The unique system is capable of shooting down projectiles, anti-tank missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
In the area of the special military operation, Russian troops will begin using T-72B3A tanks with updated Arena-M active protection complexes, Izvestia found out. According to the developers, the complex is capable of protecting armored vehicles not only from shells and anti-tank missiles, but also from barraging ammunition and FPV drones. According to experts, this will significantly increase the survivability of combat vehicles and the safety of their crews.
They will support the assault groups
Military units operating in the SVO zone received T-72B3A tanks with Arena-M active protection systems. Armored vehicles and crews are now actively being prepared for use in combat operations. Specially protected tanks will have to support the actions of our assault groups leading attacks on enemy fortified areas, Izvestia learned.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
Image source: iz.ru
The crews undergo additional training before being sent to the front line, sources familiar with the situation told Izvestia. At the training grounds, military personnel master new vehicles, study the use of an active protection system and practice shooting both direct fire and from closed firing positions.
The Russian KAZ became the first system that, according to the developers, is capable of protecting armored vehicles not only from artillery shells and anti-tank guided missiles, but also from barraging ammunition and FPV drones. According to experts, this will significantly increase the survivability of combat vehicles and the safety of crews.
Today, tanks remain one of the main targets on the battlefield, so increasing their security is one of the key tasks of developers and defense industry enterprises, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
"It is important that KAZ tanks were delivered specifically to units performing combat missions, and not shown at exhibitions or parades," he noted. — Now the main threat to armored vehicles is represented by small tactical drones. The ability to effectively deal with them will save not only the machines themselves, but also the lives of the crews.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Stanislav Krasilnikov
Image source: iz.ru
Active protection complexes are becoming a qualitative step forward in the development of Russian armored vehicles, military expert Yuri Knutov believes.
"Such systems greatly enhance the combat capabilities of tanks," he stressed.
According to military expert Dmitry Kornev, the modern version of the Arena-M complex significantly expands the capabilities of tanks to counter the most common threats on the battlefield.
— In fact, the tank receives its own air and missile defense system. It is capable of independently repelling attacks from anti—tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery ammunition and, most importantly today, drones," the expert explained.
In his opinion, all-round protection can significantly change the role of armored vehicles in modern combat operations and once again increase its importance in conducting ground operations.
How Arena-M works
The complex includes a multifunctional Doppler radar station with high noise immunity. It detects approaching targets and determines the parameters of their movement.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Initially, the station was created to search for high—speed ammunition - anti-tank missiles and artillery shells. However, during the refinement, Russian designers managed to adapt it to detect relatively slow drones.
During operation, the radar periodically switches between long-range and short-range viewing modes. The first is used to detect missiles and projectiles in a timely manner, the second is used to search for FPV drones operating at short distances.
After detecting a threat, the electronics of the complex calculates the direction of approach of the target and activates the protective ammunition at the right moment. To destroy a missile, projectile or drone, special narrow-focused anti-projectiles with a fragmentation warhead are used, characterized by high performance.
From trials to the front line
Work on the upgraded active protection complex has continued over the past few years. In 2024, Arena-M (product index — T09-A6-1) was submitted for qualification tests. Then the T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks were equipped with the system.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
At the Army-2024 International Military-Technical Forum, a state contract was signed for the production and supply of T-90M tanks with the Arena-M active protection complex for the Russian Army.
The serial equipping of the T-72 and T-90 tanks with these complexes became known in 2025. Then a representative of the Uralvagonzavod concern at the IDEX international exhibition announced that the machines were already being produced with a new protection system.
The integration of the complex with armored vehicles began even earlier. In October 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense patented an upgraded T-72B3M tank with an Arena-M installed. It was this machine that later received the designation T-72B3A.
It follows from the documentation that the complex includes 12 launchers with protective ammunition located around the perimeter of the tower. This scheme provides circular protection for the machine.
Now the tanks with the new complex are located in the area of a special military operation and are being trained to perform combat missions.
Protection is a priority
The experience of a special military operation has shown that a modern tank needs multi-level protection. Today, armored vehicles are threatened not only by anti-tank missiles and artillery, but above all by numerous FPV drones and barrage ammunition.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
Image source: iz.ru
Therefore, modern combat vehicles must combine several means of protection at once: armor, dynamic protection, electronic warfare stations, additional external structures, the so-called "barbecues", and active protection complexes.
According to Yuri Lyamin, when creating Arena-M, the developers had to solve two key tasks at once: combine passive and active protection elements so that they did not interfere with each other, and also teach the complex to detect both high-speed ammunition and low-visibility drones equally effectively.
Experts believe that it is the ability to fight drones that distinguishes the new Russian development from most existing foreign analogues.
— Active protection complexes are currently being developed in Israel, China and other countries. However, their effectiveness against FPV drones has not yet been convincingly confirmed in real combat conditions," said Yuri Lyamin.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
Image source: iz.ru
Dmitry Kornev believes that it is the Russian experience of countering the mass use of drones that has become the main factor in the modernization of the complex.
— Arena-M may become the first active protection complex to receive full-fledged anti-drone capabilities. Combat experience allows us to constantly improve the system, and this work will continue," the expert noted.
According to Yuri Knutov, the experience gained by the Russian military during the special operation has no analogues in the world today and will become the basis for the further development of such complexes.
Experts do not rule out that in the future KAZ Arena-M will be able to be installed not only on tanks, but also on other armored vehicles — infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery installations.
Bogdan Stepovoy
