Tire countermeasures

[Finn]

Looks like the Russians are using tires to protect their a/c from Ukrainian attacks:

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/russian-su-34-strike-fighter-seen-covered-in-tires

 

Jari

[chrish]

Desperate act of pitiful fools at the end of their desperate rope (Jim Carrey-liar liar)

that should help….a lot….maybe fill the tires with gasoline? 
l’ve seen tires used as fenders on watercraft but never aircraft

Edited September 9, 2023 by chrish

[Alex]

They’re also doing it on the Tu-95 strategic bombers that they use to launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian elementary schools.  No one ever said that you had to be smart to be a war criminal.  It will definitely help them burn better when the UAF drones hit them. 
 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/06/europe/russia-aircraft-car-tires-ukraine-drones-intl-hnk/index.html

[Oldbaldguy]

Two points you all seem to be missing:  The sheer number of tires - new or used - involved and the man hour effort it takes to stack them on these airplanes.  Where did they get them all and why tires?  The why of it all is a completely different question that only whoever it was that came up with the idea can answer.  Odd as this is, I don’t see it as an act of desperation but a level of creative problem solving we are not used to seeing in the Russian military.  It would cost a fortune to model something

Ike this by the way, what with the price of aftermarket wheel sets from Reskit and others.

[Tony T]

Gives them that homely local scrapyard look.

 

Makes it easier to identify the operational aircraft, as those won't be festooned with rubber due to the sheer effort involved with taking them off and putting them back on again.  

 

Slightly modified drone contact fuses will still punch some nice holes through the aicraft's skin and render it hors de combat. 

 

I'm thinking this is a phone-in idea aimed at involving kids in Putin's bizarre masquerade.

 

Tony