re: #442 Decatur Deb

Reactive armor is somewhat self-limiting. A few hits in a small area opens it up. They were working on tandem weapons that exploit that when I lost track.

Tandem top attack warheads are on the Javelin now. The classic TOW-2 was moderately successful against T-90’s in Syria but had the limitation of wire guidance - got to “stay on target” until hit. Javelin has a range of 2.5 miles and is fire and forget so the gunner can scoot to the next firing position while the missile blasts down through the top of the tank. T-90 is fairly well protected against other tanks; not so much from above. It does have an anti-IR “active” protection system but the jury’s out on it yet. The autoloader’s ammo carousel is still utterly unprotected meaning almost any penetrating hit is going to detonate the ammunition.

It will come down to the training of the crews in the T-90 and the personnel firing the Javelin. The Javelin is a lot easier to operate and Russian conscripts are notoriously ill trained. My bet is on Javelin.