Turtle Tanks, 'Cope Cages' & Modified Vehicles in Ukraine - Purpose, Evolution & Effectiveness

When you fight a war against a backdrop of shortages, emerging threats and Slavic ingenuity, perhaps it's not surprising that you end up with a bunch of systems being used that aren't exactly factory standard.

One of the first images of the Russian invasion were tanks equipped with add-on overhead cages, but in 2024 the most extreme examples of anti-drone protection now include vehicles with entire structures built over them to provide near all round protection.

In this episode, I look at vehicle modification in Ukraine, examine some of the main classes of modification and ad-hoc vehicles we've seen and ask why they exist, and what sort of military value they might have.

Relevant Reading/sourcing (incomplete due to late release):

CBO - Technical Challenges of the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Program

Special thanks to the Armourer's bench for their work tracking individual turtle tanks in Ukraine

Likewise thanks to Chris at Task and Purpose for discussing modifications for vehicles in the US Army

Julien Potin - Finabel - Understanding Cope Cages: From Origins to Standardisation

As a throwback - RUSI comment on cages in 2022

Attribution of Ukrainian MT-LB 100mm modifications to a unit level effort

Russia showing off drone cage options at Army 2023

Reporting on various modified or ad-hoc vehicles

Israeli tanks with cope cages

Kazakh army showing off a tank with a cope cage

The image of the Libyan Humvee

Drone hunting teams:

Drone cages around buildings:

ERA meme

Caveats & Comments:

All normal caveats and comments apply. In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:00:50 — What Am I Talking About?
00:01:25 — Modifications & Motives
00:16:48 — Protection
00:19:21 — Spaced Armour & Cope Cages
00:33:06 — Other Adopters?
00:40:51 — Extreme Evolutions
00:48:14 — Protection - Reactive Armour
00:54:46 — Protection - Improvised
01:01:45 — Channel Update

[PerunAU]

A few addenda here with a late pinned comment. Since this video was produced there has been even more footage of turtle tanks / assault sheds come out, so I doubt we've seen the last of them.

I've also started breaking down the 2024 imagery for tanks and IFVs more closely (despite the risks of smaller sample sizes) and my rough read is that Russian usage rates are higher now than before, but I'll provide an update once I can say that with more confidence.

Finally, I have some updates I might be able to give on the IDF usage of these kinds of add-ons, but didn't want to distract the video. I'll look for a chance to speak to those in future.

[ZeAshTonz]

Born too late for the golden age of tanks. Born too early for the age of mechs and lasers. Born just in time for the golden age of assault sheds, cope cages, and mobile battle houses.

[richdobbs]

"Emotional Support Armor". Perun certainly has a way with words!

[Helga-of-Skadi]

"Organic Carbon Plating" is the best way to describe attaching wood to a vehicle for protection.

[Taskandpurpose]

thanks for the shout out Perun, great rundown as always. Learned a ton in this one. It's true, we ghetto rigged our Strykers. They looked like something out of "pimp my ride" by the end of the tour with all kinds of bullet resistant glass and sniper nets welded onto the top. the modifcations we're seeing in Ukraine look like they're putting that to shame though

[tannermcnabb]

"and it doesnt take a particularly high IQ drone operator to get suspicious when they start seeing a bunch of bushes doing 20 kmh down a road" 🤣

Great deadpan delivery

[damonedrington]

Me as a kid: “Ugh, a 5 minute power point? I hate this class!”
Me as an adult: “An hour long series of PowerPoints from Perun? LETS GO!”

[icarusfan]

On the sandbags, some tank commanders reported that they were aware that it wasn't a lot of protection, but the sandbags did muffle the sound of small arms pinging against the hull, letting the crew maintain better communication with each other and helping to steady the nerves of the tank crew.

[alexst]

Take a shot every time Perun says “All else being equal” challenge

[MM]

16:00 "Why can't we just stick it on the back of a truck...?"
And a million BAE, LockMart, and General Dynamics contractors cried out in horror.

[Lizardo]

The "Technical" originated from NGOs working in Africa where they didn't have a budget line item for Mad Max Military vehicles, so the costs were listed under the "technical" column.

[eddiethatch]

“All the way to stuff that looks like it was welded together on a workbench 200 years after the apocalypse”😂😂

[Warui]

"Cope cages" sounds like something a fulfilment worker at Amazon would have to deal with.

[elijahsnow]

Just remember kids; Red Ones go Faster

[christopherconard]

You overlook the point of turtle tanks/assault sheds. If 95% of armor is destroyed while away from their bunker, then it can be assumed that bringing the bunker with you decreases your chances being hit drops.

Gamer Logic.

[anderson]

I was never a tank driver. My military service was in the electronic warfare community so I’ve never had the stress and anxiety of constantly worrying about something fast, pointy, and explosive entering my office. That said it’s wild to me how being in a giant armored vehicle makes the crew anxious but then zip-tying a fucking patio onto the top of that alleviates that anxiety.

[buffewo]

"Emotional Support Armor."
You are a wordsmith of legendary skill, Sir.

[thechaospope]

@43:44 "Assault Shed" is just making me giggle at the absurdity that is the turtle tank. Thank you Perun, I really needed this.

[thearpox]

"So just to avoid any danger of doubt here, let me make this clear: Adding explosive reactive armor to your soft skinned truck is *probably* a bad idea."
So you're telling me there's a chance? /s
Perun just can't help himself.

[arthurm]

This has to be the fourth or fifth video where Perun acknowledges that Canadian military procurement is bar none the ‘gold’ (lead?) standard for incompetence in the western world. I know several months back when he did a video on procurement he implied Germany was the ‘champion’ for inefficiency and wastage, but I assume that after he did some deeper research he learned that few if any countries can hold a candle to Canada’s sheer futility in this area.

Well done!