What is on the Russian Tanks?

Question

link to pic... what are those weird platic retangular black things all over?

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg267/Suffocate1_photos/tank.jpg

Answer 1

It's reactive armor. It drastically reduces an attacks damage.

Answer 2

armor parasites.... (?)

Answer 3

Things that go BANG!!!!! in the dark or even the light if hit hard enough.  They are reactive armor.  If they are struck by a HEAT round they explode and disperse the jet stream from the round.  If they are sturck by an APFSDS Sabot round they tend to deflect the penetrator.  They are designed to lessen the impact of all rounds on the actual armor of a tank or Armored Fighting Vehicle.  Even rolled homogenous armored steel won't stop everything.  Good luck to you.

...Retired Tanker...

Answer 4

They are reactive armor blocks, used to defeat high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) projectiles.  HEAT rounds, either from a tank or an anti-tank rocket launcher, uses an explosive charge to penetrate the armor of a tank.  Reactive armor explodes with the HEAT round, dissipating the force of the explosive away from the tank and prevents the HEAT round from penetrating the tank's armor.

Answer 5

Reactive armor.

Answer 6

It looks like the arms race is back. The Russian equipment is new and up to date. While no match for the M1A1 Abrams, these T-72s are an updated version of a tested design.

By the way, the A-10 rounds are depleated Uranium and no they are not radioactive.

Answer 7

I believe they are for missile/anti-tank weaponry. If a missle were to hit the tank these are designed to explode the missle before it penetrates the tank. The abrams tank has the same thing, however if several missles were to hit the tank at once it may be able to defeat the anti-missle system, and perhaps a direct hit from an A-10 hellfire missle would also be able to defeat the system. Also, the gatling gun on an A-10 have depleted plutonium? rounds designed to penetrate things such as anti piercing covers.

(it's been a long time, and I think it's depleted plutonium but don't take my word for it)