PS: ne6 and Tersana are off the battalion
i wonder why (not that i care tho )
TPU batt getting smaller
but hey, it's just a for-fun game and people need to do what they need to do
******
I dunno if you're still interested in learning about this stuff as a former Pz 87 crewman but
http://thesovietarmourblog.blogspot.ca/2015/05/t-72-soviet-progeny.html
has literally more information on the T-72 and other Russian armor than half of all websites about the T-72 combined. The page itself is so long and so comprehensive (good English too, a rarity these days when discussing Russian armor
) that I haven't taken a look at the rest of the blog. Doesn't strike me as overblown and exaggerated - the weaknesses of the design are made clear and the strengths are also laid out.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
For example, I finally learned what the six side square plates on the T-72B3 and T-90A are:
Kontakt-5!
"There are three Kontakt-5 modules located on either side of the hull. Like the turret top hexagonal boxes, these are a type of explosive bulging armour. They use the same 4S22 explosive elements as the hull and turret modules in their construction. They provide coverage for the entire crew are in a 100-degree frontal arc"
So they really are just large plates of ERA after all. Also noted is that, since it comprises the same potent 4S22 explosive (and possible 4S23 plastic explosive) as the other Kontakt-5 plates, it is greatly valuable on a tank with thin side armor like the T-72; this means that even though T-72B3 and T-90 come with only 3 plates on the front of each side, if RGF armor mobilized in large numbers against a conventional enemy, the ERA plates might be installed alongside the entire side. Although not completely effective against most 120mm APFSDS head on (i.e. not protecting against a penetration, only weakening the projectile), would you rather be faced by a weakly penetrating projectile or one that goes full speed through the side armor at you?
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
Also, the stock T-72 armor doesn't have skirts; instead it has these funny looking plates (again, 3 on each side) that look a bit like the B3 and T-90's Kontakt-5. Instead, it's not ERA (they didn't have ERA back then) but a crazy looking contraption called
"gill armor" that was used
only by the original T-72 Ural:
They swing outwards during battle, as in the picture, to provide protection (well only against primitive HEAT at the time, this was something like 1975 lmao
) against HEAT rounds. And because we know that HEAT rounds are easily degraded by spaced armor, these tiles were effective (when they worked as intended) because of the vast space behind them. As with half of Soviet technologies, it didn't work out because they didn't provide adequate protection at all angles (striking at 90 degrees would mean no protection), so on the T-72A they put traditional rubber skirts on again. Go figure. Still interesting.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
Lastly, OE did do their reading. The T-90's turret is indicated as NERA Non-Explosive Reactive Armor, which I thought was ridiculous because the only reactive armor I had seen was the triangular arrays of Kontakt-5. According to this encyclopedia of info,
NERA is correct because this is what the inside of the HUGE front turret cavity on T-72B3 and T-90 looks like:
T-72 = more or less rounded, simple steel turret (cheap composite on glacis only)
T-72A = slightly fatter turret front ("Dolly Parton"), turret "cheek" cavities filled with silica/sand substance nicknamed "Kvarts"\
T-72B = extra fat turret cavities ("Super Dolly Parton"?), the above modules
The blog calls it "bulging armor". It's some kind of combination of layered plastic/steel, unlike early T-72A where the cavity was smaller and filled with sand ("Kvarts"). And it is a form of NERA because upon a hit by APFSDS or HEAT, it
expands into the direction of the projectile, weakening it, a lot like how Kontakt-5 works but without any explosive. Unfortunately, it is not multi-hit capable so must replaced after being hit because it will be useless. It is really easy to replace, apparently, and really cheap and easy to make.
But nonetheless, good insight into cheap but effective armor and how OE has actually spent a lot of time implementing this into the game (well, factually at least, because in-game the turret armor is "multi-hit capable"
)
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
Also interesting to note is that even though Kontakt-1 and Kontakt-5 sound similar (coming from Russian word for explosive or something), they work very differently. Kontakt-1 is cheap and just two plates with explosive filler that does nothing against AP, like we all expect. Kontakt-5 is actually complex, has a thick front plate as well as a thick bottom plate that can act as extra applique once ERA is exhausted, and is
extremely powerful in the ensuing blast, so powerful that the front T-90 Kontakt-5 has problems with chain reactions in which one ERA block sets off another one next to it. And to think that it took the US all the way until the M829A3 to figure out how to defeat Kontakt-5...I would say that the blog writer is probably not lying!
Might be a bit late, but the according to the article Soviet APFSDS was complete shit for a very long time until the 3BM42(?) so you in your 2A4 derivative would have actually been quite safe!
That is, against AP only because HEAT was not the same story, actually quite advanced and dangerous.
I'm probably going to be nailed for off-topic discussion or something but this was something I found really interesting. It's always a good time to learn new things!
oh well i guess i will just battle harden one later ... special camo and custom decal is not a biggie on a Wiesel 1 
the hell?
