against the FPV drones extensively used by Ukrainian forces (sometimes serving as substitutes for artillery due to munitions shortages).[7]
Since the first sighting, footages of the damaged turtle tanks started appearing.[8] On 17th June, Ukrainian media sources claimed that the Ukrainian army have captured a Russian turtle tank along with its crew somewhere in the Donetsk Oblast.[9] The tank turned out to be based on a T-62M with its ammunition removed and its turret fixed in place.[10]