Russian Tanks' New Drone Defenses Actually Work
But the Arena-M systems need more ammunition
This story was commissioned by Euromaidan Press. Since Substack pays only around a fifth of my bills, I have no choice but to take on a lot of freelance work. I still want my Substack audience to know where to read those freelance stories, however. Hence this excerpt.
Russian forces may have finally found a way to protect their tanks from Ukrainian first-person-view drones. And it’s not the usual add-on armor applications that have defined mechanized combat in Ukraine since the early months of Russia’s wider war.
No, the Russians have begun deploying tanks fitted with the Arena-M active protection system (APS), which detects incoming FPVs and automatically fires a small projectile at them. The first few assaults by Arena-M-equipped tanks ended in defeat for the Russians, but limited combat footage shows the system can destroy incoming FPVs.
At least one Arena-M did work against FPVs—it just did not work long enough to save the tank. Observer Andrei_bt stressed that a reported 12-round loadout “does not match modern realities.”
Footage published on Aug. 7 showed Ukrainian FPVs attacking an Arena-M-equipped T-72B3M near occupied Volodymyrivka, though the Institute for the Study of War assessed that it likely showed the late-July mechanized assault. Ukrainian drone operator Dmytro Putiata reported that one Arena-M shot down seven FPVs before Ukrainian forces destroyed the tank.
That is a smaller problem than the one the Russians had a month ago, and it is why the burned-out tanks along the road in Donetsk Oblast are not the whole story. Russia has spent three years accumulating tanks it cannot safely send anywhere—thousands of them, rebuilt and parked for want of a defense against $500 drones. An Arena-M that does not run dry halfway to the objective is the thing that would let those tanks out of the yard.
The good news for Russian mechanized forces is that developers now know Arena-M needs a bigger ammo loadout. The bad news is that packing more projectiles into the system could prove extremely difficult.
The main problem: adding any further bulk to the turret-mounted projectile launchers could block a tank’s engine compartment, preventing access for maintenance.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
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Ukraine needs a bigger drone capable of launching a CRV7 from outside the range of the ARENA defences.
Read up on the CRV7 on Wiki.
Now Ukraine needs to develop the drone version of cluster bombs. First drone carries a cluster of small, dumb rockets with small explosive fragment tips. Those should engage multiple defensive projectiles and possibly damage the sensors or remaining launchers. Then the kamikaze drones with bigger payloads can strike.
Also wondering how low attack drones can fly. If they attack close to the ground from the opposite direction of the tank’s guns, like skimming just above the road from behind, would the tank defensive system be able to pick them up?