As much as I’d like to laugh as any Russian military stupidity, the aircraft in the picture doesn’t appear to have propellers attached, so it’s likely in some form of maintenance. Without the weight of engines and props, any strong wind over the wings is likely to move the plane around quite a lot. Putting tires on the wings disrupts the lift and helps keep the plane from moving around in storms.
this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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That feels like a better explanation then the other theory that they are used for some form of anti-drone tech.
Would the tires do anything to protect them other than blunt the damage? Ignoring the fact that each tire conveniently has a bomb sized hole in each section?
I would imagine shrapnel would have an easier time going through a tire then through the exterior of the plane. And those bombs already do that.
Tires are very tough. Aircraft skin is very thin. I think tires would help reduce damage from shrapnel, but agree that weight and airfoil disruption is also a very plausible expansion.
Yeah I don't see how this would provide any additional benefit, even if tires were literally the only thing you had to work with
I hear a better way to protect your planes is not starting a losing war.
If a drone hits the tire a loud boing sound plays.
The Geneva Convention requires the drone to play failhorn.wav when this occurs.
High-tech!
I'm no expert, but wouldn't a bit of fuel and a match now render that plane grounded?
Isn't that kinda always the case with a plane?
Or a water balloon full of gallium!
Why not just paint the planes the color of the asphalt?
My guess: You can remove the tires for flight, paint adds weight and I don't see the Russian army scraping off the current paint without fucking up the primer/anti corrosion layer.
Are the planes not already painted? Why not just paint them grey to begin with?
In the case of strategic bombers, anti-flash white is a key feature to reflect as much of the thermal pulse of a nuclear detonation as possible; theoretically you want these planes to survive the apocalypse that they're unleashing to return to base and do it again.
Light paint keeps the heat away, so it's the default. Plus, this entire kerfuffle has been a matter class in lack of planning. They never thought they would need it, so why bother painting 50+ year old planes another color.
paint adds weight
Me, gesturing broadly at the massive weight of all these tires
Which is why i said they could easily be removed for flight...
Less visible? lol...
As military super powers do… 🤣
most likely explanation: somebody's uncle owns a tire factory and is a good salesman.. or even more likely, somebody stole a bunch of military tires from the Army, and then sold them to the Air Force as an effective "drone deterrent"..
4chan /k/ calls it "cope tires". Fun fact, /k/ came up with the term "cope cages" for the Russian tanks too.
Is not tire from car, is special military shield unit. dumb westerners have no clues on our advanced military gearings.