How tanks can survive against cheap, shoulder-fired missiles

RUSSIAN TANKS have been having a torrid time during the invasion of Ukraine. According to Oryx, an open-source intelligence blog, at least 153 of them have been destroyed so far, along with 312 armoured vehicles. (The figures for the Ukrainian side are 26 and 57 respectively.)

Many of these have been blown up by cheap anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) carried by Ukrainian infantry. Western countries have shipped thousands of such weapons to Ukraine, ranging from American Javelins via Swedish-designed NLAWs to German-made Panzerfaust-3s. The war has been a powerful demonstration of the threat they pose to modern armour, says Jon Hawkes, a land-warfare guru at Jane’s, a British military intelligence firm. Some Russian tank drivers have resorted to welding scrap-metal cages to their vehicles in a dubious effort to add extra protection.