Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, thousands of armored vehicles have been destroyed. There have already been between 16,000 and 20,000 on the Russian side, according to estimates. While the stocks of active vehicles have been largely depleted and in times of war economy, the country only manages to produce about 500 main battle tanks and 1,000 armored vehicles per year, strange machines are finding their way onto the battlefield to compensate for the losses.
For a long time, the entire range of tanks from the Soviet era and even machines from the Second World War have been sent to Ukraine. Certain models have sometimes come out of museums. Nowadays, you can really find everything and even vehicles resembling golf carts, motosmotos or even tanks covered with cages and protective plates giving them a airair big tortoisetortoise.
Among these very heterogeneous vehicles, one of the most unique ancient tanks on the ground is the Ladoga. A rarity of which only four or five examples were produced. The machine dates from the late 1970s and was designed as a reconnaissance and command vehicle in the event of a nuclear strike. In other words, this armored vehicle is capable of withstanding the effect of radiation to protect its crew. It does not have a turret mobilemobile nor a cannon. It is completely airtight and the crew has an oxygen supply and cameras mounted on a mast outside to carry out their reconnaissance and command missions.
As this is a tank intended for command, the comfort has nothing to do with that of combat models. The seats are padded and the four crew members are comfortably seated in the spacious, padded cabin.
The final moments of one of the very few Ladoga tanks before it was hit by a Ukrainian drone. © @AndrewPerpetua
A tank with first-class comfort
It is a sort of Rolls-Royce of the tank for colonels or generals. And, surprise, it was precisely a Ladoga that Ukrainian drones hit near the Kreminna forest last March. Last week, another Ladoga was also destroyed by fire by a Ukrainian drone. If the Ladoga has never experienced the nuclear apocalypse, it is nevertheless still adapted to mechanized warfare and reconnaissance missions close to the combat zone.
This is probably what justifies its presence in Ukraine. Robust, it is based on the chassis of a T-80 tank with reinforced armor. The whole is powered by a powerful engine gas turbinegas turbine of 1,250 horsepower. The machine is perfect for protecting a senior Russian officer in complete comfort, commanding his battalion from inside Ladoga. But obviously, if it is resistant to radiation, like the entire range of Russian tanks, the Ladoga is much less tolerant of a strike from a small FPV drone at its command cabin.
This is not the first time that the Ladoga has rolled out its tracks in Ukraine. In 1986, arriving a week after the disaster of the nuclear plantnuclear plant from Chernobyl, the armored vehicle covered nearly 4,700 kilometers carrying out reconnaissance operations and other radiation survey work in heavily contaminated areas. This type of tank is nevertheless unique in the world and after these two losses, there are probably only two or three examples left, one of which is present in a museum. Not sure the Russian army wants to sacrifice them.
