Complex of usefulness
Recently, there have been so many important news about active defense systems that it is difficult to ignore this topic. Recall that in a broad sense, KAZ is a system that, upon detecting a threat approaching a tank, can destroy ammunition or, at least, weaken its effect. According to modern estimates, the use of new active protection systems makes it possible to increase the survivability of the main battle tank by several times.
Roughly speaking, several anti-tank missiles launched at MBT may now have no effect at all: they will be intercepted by striking elements on approach. Finally, even if something does not go quite as expected, the effect can be leveled out by "native" armor and ERA blocks. But this is all, of course, in theory.
The Soviet Union became the leaders and pioneers in the field of KAZ application on MBT. The first serial KAZ for tanks in history was the Drozd, which was put into service in 1983: it was installed on the T-55AD. The Drozd had eight anti-missile guides, four guides on each side of the turret. They say that the "Drozd" has proved itself well on tests. Its development ended with the collapse of the USSR, although the concept itself was not completely abandoned by either Ukraine or Russia.
There is probably no point in talking about the Trophy system once again. She has long been a reliable protector of the Merkav and the pride of Israel. In short, the system includes a set of EL / M-2133 radar stations that detect ATGMs and rocket-propelled grenades aimed at the tank. They activate installations that eject interceptors, destroying the warhead before it hits the tank. Trophy in real combat conditions has proven its ability to withstand such threats as Konkurs, Kornet, RPG-7, RPG-29. Seriously enough. Therefore, sooner or later, the Americans should have paid attention to the Jewish "miracle". And they did it.
USA
America itself has not been producing tanks for more than ten years, and the only enterprise that could do this is the Lima Army Tank Plant in Ohio. However, one should not forget that about ten thousand "Abrams" were built during all the time and they can be modernized "forever". Moreover, the M1 Abrams itself is a very successful tank, with a large armored space and good possibilities for installing additional external modules. “Over the next three years, we will invest more than six billion in upgrading and modifying the M1 Abrams tanks,” the American president said during a visit to the only surviving US tank factory.
One of the areas of work is equipping tanks with Trophy complexes. Previously, we could already see this KAZ installed on the M1. Now it became known that the Pentagon wants to equip four tank brigades intended for combat deployment abroad with these complexes by the end of 2019. Recall that one US tank brigade has 87 M1 tanks and 144 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (as well as a number of other armored vehicles). That is, soon the States will receive a mini-army of MBT equipped with KAZ, which will be at least several times more tenacious than their counterparts, which do not have active protection systems.
An interesting point. In the scandalous Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2018, where Ukrainian tankers took the last place, the US military on their Abrams took … the penultimate one. The leaders were those who had Leopard 2 (first place for the Germans). It is unlikely that the presence of KAZ would have allowed the Americans to perform better - the competition was very versatile. However, together with the Trophy, the "old man" M1 can become the best production tank in the world from among those that already exist. Serious claim for success for the United States.
Germany
In January 2019, it became known that after the United States, Germany could buy Israeli active defense systems. In any case, the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmenn announced joint tests with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. According to the available information, they want to test the Trophy at Leopards 2 in two stages, the first of which is scheduled for the current year.
The Germans want to receive the first seventeen Leopards with active protection systems by 2021, and from 2023 the Bundeswehr wants to have at its disposal a whole division of tanks for use in the NATO Joint Task Force. In general, the use of an active protection complex seems quite logical in the context of giving tanks new combat qualities as part of their modernization to the 2A7V level. Recall that as of 2016, the German army had at its disposal more than 280 Leopard 2A6 tanks, as well as 20 Leopard 2A7 tanks. Equipping all these combat vehicles with KAZs is many times a simpler and cheaper solution than re-equipping the army with a fundamentally new tank.
Recall that Europe previously showed a hybrid of the Leopard with the French Leclerc, or rather, for some incomprehensible reason, they simply installed the Leclerc tank turret on the Leopard 2 chassis. Also, France and Germany are hatching the idea of creating a completely new tank. But in any case, it will be very, very far away. If at all.
Russia
As you know, on the MBT T-14, made on the basis of "Armata", the complex of active protection "Afganit" is regularly installed. In theory, one of the most perfect in the world. But be that as it may, the military is not yet eager to buy new tanks. There is an opinion that the T-14 will forever remain a piece goods, while the real "tank of the future" for Russia will be the T-72B3 model of 2016.
The new T-90M, also known as the "Breakthrough", also looks much more real than the serial T-14. In February, the head of the research and testing center of armored vehicles of the 3rd Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Alexander Panteleev, said that the T-90M could be equipped with active protection, similar to the "Arena". In addition, it became known that it will also be possible to install the Arena-E active protection complex on the modernized T-72, while its weight will increase to 46 tons: not very significant.
However, aside from the constantly shifting plans for "Armata", the Russian military leadership has shown little interest in this kind of innovation. Even taking into account the conservatism inherent in the military, this is, to put it mildly, strange. Especially for a country that was once a leader in the creation of KAZ.
In general (and experts have already paid attention to this more than once), the T-72B3 tank is an economical version of the modernization of an old combat vehicle. And the use of a complex of active protection does not really fit into the concept of "economy". That is, the military is faced with a choice: quality or quantity. While the second wins.
However, it cannot be ruled out that the total use of KAZ all over the world will leave not so many opportunities for increasing the combat effectiveness of "traditional" tanks. So, sooner or later, you will still have to return to this topic.
