The revamped Russian Arena-M system could backfire on friendly troops
The Arena active protection system – in the Arena-M variant – was presented at the Army-2024 expo. It is designed to protect the most valuable Russian equipment from drones and guided anti-tank missiles. If it works, it's good news for vehicle crews but bad for other soldiers. We explain why.
Losses on the front forced the Russians to revamp the Arena active protection system, work on which began as early as the 1980s. This is another instance where Russia, lacking more modern systems, turns to projects from the Soviet era.
Arena – this time in the modernised Arena-M variant – was showcased during this year’s Army-2024 expo. It aims to protect the most valuable equipment from guided anti-tank missiles like Javelins or FPV drones.
The new version of Arena is to be fitted on T-90M Proryv tanks and heavy flamethrowers (in practice, multi-barrelled rocket launchers) TOS-1A. According to Ukrainian sources, the potential installation of the self-defence system on both vehicles involves developing new documentation and conducting a testing cycle for which the UralVagonZavod facilities have been designated.
Arena active protection system
Work on the Arena began in the early 1980s, and since then, the Russians have regularly presented the system as an effective means against Western-guided anti-tank missiles. It's hard to determine how true this claim is, as, despite its purported effectiveness, Arena is not widely used by the Russians.
Despite creating successive development versions and attempts to engage foreign buyers, the system has not achieved export success.
While the system is theoretically part of the equipment of, among other things, T-90M Proryv tanks or T-72B3 (testing with the T-72 was completed in April 2023), to date, there has been no recorded usage of it on vehicles fighting in Ukraine. Ukrainians, on the other hand, destroyed an experimental T-80UM2 tank equipped with the 1030M Drozd self-defence system developed in the 1970s at the beginning of the Russian aggression.
Threat to the surroundings of the tank
One problem posed by using Arena (and other active protection systems) is the threat to friendly soldiers near the tank. The self-defence system targets the incoming missile with a swarm of fragments to protect the tank.
While it destroys the threat, it poses a lethal danger to nearby people not protected by the tank’s thick armour.
This exact feature led to the destruction of Israeli Merkava tanks, which were protected by the highly effective and battle-tested Trophy system. Hamas missiles and drones were able to destroy Israeli equipment because soldiers performing various tasks outside the tanks deactivated the self-defence system so it would not pose a threat to them.
