Naval gun on an old T-72: Russia's new "Frankenstein" is other "monster"

Recently, a drone operator from the 3rd Assault Brigade in the Kharkov direction spotted a target that at first glance appeared to be a Russian TOS-1 thermobaric missile launcher. However, as Forbes writes , after it was destroyed by a UAV strike, it turned out that it was not a TOS-1, but "something much stranger and rarer."

According to the 3rd Assault , this was a new type of missile vehicle, combining the hull of an old T-72B tank from the 1970s and an equally old RBU-6000 launcher for sea-based anti-submarine missiles - "a Frankenstein of a Russian tractor and a sea-based missile launcher."

As Forbes notes, the latest improvised "Frankenstein machine" is further evidence of a growing problem for Russians.

"The Russian army entered the war in Ukraine with about 50 TOS-1s and lost half of them. The shortage of TOS-1s explains why Russia is apparently importing North Korean missile vehicles, and also why it is bolting naval missile launchers onto abandoned T-72Bs, thousands of which are sitting in warehouses across Russia," the publication writes.

As the publication notes, these missile launchers, although originally intended to sink submarines, are still not a bad weapon for conducting ground combat operations, despite their inaccuracy.

The problem, however, is the firing range – it is half that of the TOS-1. And the closer the launcher is to the front line, the greater the risk it is exposed to from the enemy.

"The fact that the Ukrainians disabled half of the Russian TOS-1s underscores this danger. It is no coincidence that since the ground-based RBU-6000s first appeared in Ukraine about a year ago, the Russians have been steadily increasing their armament, installing them first on thinly protected MT-LB tractors and trucks, then on old T-80 tank hulls, and finally on at least one T-72B," Forbes writes.

And while the T-72B's hull is more heavily protected than, say, a Ural truck, Forbes notes that "an RBU-6000 is an RBU-6000, no matter what engineers attach it to." That's 12 fragile missiles, each of which is almost certain to burn up if hit by explosives, artillery shrapnel, or even a few machine gun shells.