题图：经过改装后的俄式坦克，变成“龟式”坦克了。

With the war in Ukraine grinding on, both sides have evolved their warfare tactics as what was once thought to be effective has proven otherwise. This of course will continue to happen as it has in most wars as the two sides escalate and jostle for position on the front. One of the weirdest recently developments has been the Russian “Turtle Tanks.”

随着乌克兰战争的持续进行，双方都在不断改进其战争战术，因为曾经被认为有效的战术已被证明并非如此。当然，随着战争的升级和双方在前线的争夺，这种情况会像大多数战争一样继续发生。最近最奇怪的发展之一是俄罗斯的“龟式坦克”。

Seen in certain areas, these Turtle Tanks are often T-72s with a makeshift shell or outer hull made of rebar, corrugated sheet metal, or other scraps welded together. It’s supposed to help guard against the pervasive FPV drone attacks performed by Ukrainian forces.

在某些地区，这些“龟式坦克”通常是由钢筋、波纹金属板或其他废料焊接而成的临时外壳或车体的T-72坦克。据说这有助于抵御乌克兰部队无孔不入的FPV无人机攻击。
（译者注：FPV是英文First Person View的缩写，即“第一人称主视角”，它是一种基于遥控航空模型或者车辆模型上加装无线摄像头回传设备，在地面看屏幕操控模型的玩法。）

When these monstrosities first rolled out, some praised the innovative nature of Russian forces. They seemed to believe these shells would stop Ukrainian forces from destroying the tanks, giving the other side quite the advantage.

当这些怪胎首次问世时，一些人称赞了俄军的创新性。他们似乎认为，这些外壳可以阻止乌克兰军队摧毁坦克，让对方占尽优势。

Only, it hasn’t played out quite that way at all.

然而，事实并非如此。

One big problem with the Turtle Tanks is the shell limits gun rotation and the crew’s visibility. Ironically, that can make the tanks more vulnerable to attack. It’s like how during WWII some tanks were so heavily armored they were slow and got stuck often, the very thing that was supposed to protect the crew becoming a huge liability.

龟式坦克的一个大问题是外壳限制了火炮的旋转和乘员的视野。具有讽刺意味的是，这可能使坦克更容易受到攻击。这就像在二战期间，有些坦克装甲太厚，速度很慢，而且经常被卡住，本应保护乘员的东西却成了巨大的负担。

These tanks sometimes have rollers or ploughs attached to the front to trigger enemy landmines. We saw similar implements used on US and allied armored vehicles way back during Desert Storm, so that’s not exactly cutting-edge stuff.

这些坦克有时会在前部安装滚轮或犁，以触发敌人的地雷。早在“沙漠风暴”期间，我们就看到美国和盟军的装甲车使用了类似的工具，所以这并不是什么尖端科技。

But what is interesting is a video shared by the official Ministry of Defense of Ukraine’s X account showing one of these turtle tanks with the rollers being destroyed by what appears to be multiple landmines at once. How exactly that happened isn’t clear. It could be Ukraine is has the ability to switch some mines to remove detonation or there’s a delay, or perhaps another innovation.

但有趣的是，乌克兰国防部官方X账户分享的一段视频显示，一辆装有滚轮的龟式坦克被多个地雷同时炸毁。具体是如何发生的还不清楚。可能是乌克兰有能力切换某些地雷以消除引爆，也可能是存在延时或其他创新的引爆方式。

This just shows the arms race going on in the Ukraine War. One side thinks it has the upper hand with a new toy and the other shows maybe that’s not the case. That’s partly why the fighting continues grinding on.

这恰恰显出了乌克兰战争中的军备竞赛。一方认为自己有了新玩具，占了上风，而另一方则认为事实并非如此。这也是战斗持续不断的部分原因。