Despite what morons on twitter tell you, just because anti-tank weapons exist it doesn’t mean that tanks are obsolete. Tanks are useful because tanks do things only tanks can: provide large calibre close fire support while being squarely protected inside a big metal box.

If you are an infantry soldier on tankless side, this sucks. When tanks were first introduced, they were pretty effective because there were no antitank weapons yet. Balance shifted a bit when someone put shaped charge on a rocket/in tiny air-dropped bomb, this forced a change in tactics, armor, and so on. Then, somebody else discovered that C4-metal or rubber-metal lasagna can protect from single shaped charge, this led to development of tandem shaped charges. In terms of current war in Ukraine, we are here (APSs like Trophy exist but these are pretty rare)

You don’t have to destroy tank on the frontline to make it useless - it’s even better if it’s destroyed far behind frontline, but it’s not the only option. Tank without fuel can’t drive, tank without ammo can’t shoot, tank without spares can’t be repaired - that’s why targeting logistics is important and was pretty successful early in the war

But, after you go through this (russians partially didn’t), there are plenty of ways to destroy a tank when it’s on the frontline. Assumptions about why and how would that frontline look like made some planners believe that cope cages would be useful, specifically that delusional assumption of three day special operation made them believe that tanks would be used in urban combat.

Cope cage is slat armor fixed to the top of turret. Slat armor works by deforming front part of RPG-7 projectile or similar, which prevents detonation

like this

Cope cage was intended to protect against RPG-7 attack from top, where armour is thinnest. This makes sense, considering how common RPG-7 is in post-soviet stockpiles. This is also why slat armour or ERA is added to any Western equipment - it’s much easier to replace busted ERA or steel bars than to send entire tank back for repair.

PG-7V arriving from top could only possibly happen in urban combat, and this is not what happened. Later, when Javelins were proven to be quite effective, cope cages were repackaged by russian propaganda machine as a wunderwaffe armour against them, but this doesn’t change that this doesn’t work in reality.

But let’s say you have a task of destroying a tank with cope cage, what difference would it make?

ATGMs - Side attack

Modern ATGMs will push through up to 1m of RHA, this means these will punch through entire tank and then some, with possible exception of front glacis in modern western tanks. This is the good stuff and it’s never available in numbers high enough, so there have to be other options used more liberally. One example of this system is Stugna-P

ATGMs - Top attack

Tanks have much thinner armor on top, this is exploited by some missiles that attack on that side, allowing them to be much lighter and more portable. This is also good stuff, and will completely ignore cope cages, because it’s not detonated on impact. Examples include TOW and Javelin. Both types of ATGMs were widely credited with stopping tanks during initial push on Kyiv

Artillery - Unitary

Excalibur has 5kg of explosive fill and was designed, among others, as a tank killer. Because it’s GPS guided, it will be best used against parked tanks (to allow for good target identification, input of coordinates and such) but direct hit from 155/152mm howitzer, 122mm Grad or maybe even 120mm mortar should be pretty damaging to a tank in any case. Close hits might not destroy tank outright, but might strip ERA, cope cage, optics, or even throw a track or damage engine with fragmentation, so it’s not nothing. If heavy artillery hits cope cage and it detonates on impact, there’s still heavy fragmentation that can punch through the thinnest armour, so cope cage will be probably ineffective in this case. This type of artillery was responsible for destroying most of tanks and other vehicles during initial Kyiv push

Artillery - BONUS

This thing uses two skeets that seek for tank with IR sensor or mmwave radar and plunge an EFP down on it. Because it’s not initiated on impact, cope cage is useless here.

Artillery - DPICM

Each DPICM element contains small shaped charge that is supposed to penetrate some 70-100mm of steel. This is vastly more than on top of any tank and it should result in penetration. ERA on top can protect against DPICM; because DPICM detonate on impact, if cope cage gets in the way, jet of copper will disperse before reaching turret. However if DPICM element falls on engine or driver compartment, that is where cope cage doesn’t extend, tank will be still disabled. Cope cage is partially useful here

Artillery - FASCAM

This thing deploys minefield anywhere you point your 155mm howitzer at - right in front of enemy, right behind enemy, somewhere around so they have to change plans or are forced in some killzone, or even directly at them so now they have to navigate through suddenty appearing minefield. Because these mines attack bottom and sides, cope cage is useless here

RPGs

Slat armour is useful against some of the older, more common RPGs, but most of the time soldiers using it are on the sides, not on top of tank. A couple of hits with RPG-7 can disable some of older tanks. Because urban combat against tanks didn’t happen, cope cage is useless here.

Other tank

Top of tank is usually not exposed to other tank, and if it is, it means that either tank is on the side or you’re fighting against flying type 59. Either way, something went horribly wrong. Cope cage is useless here

Drones - FPV

These things are basically very cheap and limited ATGMs with superior maneuverability, and these can hit tank where armor is thinnest - from back or sides, bypassing cope cage entirely. Cope cage is useless here

Drones - Bombers

Drones have been reported to drop RPG-7 warheads, DPICM elements, RKG-3 grenades and more. All limitations of DPICM apply. Cope cage is partially useful here

Drones - Lancets

Some Ukrainian howitzer positions are protected by metal nets, because it was discovered that Lancets brake and stop on them without detonating. Because chicken wire is much less visible than cope cage, russian AT team might send a Lancet against it not recognizing that it will be ineffective. It seems to work against some of russian AT weapons, so it was also installed on some of tanks

like this. Yes it’s Chally 2

It’s probably mildly effective, but only against some threats, and you still will have a bad day if someone has ATGM, RPG with tandem charge or accurate tube artillery

I don’t know why i have written this, but there’s a chance I might do it again. If you don’t want to see this content, convince me to stop