Active protection systems and the future of tank warfare

Active protection systems are key to the survivability of armoured vehicles on a modern battlefield. This article takes an overview of the leading active protection systems to assess the state of the technology. 

Towards the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was experimenting with a new way to protect its tanks. Soviet scientists were keenly aware that NATO forces had a high concentration of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). Systems like the UK’s Swingfire, a wire guided missile with a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead were expected to be deployed in large numbers. The UK planned around deploying its Swingfire vehicles at roads and intersections that the Soviet armoured units were expected to converge on, their job was to cause maximum casualties allowing for an artillery fire mission to continue the destruction. 

The missiles could penetrate something between 600 mm and 800 mm of steel armour, and the threat was not an idle one. Israeli forces using the BGM-71 TOW in the 1982 Lebanon War are credited with blunting a Syrian advance led by T-72s, and Egyptian anti-tank teams in 1973 had successfully blunted a large Israeli armoured advance. Soviet scientists had noted this and observed that improving vehicle protection through conventional means – more armour – was impractical. The existing power plants and transmissions were already stretched, a 1985 report published by BTVT.info notes. The system was officially called Kompleks 1030M, and it was fitted to T-55 tanks becoming the T-55AD. You might know it as Drozd – the Russian word for thrush. Drozd used doppler radars to detect incoming ATGMs and RPGs, and fired a 107 mm explosive projectile into the threat’s path, detonating 6.6 metres from the vehicle. Drozd was the first active protection system; it provided a probability of intercept between 0.7 and 1 over the frontal arc. 

The Soviets were followed by the Israelis, a secret unit known as the Nakhshol Company, part of the 188th Brigade deployed to southern Lebanon at some point in the 1990s. Its tanks were equipped with a system called “Purple Thunder,” an early type of active protection system. “There were situations where we knew about missile squads that were about to fire, so we were really exposed. We trusted the system. I, as a tank commander, knew that if a missile was fired at us, Purple Thunder would disrupt it,” one of the last commanders told an Israeli news outlet in 2020. Purple Thunder was likely the predecessor to what we now know as Trophy, arguably the world’s most successful active protection system. However, it is not alone, there are now many viable systems on the global market and this article provides an overview of those that are prominent. 

It looks at each system in turn through a few different headings that are explained below: 

• Manufacturer: Which company developed and produces the system. 
• Status: Is it in service or in development? If it is in service, is it operationally proven? 
• Type: There are different types of APS, broadly they fit into one of two categories – distributed and pedestal. A distributed system has the sensors and interceptors distributed around the vehicle. A pedestal system will mount the interceptors on a pedestal, which then has to be rotated to face the threat. 
• Magazine depth: How many interceptors does the system carry. 
• Counter-drones: Can it counter drones? 
• Counter-KE: Can it counter or intercept kinetic energy rounds, which you might know as armour piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds.
• Platform fit: What kind of vehicles can it be fitted to?  
• Users: Which countries are using the system.
• Description: A description of the system and how it works. 

So, with that, let’s begin. Starting alphabetically with Akkor, a system from Türkiye’s Aselsan. 

Akkor

Manufacturer: Aselsan
Status: In development
Type: Pedestal
Magazine depth: Two per pedestal
Counter-drones: Unclear, although it is likely that Aselsan is working on this functionality.
Counter-KE: No
Platform fit: Tanks and medium-weight armoured vehicles like 8x8s. Initially designed for the Altay MBT that Türkiye is working to bring into service.
Users: Türkiye and has been offered to Chile for its Leopard 2 modernisation. 

Description: 

Akkor is a pedestal system with two pedestals typically installed at the rear of a turret when fitted to a tank. It includes radars that are stated to be relatively low power thereby limiting the platform’s electronic signature as well as laser warning receivers. It also combines soft-kill effects including multispectral smoke to disrupt and degrade laser and thermal-guided ATGMs. The hard kill effector is a rocket propelled munition with a high explosive payload. The munition is likely proximity fuzed and designed to explode close to the threat projectile. 

The system is stated to be capable of intercepting fly-over and top-attack threats as well as standard ATGMs and RPGs. One industry representative has also indicated that work is underway on modifying the system to address small drones. It is not thought to have the functionality to intercept kinetic energy rounds and magazine depth appears limited by the number of pedestals. 

The system has been around since 2015 and it is frequently reported that the system will enter service ‘next year.’ The most recent report from IAV 2025 indicated that it was in production and expected to be fitted to Türkiye’s Leopard 2A4 as well as the ALTUĞ armoured fighting vehicles that Türkiye ordered in February 2025. Some reports also indicate that Akkor is being offered as an option for Chile’s Leopard 2A4 modernisation. 

Arena-M

Manufacturer: Kolomna Engineering Design Bureau (KBM)
Status: In development
Type: Distributed
Magazine depth: 12 munition silos, total number of interceptors unclear.
Counter-drones: No, reported to be under development
Counter-KE: No
Platform fit: Tanks, observed on T-90M, T-80BVM, and T-72B3M
Users: Russia, planned

Description: 

Arena-M is the descendent of the original Arena active protection system. It is a distributed system with silos of munitions built around the vehicle turret and a set of radars for detection and engagement. The radars are understood to detect and classify a target within 50 metres of the vehicle and conduct an interception. The interceptors consist of a panel-shaped munition that is fired at an angle away from the vehicle, upon detonation it projects a dense cloud of fragments into the projectile’s path providing a close-range interception. The intercept methodology against top-attack munitions appears to be slightly different with launch and detonation being almost instantaneous. As noted, it is capable of intercepting a wide array of threats like RPGs and ATGMs, and is reportedly undergoing further development to enable loitering munition interceptions. The silos may provide up to 24 munitions, or a minimum of 12, which gives Arena-M a good magazine depth for prolonged engagements or multiple interceptions. 

Like the Akkor, Arena-M has been under development for some time with frequent reports indicating that its entry into service is imminent. A slew of reports from early 2025 do seem to indicate that the programme is gathering steam, however, with a T-72B3M seemingly deployed to Ukraine with it fitted. There have been frequent statements made by representatives of Rostec and Uralvagonzavod in Russian state news outlets that Arena-M would soon enter production, the most recent of which was in February 2025. The original Arena on which it is based, entered development in the 1980s with interest surging after Russia’s 1994 invasion of Chechnya. It has been observed fitted to a T-90M, T-72B3M, and may be fitted to a T-80BVM. Earlier tests have also seen the system fitted to a BMP-3. 

Iron Fist 

Manufacturer: Elbit Systems
Status: In service, unclear if it has been deployed operationally.
Type: Pedestal
Magazine depth: Two per pedestal.
Counter-drones: Yes
Counter-KE: Yes
Platform fit: Medium weight AFVs and tanks, includes 8×8 Eitan from Israel, CV9035 under Netherlands upgrade programme, and Bradley IFVs.
Users: Israel, the Netherlands, the US.

Description: 

Iron Fist is a family of active protection systems provided by Israel’s Elbit Systems, it comes as either the Iron Fist Light Decoupled (IF-LD) or Iron Fist Light Kinetic (IF-LK). The IF-LD is designed for light to medium weight vehicles and provides protection from ATGMs, RPGs, and recoilless rifles. The IF-LK is designed for heavier vehicles up to tanks and can protect against kinetic energy rounds. This aspect is worth a sentence or two to understand: The system works against KE rounds by introducing yaw into the projectile’s flight. This means that it introduces rotation around its axis as it travels, making the APFSDS strike the vehicle at a sub-optimal angle or break apart. The host vehicle still requires a significant suite of passive armour to absorb that impact. Like the Akkor system, it is a pedestal based active protection system with a miss-to-hit intercept functionality, and the interceptors are built to be effective against threats but minimise collateral damage to escorting infantry and civilians. Iron Fist also includes a laser jamming system and suite of different sensors. The system was reportedly upgraded to include an anti-drone capability. 

As a family and capability, Iron Fist has been in development since the early 2000s and has been through several iterations. It was selected to equip Israel’s Eitan 8×8 vehicles in 2019, and by the Netherlands for the country’s CV9035 mid-life upgrade in 2024. It has been involved in various tests to upgrade the Bradley M2A4 IFV in US Army service with interest starting in 2016. However, some integration tests showed that it was only able to intercept 50% of threats, this was eventually increased to 70% in more challenging tests, according to Defense News. However, despite successful integration and debugging, the US Army did not immediately receive funding to field the system. A contract was eventually placed with Elbit Systems through General Dynamics in November 2024. 

Sentinel

Manufacturer: Artis
Status: In development
Type: Distributed
Magazine depth: Unclear
Counter-drones: Yes
Counter-KE: Yes
Platform fit: Any ground vehicle, even a building
Users: None

Description:

The Artis Sentinel active protection system was developed on the back of the company’s work on the US Army’s Iron Curtain programme. It is a distributed system with the interceptors arranged around the vehicle in a sort of cable. When a threat is detected, the system detonates an explosive charge stored in the cable in the flight path of the threat, providing a very close interception which makes the system well suited for urban warfare, according to Artis. When the interceptor in one section has been exhausted, those either side of it can be steered into a projectile’s path, providing multi-engagement capabilities. The system can reportedly attack kinetic energy rounds and has received a software update enabling it to intercept drones and FPVs. Radars and especially designed electro-optical sensors provide threat detection and engagement cuing. 

StrikeShield

The Boxer as presented to Australia fitted with a mock-up of Rheinmetall’s StrikeShield. Credit: By Graham Robson-Parker – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50055652Manufacturer: Rheinmetall
Status: In development/entering service
Type: Distributed
Magazine depth: Depends on number of panels
Counter-drones: No
Counter-KE: Yes
Platform fit: Medium weight vehicles and MBTs, includes Boxer 8×8, Lynx KF41, and KF51 Panther.
Users: Selected by Hungary

Description: 

StrikeShield is a distributed active protection system that builds on the AMAP-ADS from Germany’s Gesellschaft für aktive Schutzsysteme, a Rheinmetall and IBD Deisenroth subsidiary. It is now part of Rheinmetall’s offering and is unique in that it combines active protection with passive armour, giving the host vehicle additional protection up to STANAG 4569 level 5 or 6 depending on the configuration. Like the Iron Fist, two options have been offered, one for medium weight vehicles and one for MBTs that extends the kinetic protection up to level 6 and offers the ability to intercept kinetic energy rounds. The system consists of armoured panels, each including a sensor and interceptor.

The sensor combines radar and electro-optics and is designed to intercept threats very close to the vehicle with minimal collateral damage – early demonstrations of the system showed an interception amongst manikins, none of which were visibly damaged as a result. It was reported to be capable of kinetic energy round intercepts in 2023, although, like Iron Fist Light Kinetic, this would involve imparting yaw to the projectile that the base armour would then have to absorb. 

StrikeShield has been offered to several potential users including Australia and the US, but its first selection came from Hungary, which is expected to install the system on some of its fleet of 172 Lynx KF41 IFVs. It has also been offered on the KF51 Panther, but it is not clear if Italy’s planned procurement of the tanks will include StrikeShield. 

Trophy

The Merkava Mk IV is the primary tank fitted with the Trophy active protection system. Credit: Credit: By IDF Spokesperson Unit, modification by User:MathKnight – File:Armored Corps Operate Near the Gaza Border (14743522533).jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34361430Manufacturer: Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
Status: In service, operationally deployed
Type: Pedestal
Magazine depth: Thought to be three reloads per pedestal.
Counter-drones: Yes
Counter-KE: No
Platform fit: Tanks – Merkava Mk 4, Namer APC, Challenger 3, Leopard 2A7/A8 onwards, M1A2 SEP v2.
Users: Germany, Israel, Norway, UK, US. Scope for further future users in Leopard 2A8 procurements. 

Description: 

Trophy is the most operationally proven and successful active protection system in the world. It has gained widespread acceptance within the Israeli Defence Forces and been through multiple iterations allowing it to more efficiently and effectively handle battlefield threats. Most recently, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems told Calibre Defence about the system’s new ability to intercept drones. Because it has been in service since 2011, it is also the system about which the most is known. It is a pedestal design using four Elta WindGuard radars for detection with the ability to integrate some form of optical detection as well. Interception is provided by a shower of shaped charges detonated from the pedestal into the path of incoming projectiles. 

The pedestal rotates and docks into the magazine behind it to reload another munition. There are thought to be three reloads per pedestal with a typical configuration of two pedestals providing six interceptions. The system can effectively intercept many different threats including munitions with a top-attack profile and tank fired HEAT rounds, as well as drones and RPGs. It provides an indication of the origins of the fire, allowing the user to automatically slew the tank’s turret in that direction and return fire. 

Trophy was entering widespread service with the IDF by 2010, it was given a boost by the 2006 Lebanon war, in which saw 21 Merkavas penetrated by Hezbollah ATGMs. The active protection systems were initially integrated onto in-service vehicles, but later became an integral element of the production of Merkava 4s. Trophy has been deployed operationally in multiple conflicts since, achieving very high rates of interceptions that enabled IDF forces to achieve missions when they otherwise would have failed because of heavy losses. The system’s success and proven operational record has led to further procurements in the UK, Germany, the US and elsewhere with many other programmes potentially considering it as a solution. 

Zaslon/Pulat

Manufacturer: Aselsan
Status: In service, operationally deployed
Type: Distributed
Magazine depth: One per location.
Counter-drones: No
Counter-KE: No
Platform fit: Tanks and heavy IFVs, integrated onto M60 upgrade in Türkiye.
Users: Türkiye

Description: 

Pulat is a distributed active protection system derived from Zaslon, a system that appears to have its origins in Ukraine. It is a unique distributed design with the sensor and interceptors integrated into modules that are located around the vehicle. Using radar they detect incoming threats and the interceptor then extends from the launcher and detonates; it is not launched from the vehicle. Pulat was selected by Türkiye to upgrade its M60 tanks to the M60TM standard. In that configuration it has been deployed to operations in Syria, but very little about its performance is known. 

Calibre comment

Active protection systems have long been seen as important for modern warfare, they offer valuable survivability against ATGMs. Passive and reactive armour can protect against ATGMs, but interception against them is relatively straightforward. This does allow for innovative new approaches to protection; a vehicle’s passive armour could be orientated specifically towards APFSDS rounds, for instance, allowing the active protection system to deal with ATGMs and RPGs. The concept also allows for heavy armour to enter environments like cities that would otherwise be very problematic. As the above shows, many include a counter-drone capability, and some were developing that capability before 2022. If active protection systems can be effectively configured to reliably counter drones, then they will degrade the efficacy of those weapons significantly. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 10th April, 2025.