Kyle Mizokami, a military observer of the Popular Mechanics publication, called the Arena-M active protection complex (KAZ) installed on the T-72B3 tank" Cool military technology". According to him, the system allows you to leave vehicles that have been in service for many years in the ranks, without hanging additional armor on them.
The basis for the publication was a video of the First Channel, in which a serviceman fires an RPG-7 at a T-72B3 tank. An anti-tank missile flies right into the side, but a few moments before the impact explodes, hitting the field of action of the interceptor projectile.
- The rocket should destroy the tank, but instead the tank destroys the rocket, - the author notes.
Active protection works in close conjunction with several millimeter-range radars located in a circle. When they detect a rocket, they track its trajectory. If it is on a collision course, the system automatically launches an interceptor projectile from the installation located on the tower.
- The complex is designed to neutralize the threat of cumulative ammunition, which has become a real headache for tankers. Such charges are easy to use and very effective. In addition, they are constantly being improved, making old tanks vulnerable, " Mizokami writes.
The observer adds that to protect against anti-tank missiles, many designers simply strengthen the hull armor. The consequence of this is an increase in the load on the power unit and the suspension of the tank. Soviet developers have proposed an alternative to several tons of metal-an active protection complex weighing only 1.4 tons. After the collapse of the USSR, the technology was developed.
The expert notes that many countries of the world are gradually introducing their own KAZ. The US Army equipped its M1 Abrams tanks with Israeli Trophy complexes, but attempts to install the system on M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles failed. The new "Afganit" system is used on the newest Russian T-14 Armata tank.
Timur Alimov