Ukrainian T-64BV tank crew reportedly managed to destroy a Russian tank from a distance of 10600 meters in indirect fire mode using 125mm HE-FRAG projectiles.
A few days back one of the popular independents military experts name Ukraine weapons tracker on Twitter claimed that Ukraine’s army was able to hit a Russian tank from a distance of more than 10 km. As claimed, it took 20 projectiles to finish the tank. According to sources Ukraine used 125mm HE-FRAG projectiles to eliminate the Russian tanks.
Though initially the claim may sound wild, but there are some important details – Ukrainian tank crews commonly use special software for indirect fire, which calculates the angle and azimuth – and the fire here was corrected by a drone.
After the post gone viral many others military enthusiast share their respective opinion some says its possible but many denied it. the whole bunch of experts in tanks gathered in the comments, who only today found out that Soviet tanks can be used for indirect fire, but now they confidently claim that we are spreading propaganda, lying, and so on.
#Ukraine: What is possibly the longest tank-to-tank kill ever – a Ukrainian T-64BV tank crew reportedly managed to destroy a Russian tank from a distance of 10600 meters in indirect fire mode using 125mm HE-FRAG projectiles. As claimed, it took 20 projectiles to finish the tank. pic.twitter.com/Rv05uTJroC
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 31, 2022
Standard firing tables for 3VOF36 HE-FRAG rounds include ranges of up to 12100 meters – an elevation angle of ~22° is required to fire at this distance. And ~14° for 10000 meters. It is possible to fire even further but the chances of hitting the target are dramatically reduced.
In this case, the target is an empty Russian tank, which was detected by a Ukrainian drone – the drone is also used for fire correction. Since Feb 24th we have seen dozens of videos where tanks are used for indirect fire roles using HE-FRAG projectiles.
And to everybody saying that no tank can be destroyed by HE projectiles- this is a ridiculous claim, considering that huge quantities of armoured vehicles are destroyed by HE-FRAG projectiles from Ukrainian artillery- which are extremely similar.
But the users failed to provide a solid video when the tank was hit. So we cannot confirm if the tank was actually destroyed from a distance of 10800 meters, but it is quite possible since these tanks were originally designed to do so. With modern tools in the form of UAVs and ballistic software – this becomes even easier.