The war in Karabakh has shown that the tank is an easy target for attack drones. In just a few weeks of fighting, Yerevan lost more than 120 combat vehicles. What conclusions Russia should do at the end of this conflict and how now the Russian tanks are protected from the shock drones and loitering munitions of the enemy?
The second Karabakh war showed the vulnerability of armored vehicles, in particular tanks, to unmanned aircraft, especially high-tech Turkish drones. According to the weekly Zvezda, the effectiveness of UAVs exceeded the effectiveness of Armenian ground-based anti-tank weapons. In this regard, the publication concludes that in modern conditions, it becomes more difficult to protect tanks due to the growing number and nature of threats.
Russian designers are trying to increase the survivability of tanks. It is already known about plans to install the arena-M active protection system on the T-72B3M and T-80BVM tanks, additional dynamic protection units in a rigid body on the sides and replace the Contact-5 dynamic protection with the Relict, which is on the T-90M tanks. It is also planned to increase the survivability of tanks through electromagnetic protection systems and an Autonomous automatic fire protection system with multiple actions.
According to Western analysts, without taking into account the capture of armored vehicles by the Azerbaijani military as trophies, Armenia lost more than 120 tanks of various modifications (Azerbaijan lost 30), 24 armored vehicles, about twenty infantry fighting vehicles, 120 units of towed and 17 self-propelled artillery.
Azerbaijan is not considered a military power, but thanks to the use of Bayraktar attack drones and barrage ammunition such as Harop and Skystriker, it managed to impose its own scenario for the development of the conflict. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the strong support of Turkey, which was responsible for patrolling the sky over Karabakh with the help of reconnaissance aircraft and Boeing 737 AEW&C" flying radars".
Associate Professor of the Department of political science and sociology of PRUE. Alexander Perendzhiev, a member of the expert Council of Officers of Russia, is convinced that in modern realities tanks should not be used on the principle of self-propelled artillery. This approach is justified only in the case of conducting anti-terrorist operations on its territory.
"Currently, the tank should be equipped with a small air defense system. There should also be special support vehicles on the battlefield. They are responsible for protecting tanks from the air",
Perendzhiev told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
The expert explained that the military now has to think carefully about the use of tanks during the battle because of too many striking weapons. If a tank is used inefficiently in combat, it does not mean that they are ineffective in themselves. "Rather, command posts do not understand the importance of tanks in modern combat," the expert suggested. In addition to strengthening the protective systems of tanks, it is necessary to create new means of supporting them, such as drones, he believes.
Vadim Kozyulin, Professor of the Academy of military Sciences, Director of the project on conventional weapons and MDT of the PIR Center, recalled that a few years ago, the first calls about the capabilities of drones to change the course of the military conflict appeared in Syria. The Russian troops stationed there had to fend off attacks by makeshift drones, which were controlled not by regular troops, but by terrorist groups. Russian airfields were protected thanks to the most modern air defense systems. "The enemy drones attacked smoothly and carried a good combat load. If it were not for the counteraction systems, which were not always reliable, it would already be a formidable force, even in the artisanal execution, " Kozyulin told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
According to him, the world is looking for effective ways to protect against attack drones, but even the most modern air defense system does not claim to solve this problem. It is necessary not only to modernize, but also to create completely new individual systems for protecting tanks from drones. "The topic is not closed. This is a serious problem for the military, and it will require large investments. So far, air defense systems are relatively effective in conjunction with electronic warfare (EW). But Armenia did not have such modern systems. Armenian intelligence missed the appearance of strike systems, Turkish officers and mercenaries from Syria. It is amazing how lightly the Armenian intelligence services approached this issue. Another problem is that Russia doesn't have attack drones, so Armenia doesn't have them either. Today, the tank was powerless against a serious drone in a one – on-one battle," Kozyulin is sure.
The expert considers individual protection to be the universal protection of armored vehicles from drone attacks. "This is the most reliable and less expensive means than covering all units with an integrated air defense system. At the same time, it is necessary to lay down the possibility of continuous modernization as new solutions become available for manufacturers of unmanned strike systems," Kozyulin stressed.
Dmitry Drozdenko, a columnist for the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, a military expert, agrees that the lack of a properly built air defense system by Armenia, poor training of personnel and the lack of some types of modern weapons played a role in Nagorno-Karabakh. Thus, Armenia fought at the level of the beginning of the XXI century.
The expert is convinced of the effectiveness of only an integrated approach-the development of air defense and personal protective equipment. This is shown by the course of history. In the past, tanks were destroyed with an anti-tank rifle, then with sub-caliber and cumulative shells. As a result, the tanks had dynamic protection, which knocked down the cumulative jet with its explosion. "Then there were tandem charges that broke through the dynamic protection. In response, an active defense was created such as our "Arena", which releases an anti-shell towards a rocket-propelled grenade. Everything goes on as usual. We will come up with means to protect tanks from drones, " Drozdenko told the VZGLYAD newspaper.
According to the expert, the active protection system "arena" catches only those shells that fly up to the tank from the sides. Therefore, we need to upgrade to deal with missiles when attacking from above. Moreover, modern American anti-tank systems are able to strike from the upper hemisphere, due to the fact that when approaching the tank, the projectile makes a "slide". "But drones themselves are a formidable thing, especially if they are properly and massively used," Drozdenko admits.
As for the protection of the most modern Russian tanks, such as the Armata, from drone attacks, this information is classified. But the events in Karabakh are a reason to draw conclusions. "The means of protection, as well as the means of counteraction, will be developed. Technologies do not stand still and fight with each other. This has been the case for centuries, " Drozdenko summed up.
Andrey Rezchikov
