Russia's T‑72B3 tanks roll into Ukraine with new APS

A short video published by the Russians on Telegram shows a T-72B3 tank equipped with an active protection system (APS) Arena-M. According to the Russians, this system has been improved to also counter new threats such as various types of drones.

While the application of the Arena-M in Ukraine has so far been documented on a single tank, it is known that the system has been integrated with both the T-72B3 and the T-90M, and transports of tanks with this system have also been recorded. As noted by Defence 24, wider implementation of the Arena-M could shift the balance on the front to favour the Russians.

In Ukraine, a tank with an active protection system was noted earlier. In 2022, photographic documentation confirmed that Ukrainians destroyed an experimental T-80UM2 equipped with the old 1030M Drozd protection system. It is unknown whether the system was active when the tank was damaged.

The purpose of the hard-kill active protection system is to physically destroy objects threatening the protected vehicle, such as incoming guided anti-tank missiles, shells from tank cannons, or drones.

The APS hard-kill achieves this objective by directing the detonation of an explosive charge, the detonation of a MEFP (Multiple Explosively Formed Penetrator) charge, or the launch of various types of munitions, which generally explode at a certain distance from the protected vehicle. Despite the global trend of increasingly widespread use of such solutions and the fact that our country is becoming a tank power in Europe, none of the Polish tanks have been equipped with a hard-kill APS so far.

Complements to hard-kill systems are soft-kill solutions, which disrupt the guidance systems of munitions in various ways.