Ukraine's tactical masterstroke embarrasses Russian military

Destroying tanks and embarrassing Russia
An artillery crew knocked out a T-90M
Discovered by a drone near Robotyne
Footage of the attack was caught by a drone
The video showed a BONUS round in action
The T-90M took two hits
The attack set the tank on fire
The ultimate outcome is unclear
A special kind of shell was used
Meet the Nexter/ Bofors BONUS round
Equipped with high-explosive cores
The cost imbalance is interesting
A T-90M is very expensive
The BONUS can destroy a lot of things
It’s a very powerful artillery round
Compatible with a lot of artillery systems
Russia has lost a lot of T-90M tanks in Ukraine
Destroying tanks and embarrassing Russia

Ukrainian soldiers might be outnumbered by Russian troops, but they make up for it with their creative strategies. One example of their techniques could be seen in combat footage from July in which Ukrainian soldiers managed destroy one of Russia's most prized tanks.

 

An artillery crew knocked out a T-90M

On July 9th, the Ukrainian news website Militarnyi reported an artillery crew from the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit and destroyed a Russian T-90M tank located roughly 8 kilometers (or about 5 miles) behind the combat line with a 155mm artillery round that contained cluster munitions. 

Discovered by a drone near Robotyne

The Russian T-90M tank was discovered by a Ukrainian Shark drone near the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region according to geolocation and was presumed to be firing at Ukrainian troops from its position behind the line. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @gnilayachereha

Footage of the attack was caught by a drone

Combat footage captured by the overhead drone and published by the Telegram channel Hnyla Chereshnia revealed the moment the Ukrainian shell hit the T-90M tank. The footage also revealed the aftermath of the impressive artillery strike. 

The video showed a BONUS round in action

The video showed the exact moment a 155mm BONUS round unfolded in the air, which was immediately followed by the cluster munitions in the shell striking the tank. Militarnyi reported that the T-90M appeared to have been hit two times. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @gnilayachereha

The T-90M took two hits

“Detected by the Shark reconnaissance drone, the Russian tank received two hits on the poorly protected turret roof with two armor-piercing submunitions,” Militarnyi wrote. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @gnilayachereha

The attack set the tank on fire

The remainder of the video showed what was likely submunition in the tank beginning to burn off as the smoke coming from the tank began to increase. The one-minute and five-second video ended with smoke billowing out of the T-90M 

Photo Credit: Telegram @gnilayachereha

The ultimate outcome is unclear

It is unclear from the footage whether or not the tank was destroyed or just damaged in the attack, but it can be assumed from the aftermath of the strike that the tank would be out of operation based on the damage captured by the overhead drone. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @gnilayachereha

A special kind of shell was used

The artillery shell used in the attack on the Russian tank is a rather unique but powerful high-precision munition cluster round that was jointly developed by the French defense company Nexter and the Swedish defense company Bofors. 

Meet the Nexter/ Bofors BONUS round

Known as the BONUS round, the weapon is a 155mm NATO standard shell but carries two autonomous bomblets that can locate a target and attack it using infrared sensors and a laser-guided range finder, which is why it was so effective against the T-90M.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Swadim, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Equipped with high-explosive cores

“Both cluster munitions are equipped with a warhead in the form of a high-explosive core, which, upon detonation, penetrates armor up to 130mm thick,” Militarnyi reported, adding the shells were designed to hit the least protected area of most combat vehicles. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vslv, Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0

The cost imbalance is interesting

The abilities of the BONUS round make its hit on the T-90M tank in Robotyne a little less impressive since it is a precision-guided munition but the cost imbalance of the attack is what makes this particular incident so interesting. 

A T-90M is very expensive

The National Interest reported in May 2024 that the per unit cost of a T-90M tank was in the $4.5 million dollar range. The cost of a BONUS round is difficult to know exactly but the military website Deagal estimated the per unit cost of a shell was $40,000 dollars. 

The BONUS can destroy a lot of things

“BONUS gives 155mm cannon artillery long-range capability to destroy enemy combat vehicles, ranging from armored personnel carriers and self-propelled guns, to infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks,” BAE Systems, a co-developer and maker of the shell, noted on its website. 

It’s a very powerful artillery round

“When launched from any 155mm artillery system, the BONUS carrier shell separates to deploy two sensor-fuzed munitions that then search for targets within a given footprint, up to 32,000 square meters,” BAE Systems added. 

Compatible with a lot of artillery systems

The BONUS round is compatible with most 155mm artillery guns, which means it can work with a lot of the 155mm towed and self-propelled artillery guns Ukraine’s partners and allies have given to the embattled nation. 

 

Russia has lost a lot of T-90M tanks in Ukraine

According to Dutch open-source intelligence firm Oryx, which has been tracking equipment losses on both sides of the conflict using only unique photo and video evidence, Russia has lost a verifiable total of 101 T-90M since invading Ukraine.

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