Dr. Spontaneous
M-72B Zmey
During the early weeks of the Second Eastern European War, Yugoslavia was extremely confident that its M-72A Zmeys had enough baseline protection to trounce the under-performing Bulgarians. Whether this was an honest assessment or simply bloodlust speaking to an inherently pugilistic command structure is hard to say; nevertheless, reality quickly played its hand once the war matured. Indeed, the proliferation of advanced anti-tank munitions into the region via covert operatives from the West--and opportunistic lords of war more generally--meant Yugoslavia's mainstay tank found it increasingly difficult to survive in a condensed battlespace. Many of these lessons were translated into a dedicated M-72 variant meant for urban combat, but the issue of what to do with the rest of the tank fleet lingered.
The resulting answer was quite simple: Throw more armor on the the thing. Belgrade earnestly began strapping more advanced explosive reactive armor (ERA) to roughly two-thirds of the tank's hull, thereby increasing the opportunity to defeat penetration in critical areas during frontal assaults. Likewise, the ERA blocks mounted to the turret's glacis were enlarged to offer slightly more protective surface, as well as altering the blocks' angle to enhance passive deflection of smaller calibers of incoming projectiles. What's more, a helmet of non-explosive reactive armor (NERA) was added to the turret to negate top-attack munitions. Although weight and profile concerns limited how much could be applied to the turret's dome, thereby limiting the actual protection, crews have been granted a higher degree of confidence. More or less, the psychological armor has been doubled along with the physical.
Smaller alterations include a reconfigured bustle; a more powerful, fuel-efficient engine; more compact electronics; and installation of a newer generation of laser detection system. This last item alerts the crew when their tank has been painted by a laser designator, thereby triggering the automatic discharge of smoke grenades and, when enabled, slaving of the turret to aim at the offending light source. Although the B-model of the Zmey has yet to be used in conventional battle, Belgrade is once again confident that its dragons will win the day unmolested.
Once again, thanks to Evan for the decal work!
M-72B Zmey
During the early weeks of the Second Eastern European War, Yugoslavia was extremely confident that its M-72A Zmeys had enough baseline protection to trounce the under-performing Bulgarians. Whether this was an honest assessment or simply bloodlust speaking to an inherently pugilistic command structure is hard to say; nevertheless, reality quickly played its hand once the war matured. Indeed, the proliferation of advanced anti-tank munitions into the region via covert operatives from the West--and opportunistic lords of war more generally--meant Yugoslavia's mainstay tank found it increasingly difficult to survive in a condensed battlespace. Many of these lessons were translated into a dedicated M-72 variant meant for urban combat, but the issue of what to do with the rest of the tank fleet lingered.
The resulting answer was quite simple: Throw more armor on the the thing. Belgrade earnestly began strapping more advanced explosive reactive armor (ERA) to roughly two-thirds of the tank's hull, thereby increasing the opportunity to defeat penetration in critical areas during frontal assaults. Likewise, the ERA blocks mounted to the turret's glacis were enlarged to offer slightly more protective surface, as well as altering the blocks' angle to enhance passive deflection of smaller calibers of incoming projectiles. What's more, a helmet of non-explosive reactive armor (NERA) was added to the turret to negate top-attack munitions. Although weight and profile concerns limited how much could be applied to the turret's dome, thereby limiting the actual protection, crews have been granted a higher degree of confidence. More or less, the psychological armor has been doubled along with the physical.
Smaller alterations include a reconfigured bustle; a more powerful, fuel-efficient engine; more compact electronics; and installation of a newer generation of laser detection system. This last item alerts the crew when their tank has been painted by a laser designator, thereby triggering the automatic discharge of smoke grenades and, when enabled, slaving of the turret to aim at the offending light source. Although the B-model of the Zmey has yet to be used in conventional battle, Belgrade is once again confident that its dragons will win the day unmolested.
Once again, thanks to Evan for the decal work!