A Russian drone tried to reduce one of the Most protected tanks of Ukrainian Arsenal And he ended up crashing without achieving his goal. It happened this week near Pysarivka, a town in northern Ukraine, just ten kilometers from the Russian border, in Sumy’s ring. The scene was captured By a camera installed in drone itself and disseminated by Russian state means.
The video shows how the device descends at low height and accelerates directly to a Ukrainian leopard 2a6. The impact occurs fully on the front of the turret, the most armored point of this 69 tons. The result? The drone is destroyed and the tank survives without significant damage.
It is no accident. The Leopard 2A6 – and its Swedish version, the STRV 122 – is designed to resist precisely this type of attack. Your armor, that far exceeds the hundreds of millimeters thick, It especially protects the most exposed areas, such as the front of the turret.
In addition, its ammunition storage system significantly reduces the risk of internal explosion In case of impact, unlike Russian tanks, where ammunition is usually housed under the turret, with lethal consequences if it sets fire.
Although tanks have lost prominence Faced with the proliferation of drones in this war of more than 40 months, Some western models continue to make a difference. In Sumy’s branch, the Ukrainian brigades have deployed armored more actively than usual, despite the risk. This strategy has allowed to keep Russian troops under pressure, which exceed them widely in number -until 50,000 troops compared to a maximum of 20,000 Ukrainians -but that fail to advance significantly in that area.
Leopard, despite their size and visibility, are still hard to reduce. Since the first 21 LEOPARD 2A6 tanks – processes of Germany and Portugal – arrived in Ukraine in the spring of 2023only eight have been confirmed as destroyed or captured, according to independent analysts. The rest continues in service, resist impacts of drones, artillery mines and even missiles. Currently, the 21st mechanized brigade operates the still operational specimens, along with several STRV 122 donated by Sweden.
The Russian obsession with these tanks is evident. On the scarce occasions they manage to capture one, they make it the protagonist of great propaganda staging. But with each failed attempt, like that of starry drone in Pysarivka, it is even clearer: the leopard are not invincible, but not easy to defeat.
