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Comment by dragontamer | Hacker News Reader

> They're a relic since Russia's war in Chechnya where those cages could protect against RPGs fired from buildings in narrow city streets.

USA sent IIRC 3x as many "dumb" RPGs (the AT4) as Javelins, assuming that the Ukrainians would be fighting in narrow city streets.

Turned out that urban warfare didn't really happen much. But... I think everyone's plan was for urban combat, and then everybody turned out to be wrong. On the USA side, not a big deal, we sent the wrong mix of weapons but we're fixing that with lend-lease / additional aid packages.

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> Turned out that urban warfare didn't really happen much

The war isn't really past tense; the swift advance to and battle for Kyiv with the intent of forcing capitulation didn't happen, but as the shift to seizing territory Russia really wants rather than getting handed it by a friendly government imposed on Ukraine has happened, urban warfare has become a thing in Mariupol, and if Russia continues prosecuting the war it’ll probably happen more places.

The slat armor is also only effective against the RPG-7 type warheads, where the fuse is in the nose and crushing the side of the warhead keeps the electric detonation signal from getting to the detonator.

Other warheads will detonate when they hit the slat armor. With the net result of improved standoff distance. Most warheads don't incorporate enough stand off because it's hard to do so. The extra standoff actually improves penetration.

That said, the AT4 is perfectly usable for side shots, such as in an ambush.

Dumb RPGs are still very useful. Not every target is an armoured tank. An old RPG aimed at a fuel truck is very effective.

It's more of a range thing.

Hitting an enemy fuel truck from 5000m away is a lot safer than running up and shooting it at 200m.

200m shots are common in a city, because cover / concealment is everywhere. Sure, there are still trees and hills to hide in the countryside, but having the option for super long range really helps.

>Turned out that urban warfare didn't really happen much.

Siege of Mariupol is ongoing since the start of the war. It has seen very brutal urban fighting.

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