Image source: topwar.ru
The Ukrainian military has begun equipping the M1A1 Abrams tanks received from the United States with dynamic protection and improvised anti-drone structures, the Army Recognition portal writes. The authors of the article state that the photos of the upgraded machines, which appeared in August 2025 on social networks, indicate attempts to eliminate critical vulnerabilities of technology to modern threats.
The article says that the aforementioned American tanks, transferred to Kiev at the end of 2023, showed significant protection deficiencies in combat conditions. Despite the fact that the Abrams demonstrate reliability in traditional collisions, their design, developed during the Cold War era, proved vulnerable to air attacks, including FPV drones and guided missiles with tandem warheads.
As a result, the lack of active protection and enhanced reservation of the tower roof makes expensive equipment an easy target for relatively cheap drones.
To correct this shortcoming, Ukrainian engineers installed Soviet-made Kontakt-1 dynamic protection units on American machines. These elements, placed on the frontal armor, sides and even the roof of the tower, are designed to neutralize cumulative projectiles. Additionally, the tanks received lattice screens to protect them from kamikaze drones.
Image source: topwar.ru
According to the authors of the article, such field improvements, although they increase the weight of the machine, have become a necessary measure. The Abrams operational experience in the Ukrainian theater of military operations demonstrates the need to review approaches to protecting armored vehicles in the era of mass use of drones.
