Russia can say many times that it has no shortage of weapons, but as we speak “Frankensteins” made of several different weapons are being sent to fight at the frontlines in Ukraine. Previously, naval weapons were mounted on MT-LB chassis. Now the T-80 tank received a similar treatment.
RBU-6000 in its normal environment – mounted on a ship. Not on a tank chassis. Image credit: Hunini via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The RBU-6000 is a Soviet naval rocket launcher that entered service sometime in 1960-1961. This system consists of 12 rocket tubes and an automatic loader, which is normally located below the deck. The RBU-6000 fires RGB-60 rockets in volleys of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 shots. Rockets fall into the water, dive deep and can destroy submarines at a depth of up to 1 km.
The RBU-6000 is rather a heavy weapon – it weighs more than 3 tonnes without rockets. But what does that weight mean for a large warship? Not much. However, Russians are now mounting this rocket system on the T-80 tank chassis.
Experts at the Defense Express reported that Russia has at least two T-80 and RBU-6000 hybrids. Where they get the RBU-6000 is obvious enough – this rocket system was the most common weapon of its type in the Soviet navy. When a ship is written off and scrapped, the RBU-6000 can be removed and stored for future use in another ship or, as it turns out, on a tank chassis. There aren’t many T-80 chassis without turrets, but Russians probably mount the RBU-6000 when rebuilding battle-damaged tanks.
RBU-6000 “Smerch-2”
on the chassis of the Russian T-80B tank pic.twitter.com/xXjT8YYhbx— — GEROMAN — time will tell – 👀 — (@GeromanAT) January 23, 2024
How is this Frankenstein system hybrid even possible? Quite simply, actually, as the rockets launched by the RBU-6000 system are unguided. This means that there is virtually no electronics connecting the rockets to the carrying vehicle. In the case of a ship, they dive into the water and must create a dense forest of death – if at least one rocket hits the submarine, it sinks. On land, the RBU-6000 will operate similarly to a Grad system or other unguided rocket systems.
The effectiveness of such a T-80 – RBU-6000 hybrid will inevitably be very limited. Unguided rockets will fly all around and will not be able to guarantee a hit. In addition, a tank armed in this way is very tall and likely clumsy – an easy target for Ukrainian drones to spot and destroy.
Finally, the RBU-6000 was designed for large ships, so the T-80 will be quite small for it. This rocket system is likely to be externally loaded and that procedure should take some time. Previously Russian scrapyard engineers tried to install the RBU-6000 on the MT-LB chassis as well – the T-80 is probably a more stable option for this kind of a setup.
Ukraine does not have a functioning navy, while Russia has many naval weapons. So, instead of saving them for future sea battles, Russia is installing them on land-based vehicles, using up old ammunition and preserving more crucial ammo stock for later.
Written by Povilas M.