The strange iron hats on Russian tanks: What they are and why they serve

Stein Mitzer, a Amsterdam-based analyst, has seen hundreds of verified photos of Russian vehicles destroyed. He thinks these shields have done nothing but increase the weight of tanks, make tanks easier to detect, and perhaps give soldiers a false and dangerous sense of security.

In fact, these shields have been named ironicly by Western analysts as “arms of emotional support”.

The new shields, which seem to have begun at the end of 2021, seem to be a variation of the so - called armor with boards or rods. Such armor can provide effective protection from light weight if properly used.

They could also be named as symbols of Russian preparedness to neutralise Ukraine's air defence and bring down its fears. One of the main threats to armoured vehicles is explosives HEAT (High Anti-Tank Explosors), similar to Russia's RPG-7 produced but already more widely used.

When the explosives explode, the high - speed explosion is the metal layer that penetrates through steel. According to Dr Appleby-Thomas, a RPG-7 can also penetrate a 30cm steel plate.

Other weapons, much more powerful, used by Ukrainian forces include Yavelins from America, NLAW from Britain and the MAM-L missile supplied by Turkey. Many of the Russian tanks are equipped with RA (mistress). Anyway, ERA, on the other hand, can be defeated by so - called tandem weapons, reports abcnews. al

If a missile hits a rod, its head will explode. But if you lock between bars, it may be damaged in a way that you could not reach the detonator.

Strange shields protect against air strikes. In principle, this could help protect against “Javelin”, according to a test conducted by Ukraine's forces in December.

Another idea is that these shields are a response to events in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, in which a large number of Armenian tanks produced by Russia were destroyed by MM-L.

Samuel Cranny-Evans, another Russian analyst, notes that these missiles have no defense against the RPGs. A third possibility is that shields are actually meant to be defense against The RPGs that Ukrainians have in abundance. This is not likely on an open battlefield, but it is a tactic preferred to be used in urban wars.

Dr Appleby-Thomas speculates the true purpose of these shields could be to protect against small bombs. Scar bombs can present a real danger in urban areas. But these strange shields would destroy such attacks rather than ensure complete protection.

The last possibility is that these shields are actually used simply to boost the morale of soldiers by convincing them that they are safe in there.

However, believing that you are sure is not the same as true security. There is a parallel, for example, in “ghosts”, which supposedly have supernatural powers to prevent bullets that were used by some Lakota fighters in their uprising against the American government in 1889 and 1890.

These certainly increased the morale of the soldiers. But they did not escape injuries./abcnews. al