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Drozd ( rus, Дрозд, , ˈdrost, Ru-дрозд.ogg, thrush) is an active protection system (APS) developed in the 
One of Drozd's shortcomings was that it was only able to protect a 60-degree arc around the forward part of the turret. Each unit costs around $30,000, was 80 percent successful against incoming RPGs in Afghanistan, but caused too much collateral damage to surrounding troops that were dismounted from their armored vehicles.
The project was abandoned by the Army, but completed by the Soviet Naval Infantry to increase protection for about 250 older T-55 tanks in 1981–82 (newer
Hard-Kill Active Defense Solutions
— ''Defense Update'' article on Drozd-2
at Vasiliy Fofanov's Modern Russian Armour page
description (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian) {{APS Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Soviet inventions Weapons countermeasures Land active protection systems History of the tank KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Military equipment introduced in the 1970s
Drozd ( rus, Дрозд, , ˈdrost, Ru-дрозд.ogg, thrush) is an active protection system (APS) developed in the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, designed for increasing tanks' protection against anti-tank missile
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...
s and RPGs. It is considered the world's first operational active protection system, created in 1977–78 by the KBP design bureau of as Kompleks 1030M-01. Its chief designer, Vasily Bakalov, was awarded the Lenin Prize
The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...
for his work on its development.
Drozd uses 24.5 GHz Doppler radar
A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object's motion has altered the fre ...
to detect incoming rounds travelling between 70 and 700 m/s (to avoid engaging small arms or other faster projectiles). Its computer determines when to fire a 107 mm projectile. When the incoming round is at 7 m range, the Drozd fragmentation warhead detonates, spreading 3-gram slugs to destroy the incoming round. The Drozd system was relatively complex, requiring a radar array and two launch tubes on each side of the tank turret, and a large electronics package on the turret rear.
One of Drozd's shortcomings was that it was only able to protect a 60-degree arc around the forward part of the turret. Each unit costs around $30,000, was 80 percent successful against incoming RPGs in Afghanistan, but caused too much collateral damage to surrounding troops that were dismounted from their armored vehicles.
The project was abandoned by the Army, but completed by the Soviet Naval Infantry to increase protection for about 250 older T-55 tanks in 1981–82 (newer T-72
The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...
s were problematic on landing craft, due to size and weight, and $170 million Drozd development was much cheaper than a commencement of an all-new time-consuming tank design). Tanks were upgraded to T-55M standard and equipped with Drozd at the tank rebuilding plant in Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
, Ukraine, and kept in war stores for secrecy. The rebuilt tanks were designated T-55AD, or T-55AD1 if they had the newer V-46 engine. Drozd APS was later replaced by the simpler non-APS Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour.
Drozd was also fitted to a small number of T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick turret armour.
In contra ...
s, which were designated T-62D or, if fitted with the V-46-5M engine upgrade, T-62D-1.
Drozd was exported in small numbers to China and to an undisclosed Middle-Eastern client. It was subsequently discontinued. The Drozd-2 system was developed to give a 120-degree protection arc with more projectile launchers. It was intended to be installed on the then-upcoming T-80U main battle tanks. One prototype vehicle (T-80UM-2) fitted with the system was used in Ukraine and lost in March 2022. An even more sophisticated all-round active protection system is the Arena Active Protection System.
References
*Zaloga, Steven J. and Hugh Johnson (2004) ''T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004'', pp. 24, 33. Oxford: Osprey. .External links
Hard-Kill Active Defense Solutions
— ''Defense Update'' article on Drozd-2
at Vasiliy Fofanov's Modern Russian Armour page
description (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian)
at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian) {{APS Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Soviet inventions Weapons countermeasures Land active protection systems History of the tank KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Military equipment introduced in the 1970s