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Turtle Tank (Russian: царь-мангал,[1] Tsar Mangal) is a series of modified Russian T-62, T-72 and T-80 tanks supplied with an improvised steel roof and siding, as well as anti-drone slat armor which covers the entirety of the original vehicle. Turtle Tanks were spotted in action for the first time in early April 2024 on the battlefield of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They also have anti-drone radio jamming equipment.[2][3] Newer models are equipped with KMT 7 mine-clearing rollers with electromagnetic mine detector/trawl (Russian: Электромагнитный тральщик /приставка ЭМТ.) [1] The consistent appearance of the tanks are also noted to be similar to the World War I era German A7V tanks.[4]
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The Russian name "Tsar Mangal" derived from the Russian slang "mangal" for anti-drone slat armor, in an analogy with other large weapons such as the Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bomba.
It was named "turtle tank" for their turtle shell-like armor.[3] Ukraine military also dubbed it "mobile barn".[5] Other monikers are ‘blyatmobile’ (Блятьмобиль)[6] and ‘assault garages’ (штурмовые гаражи).[7]
![Thumb](#/media/File:Russian_"Turtle"_Tank.png)
![Thumb](#/media/File:Ukrainian_soldiers_captured_Russian_"turtle"_tank.jpg)
The Turtle Tank's 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 armoured 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 FPV drones extensively used by Ukrainian forces (sometimes serving as substitutes for artillery due to munitions shortages).[8]
Since the first sighting, footage of the damaged turtle tanks started appearing.[9] On 17th June, Ukrainian media sources claimed that the Ukrainian army had captured a Russian turtle tank along with its crew somewhere in the Donetsk Oblast.[10] The tank turned out to be based on a T-62M with its ammunition removed and its turret fixed in place.[11]
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