# Russia invades Ukraine {2022-02-24} (Part 1)

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Tags:** ukraine-invasion, breaking-news
**Created:** [February 24, 2022, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037 "2022-02-24T08:30:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 5145

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### Author: ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-invades-ukraine-2022-02-24-part-1/960037/5145 "2022-04-28T00:18:12Z")

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> [@ASL\_v2.0](#):
>
> I mean, gosh, it’d have to be a magazine explosion or something, but who would design a tank like that???”

A tank designer who fetishizes main gun autoloaders and cripples the safety of ammunition storage in order to accomplish it.

> **[Why Do Russian Tanks Explode Violently When Hit?](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/04/01/why-do-russian-tanks-explode-violently-when-hit/?sh=7355bbc89fc4)**
>
> Images from Ukraine show Russian tanks completely disintegrated after being hit. The catastrophic losses are the side-effect of a calculated design decision with the T-72 tank.

The diagram towards the bottom of that page shows the arrangement of ammunition and propellant in a T-72, which is also the same in a T-90 and almost the same in a T-80. It’s an unprotected carousel that goes all the way around the turret ring to feed the autoloader and (because of its size and distribution) can’t incorporate blow-out panels to vent ammunition fires. So if the tank is buttoned up, the turret pops into the air like a cork out of a champaign bottle (except no one inside is celebrating any more).

This is the diagram I mean, since Forbes is just copying a Wikipedia diagram. It’s an SVG, though, so it won’t preview here.

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/T72\_crew.svg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/T72_crew.svg)

The ammo and the propellant are the orange and yellow colored cylinders just within the turret ring.

Also, here’s a post by @bump in another Russia-Ukraine War thread that shows the actions of the two types of autoloaders involved.

> [@Are tanks of any use anymore on the modern battlefield?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tanks-of-any-use-anymore-on-the-modern-battlefield/961813/24):
>
> One thing that most (all?) contemporary Russian tanks have is autoloaders, and as a result, their ammunition is stored in a carousel either in the turret or right below. This makes them hideously vulnerable to having the ammo go up on a penetrating hit, and is a big part of why so many Russian tanks exhibit the “jack-in-the-box effect” when hit (the turret blows up in the air as its ammo explodes). [[image] ](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-3efd323c833860980285e2c97b08c54a) Meanwhile most Western tanks still have a dedicated…

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