tech
Ukrainian drones overwhelm Russian tanks’ new active protection system—for now
Tanks with defensive tech for shooting down drones are still proving vulnerable.
TL;DR
- Russian tanks equipped with the new Arena-M active protection system have been deployed in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian drones destroyed several Russian tanks, including some with the Arena-M system, by attacking in overwhelming numbers.
- The Arena-M system successfully intercepted some incoming drones, but attackers reported needing multiple drones per tank.
- The system's effectiveness is limited by the number of countermunitions and its difficulty detecting slow-moving, unpredictable drones.
- Similar challenges have been noted with Israeli tanks' Trophy active protection system facing Hezbollah drones.
- The incident highlights an ongoing arms race to protect armored vehicles against drone warfare.
- Future Ukrainian drones may feature autonomous swarming capabilities, further challenging existing defenses.