The BMPT Terminator's turret armor features large steel arrays and dual-layer dynamic protection.
Support combat vehicle tanks The Terminator, now renamed to the utterly absurd Spiridon, is considered one of the most well-protected domestic armored vehicles. This isn't just due to its rational design, which, for example, includes fully sealed fuel tanks, significantly reducing the risk of fires and complete destruction of the vehicle if hit.
Of no small importance is the Terminator's armor and dynamic protection, which, at least in part, is designed in a very original way for its turret: it contains a very, very large amount of steel, and the dynamic protection, using elements of the Relikt, is two-layered, which is completely atypical for tanks like the T-90M or T-80BVM, which have been equipped with it for several years now.
Passive turret armor
Perhaps we should start with the fact that the BMPT Terminator has a turret. Naturally, it doesn't look a bit like a typical tank turret. In fact, it's a low-profile platform with remote armament in the form of a pair of 30mm automatic cannons and launchers for missiles "Attack" and machine gun.
The BMPT Terminator turret. Aerial view. Source: radiosputnik.ru
It also forms the fighting compartment for the commander and gunner. Its roof houses hatches for these crew members, the gunner's sight, and the commander's prismatic observation devices. Despite its relatively modest dimensions, especially in height, the turret boasts impressive frontal armor.
This, of course, has long been known, as the drawings and some sketches leaked online quite some time ago. However, a more or less coherent visualization of the armor's composition was lacking until a Chinese enthusiast nicknamed "Object-477" took up the matter. Based on available information, he compiled a fascinating image showing the components and their thicknesses.
It is attached below.
BMPT Terminator turret armor diagram. Author: Object-477
Abbreviations:
— 21F — anti-neutron material;
— PPU — rigid polyurethane foam;
— St — steel;
— RHA — medium hardness armor steel;
— HHA — high hardness armor steel;
— ERA — dynamic protection;
— Relikt ERA — DZ “Relikt”;
— 4S23 — element DZ 4S23;
— Rb — rubber;
— Gap — clearance / air gap.
Now let's move on to the composition and thicknesses according to the sections in the image, that is, A-A, B-B and C-C.
Section A-A:
2 mm steel + DZ "Relic" 4S23, 2 × (80 mm RHA + 30 mm 21F) + 30 mm HHA + 50 mm HHA + 20 mm 21F + 80 mm RHA.
Section B-B:
23 mm HHA + 2 × DZ "Relic" 4S23, 23 mm HHA + 45 mm PPU + 60 mm HHA + 5 mm rubber + 3 mm steel + 14 mm gap + 50 mm HHA + 20 mm 21F + 80 mm RHA.
Section C-C:
23 mm HHA + 2 × DZ "Relic" 4S23, 23 mm HHA + 45 mm PPU + 60 mm HHA + 5 mm rubber + 3 mm steel + 14 mm gap + 60 mm HHA + 20 mm 21F + 80 mm RHA / 130 mm RHA at 0°.
What can be said about these "sandwiches"? First and foremost, they lack any unnecessary "show-off" elements like ceramics and other complex components. On the one hand, this is a major omission, as such components could significantly reduce the weight of the armor protection while maintaining the same durability.
On the other hand, they're essentially unnecessary. The Terminator's frontal turret armor is relatively compact, so weight wasn't a major consideration. They crammed in a huge amount of medium- and high-hardness steel plates, spiced them up with anti-HEAT reflective (intumescent) plates in a combination of 60 mm HHA + 5 mm rubber + 3 mm steel + 14 mm gap in the B-B and C-C sections.
Taking all this into account, and especially the thickness and angles of the steel arrays, as well as the presence of dynamic protection, we can confidently say that the BMPT Terminator turret is superior in resistance to both cumulative and kinetic weapons to the turrets of tanks such as the T-72B and even, very likely, the T-90M.
Now about the dynamic protection itself.
Two-layer dynamic protection
If we take as an example a typical carrier of the "Relikt" dynamic armor, such as the T-90M, T-80BVM, and even the current new T-72B3M modifications, assembled from the T-72A, we'll notice one common detail. The "Relikt" on them is implemented as a single-layer "overlay" on top of the armor.
In other words, all Relikt modules are a simple sandwich consisting of two thick steel plates—outer and rear—with 4S23 dynamic protection elements (or ERA) sandwiched between them. The ERA itself is actually two thin steel plates, with an explosive-like layer sandwiched between them.
Inert (mock-up) elements of dynamic protection. From left to right: 4S24 – for the Karkas ERA and other light armored vehicle systems, 4S23 – for the Relikt ERA, 4S22 – for the Kontakt-5 ERA, 4S20 – for the Kontakt-1 ERA (also initially installed in the Kontakt-5 ERA). JSC Research Institute of Steel.
When the explosives detonate in the ERD, thick steel plates begin to move in opposite directions, causing a destructive impact on the subcaliber projectile or shaped-charge jet. The front plate strikes head-on, while the rear plate follows suit.
A simple diagram of the Relikt dynamic protection system. The arrows indicate the bidirectional launch of thick steel plates.
The solution is simple, as it requires no modifications to the tank's armor or massive mountings. It's also effective—the Relikt provides decent protection against kinetic and shaped-charge rounds, including some tandem munitions. However, equipping the Terminator's turret with dynamic armor provides significantly greater resistance to projectile weapons.
It uses the same "relic" 4S23 dynamic protection elements, but in a completely different configuration. You can see what this looks like by looking at the diagram attached below. It shows that the dynamic protection has two thick, projectile-launched plates (labeled as the first and second ERA elements).
In fact, this is a two-layer dynamic protection, in which the elements are triggered in turn with a slight delay - first the first, then the second.
When a subcaliber projectile hits the first slab, the resulting fragments detonate the explosives in the explosive reactive zone (ERZ), forcing the slab toward the projectile, damaging it. The second slab then begins to move—the explosion of the EZZ of the first layer triggers the detonation of the EZZ of the second layer.
In other words, the projectile is hit twice by heavy steel plates in a fraction of a second, significantly reducing its armor penetration. For projectiles like the Soviet Mango APFSDS, this reduction can reach 50% or more. A slightly smaller, but still noticeable, effect can also be achieved by ERA when hit by Western APFSDS projectiles, including those with segmented warheads adapted to penetrate dynamic armor.
If a shaped-charge munition impacts, the explosives in both layers of the ERP detonate upon contact with the shaped-charge jet. As with sub-caliber projectiles, the jet is also impacted by two thick steel plates. The energy of the ERP explosion and its thin plates also have an additional negative effect on the jet.
The reduction in armor penetration of HEAT munitions when this dual-layer protection is activated can reach up to 80%. Moreover, this reactive armor can also resist tandem HEAT projectiles and missiles, as the detonation of the second layer occurs with a slight delay—the second plate thrown has time to impact the main charge's jet.
Conclusions
The armor structure and dynamic protection system described in this article allow us to conclude that the BMPT Terminator's turret protection exceeds that of virtually all Soviet-era tanks. It can effectively resist both subcaliber projectiles and shaped-charge (HEAT) rounds, including tandem-charge munitions.
This isn't surprising, though. The vehicle was designed specifically to operate in the same battle formation as tanks, and anything can hit them—from ATGMs to armor-piercing sabot rounds. It's just a shame that powerful frontal protection alone isn't particularly relevant anymore, since drones They can hit vulnerable spots. But for its time, the product was quite interesting.
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