merry pier
But first off, what even are PTABs? Well, they're those little bomblets carried by Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik ground-attack aircraft.
The PTAB is a shaped charge (HEAT) bomblet, weighing 2.5kg with 1.5kg of explosives. The small, shaped-charge design was specifically created to penetrate the weaker, thinner top armor of German tanks. They're supposedly able to penetrate between 60-70mm of armor.
This weapon system was highly effective against German tanks during World War II, particularly on the Eastern Frot. An Il-2 could drop dozens or hundreds of bomblets over a targeted area, saturating the zone and dramatically increasing the chances of a successful hit. This combination proved devastatingly effective against German tank columns, particularly during the Battle of Kursk in 1943, where PTABs were used on a large scale for the first time.
The introduction of the PTAB shifted Soviet anti-tank tactics away from the less-accurate rockets and toward a more effective, area-of-effect bombing approach for destroying enemy armor.
