Ukraine shows that even the toughest tanks can no longer go to war without armor to protect them from exploding drones

• Recent photos have appeared online showing a US-supplied Abrams tank with cages to protect against drones.

• Both sides in the war in Ukraine have welded cages to their battle tanks.

• With drones reshaping modern warfare, tanks will need to adapt to survive on future battlefields.

The heavily armored M1 Abrams tank is widely considered one of the best and toughest tanks in Ukraine today, but even it can’t go without cages to protect it from drones.

O overwhelming presence of dronesincluding those that fly into military vehicles and explode or catch fire, has become a defining element of the war in Ukraine, and both sides are working quickly to adapt to this growing threat.

Main battle tanks and other armored vehicles, including US-supplied Abrams and Bradleys, other Western tanks like the German Leopard, and top Russian tanks like the T-90M, have sometimes been victims of unilateral attack drones. In many cases, elite weapons worth millions are being taken away by systems worth just a few hundred dollars.

What started as unusual became common. Main battle tanks often sport large welded “roll cages” to prevent explosive drones from destroying them. Some seemed crude and ineffective, but newer models seemed more robust and refined.

The growing consensus is that these cages and defenses are not going anywhere because unmanned systems like those seen in Ukraine are the future of warfare.

“It is absolutely here to stay,” said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The idea has been around for a while,” he said, drawing attention to the fact that the US employs cages around its Strykers in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect against enemy rocket grenades. And now”, with the ubiquity of dronesIt has gained momentum and I think it is now a permanent part of armored vehicles,” he added.

Photos shared online last month showed a US-supplied M1A1 Abrams tank with improvised cages.

As previously documented examples, cages appear to have been built into the sides and top of the turret, giving the tank an external defense for protect you from the explosion of unmanned aerial vehiclesespecially small drones with first-person view.

Recent photos suggest that even Abrams, considered the best tank Ukraine received from its Western allies, need extra help stopping drones and other anti-tank weapons, but this is not necessarily a shocking development.

Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and strategist who follows the trends of warfare, said that “it should not be surprising that we see a drone cage on an Abrams, just as we see a drone cage on any other tank at this time.” He added that when he saw the photos, he thought, “Well, of course that would happen.”

“Ukrainians,” Ryan said, “are smart, they are adaptable, and they are discovering better ways to protect themselves and maintain combat power.” Ukrainians, in particular, are not the only ones who are adapting. The Russians are too, fielding things like the so-called “turtle tank.”

Images of Ukrainian and Russian tanks and armored vehicles with cages have been seen more frequently as first-person drone strikes become more prevalent. Some photos online in June 2023 showed a Russian MT-LB it is a T-72B tank with a large counter-UAV screen. A video from July captured a Ukrainian M109L SPH with extensive anti-drone cage armor.

And as explosive drones continue to threaten virtually everything that moves on the battlefield, the world has seen additional T-64s, T-72s, T-80s, T-90 swing cages, as well as some Western tanks. . In some cases, both sides also used electronic warfare devices to block or disrupt incoming drones. This has also come to be considered an important part of the fight against drones.

Some cages appeared more sophisticated than others It is proven to be more effective in combat. The first models sought to cover only specific areas of the vehicles – the top, for example, while the sides and rear were exposed. These cages have also been seen in other conflicts, such as Israel’s war in Gaza.

Ukraine’s new Abrams tank cage looks like it could be designed more purposefully to add another layer of protection and potentially increase crew survivability.

It’s not surprising to see designs improve as both sides look to innovate and keep their vehicles and crews in battle. “This has happened throughout the war, they have responded,” Ryan said. “I look at this kind of adaptation and see it as intermediate steps as we discover different ways to combat the drone threat.”

The net-like cages that Ukraine and Russia are placing on their tanks and armored vehicles appear to be a last effort against anti-tank missiles and artillery also. Russia, in particular, used cages before the widespread use of drones to stop US-supplied Javelin weapons.

But right now, drones are by far the biggest threat, and the effects on the battlefield in Ukraine are changing the way many military personnel think about war.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military managed to adapt to the threat of improvised explosive devices that devastated the undersides of vehicles. Now, learning from the use of drones in Ukraine to improve the next Abrams and Bradley’s future replacement is vital.

Cancian explained that because drones, like anti-tank weapons, will be a growing and lasting presence in warfare, cages or protective devices similar to them will become a permanent part of a vehicle’s equipment.

“In the future,” he explained, “you will see that tanks will already have this built in or that you will put in a standard kit.”

Read the original article at Business Insider