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Cate's Research-Investigation Bureau

CRIB is an independent passion project led by 1 person interested in Russian military equipment. This blog focuses on Russian military vehicle news, historical events and development. Any coinciding information or the author's perspective on reality is purely random.

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Ultra-1 and Ultra-2 AT gun rounds

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- November 06, 2020

Old Danish 28/20mm rounds Designed by Hermann Gerlich while working for Schultz & Larsen in Denmark. Schultz & Larsen 28/20mm AT

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Comprehensive Soviet/Russian vehicle collection
Russian naming abbreviations
Leopard Family
Soviet/Russian Tank Sight Collection
DVE-BS Wind Sensor
Assortment of 2E42-4 "Jasmin" Information

"AGAVA" - "AGAVA-2" and its confusing history

- December 28, 2020

When covering Soviet sight technology, there are always some interesting designs and approaches to solving an issue. It is a common fact that the Soviet Union in the 1980s-1990s was quite behind in thermal sight technology. Only in the 1990s, but to be specific in 1992, did the Soviet Union, now Russia, start to field small batches of thermal sights on their tanks, primarily T-80Us and some of the early T-90 variants, which had just recently entered service. Russia's journey through creating its own domestic thermal sight traces back to 1982. The 1980s were quite an important time for the 'Krasnogorsk Factory named after S.A. Zverev', which is still to date, an optical Engineering and optoelectronics factory. The factory is primarily known for making domestic Soviet cameras back in the day. However, that's not the only thing that the factory produced back then. Close to the mid-1980s, the facility was contracted to develop new thermal sight technology for the Soviet M...

GTD-1000 - GTD-1000TF - GTD-1250 Gas Turbine Engines

- December 05, 2020

The world's first mass-produced tank gas turbine engine GTD-1000T was created at the Klimov Plant in 1968 for the T-80 main battle tank developed By the special tank design Bureau of the Kirov plant (now JSC "Spetsmash"), which was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1976. Since 1980, a modification of the GTD‑1000TF for T-80B/BV tanks was produced, since 1986 a modification of the GTD-1250 for T-80U tanks. GTD-1250 Engines of the GTD-1250 family as part of the power plants of T-80 tanks are in service with the armies of Russia, Belarus, Cyprus, South Korea, Kazakhstan. Turbine engine GTD-1000T/GTD-1250, which have a large volume-weight capacity and a more favourable traction characteristic compared to diesel engines, provide T-80 tanks with interesting characteristics: - higher operational readiness - easy start-up at low temperatures (up to -40°C) - better cross-country ability on soils with a low load-bearing capacity - best noise and heat-masking qualities - increased ...

Object 640 "Black Eagle" photos

- October 12, 2023

1G46 thermal imager retrofit

- August 25, 2026

A recent production patent filing shows that the Soviet era 1G46 (part of the 1A45 FCS) is being retrofitted with a thermal imaging channel. Named 1G46TT, the retrofit encompasses a major rework of the entire module. One of the major visual changes is the complete removal of the old faceplate of the sight and replacing it with a screen, indicating that the sight is now equipped with more advanced electronics and no longer relies on conventional mirror-based daylight optics as on the standard 1G46. Another interesting observation is that the retrofit retains the parallelogram mechanism, which most likely indicates that the sight block has not received independent stabilisation, unlike other modern Russian sight modules like Sosna-U. This means that, to retain accurate LoS and alignment with the barrel, mechanical input from the gun breech trunnion will be transmitted via a parallelogram arm. With a high probability that the new 1G46TT has received a thermal imaging chan...

50 years of the T-80

- July 06, 2026

The most recent UVZ publication, celebrating 50 years of the T-80, showed several interesting sightings and additions. This variant of T-80U-E1 has a retrofitted hull that integrates Relikt. The combination of an existing T-80U-E1 turret with a Relikt integrated hull is interesting, even though Relikt integration is nothing new on older T-80 hulls, such as the T-80BV. Another minor detail is the presence of anti-slip coating on the ERA hull. Apart from the more obvious points, the presence of thicker rubber flaps around the turret geometry is something worth discussing. They seem to be twice the size of the original rubber flaps and are much thicker, having the layers bolted together. The layered composition is hard to identify in the original video, but it resembles the old flap design, with more layers. It is hard to say why the edges are bolted down. The old design was thermally bonded into aramid-style woven material, which provided rigidity and temperatur...

Soviet Union/Russian thermal sight development history

- August 11, 2021

Related topics: "AGAVA" - "AGAVA-2 "and its confusing history Thermal imagers were classed as; Gen-I, Gen-II and Gen-III. Gen-I sights featured the most basic technology due to them being the first of their type. Gen-II sights commonly improved on Gen-I technology by utilizing similar but more refined technical advancements or used completely new methods. Gen-III sights used new advanced technology that is no longer associated with Gen-II and additionally features new materials for photo-elements and ways of processing. Image 1 (For full resolution open the image in a new tab) The table above represents domestic Soviet and early Russian thermal modules/sights. Generations are split into 3 different time periods, Gen-I sights primarily appeared in the 1980s but also made appearances in the 1990s, Gen-II sights appeared in the 1990s and Gen-III sights appeared in the late 1990s and 2000s. Gen-I systems: Utilize linear photo-receiver with 2 types of indicators; b...

T-80 rubber flaps - Part 3

- January 27, 2024

Over half a year ago, I promised to write an article about T-80 rubber flaps and their purpose, which would have completed the trifecta article collection: T-80 aerodynamic features and T-80 MBT engine air filtration and dust prevention systems . This article builds up on the T-80 aerodynamic features topic and will conclude this series. Unfortunately, I have come across zero primary sources, that directly mention the purpose of these rubber flaps, which makes it difficult to write an article with primary sources. There are 2 disputed arguments on this topic; one argument states that the flaps on the T-80s are meant to redirect airflow and reduce air contaminants like sand and dust from entering the engine. The other argument is that these flaps are used as additional protection to prematurely detonate HEAT warheads. I will discuss this topic by only talking about the presence of the flaps on T-80s. Firstly the rubber skirt, is present on the lower frontal plate of T-80s. I...

Component failure rates for T-72 and T-80 AFVs

- May 04, 2025

Component failure in Soviet armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) is a common occurrence. The failure rate of components depends on factors such as quality, durability, service longevity, and serviceability. This variable can also be affected by poor repairability potential and a lack of automated diagnostic systems to monitor vehicle status. The failure rate of components is determined by the number of failures that occur within a specified operating range. For Soviet vehicles, this operating range is measured in thousands of kilometres. Therefore, the failure rate can be expressed as the number of operational failures per 1000 kilometres [<i> Failure rate] = Operating Failure/1000km). Another important aspect is commonly occurring failure (COF). COF refers to parts within a module or an entire module that are prone to common failures. These failures require significant attention and resources for maintenance and repair. The following set ...

BMP-1 with turbine track blades

- September 20, 2026

One of the effective ways to improve the amphibious capabilities of a tracked propulsion system is to equip it with so‑called turbine blades. The leading edges of the blades face inward toward the track loop, and the trailing edges face the ground, which means they must not protrude beyond the supporting surface of the track. When the track rotates in water, the profiled surface of the blades generates hydrodynamic lift and horizontal thrust, the projection of which provides additional traction force. Such a propulsion system was used in the early 1950s on the American LVTP‑5 vehicle, which demonstrated very high water speed (11.2 km/h) with an 18.9 kW/t (25.7 hp/t) power-to-weight ratio. This speed was achieved thanks to the large width of the turbine blades located in the middle part of the track links. The principle of turbine blades can also be implemented, as done on the tracks of the Swedish IKV‑91 light tank , where small turbine blades were placed on both sides of the track, pr...

T-80 fitted with "Burlak" combat module

- March 31, 2021

Recently new images came to light, of a T-80 equipped with a familiar-looking combat module. Closely resembling the "Burlak" combat module which was previously mounted on a T-72B hull back in the early 2000s. On the photographs, it can be easily identified that the hull is the same as on the Object 219M "T-80BV-RM" which one of the prototype T-80BV upgrades made by Russia more than 10 years ago. The design of the turret is very similar to the "Burlak" CM, made back in the early 2000s by Omsk KBTM, now known as Omsktransmash. The turret itself seems to be in a more complete state, with a more refined turret design and finalized components. It sadly is unknown when this variant was tested and will it ever be accepted into the armoured forces. But the images show that the development of a new combat module has been continued past the "Burlak" and its presence on other vehicles other than the T-72B.