1. Protective siloes
2. Radar
3. Protective ammo
4. Incoming anti-tank guided missile
5. Tracking phase

The Arena Active Protection System (APS) is an active countermeasure system developed at Russia's Kolomna-based Engineering Design Bureau to protect armoured fighting vehicles from shaped-charge projectiles. It uses a millimeter-wavelength doppler radar to detect incoming warheads, then fires a defensive projectile, timed to detonate immediately above the target and spray it with a stream of splinters thereby defeating the threat. Image File history File links Arena_system. ... Image File history File links Arena_system. ... An active protection system, or APS, protects a tank or other armoured fighting vehicle from incoming fire before it hits the vehicles armour. ... RNAFs F-16, firing countermeasures (flares) during a solo display at Radom Air Show 2005 A countermeasure is a system (usually for a military application) designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target. ... Kolomna (Russian: Коломна) is an ancient Russian city, founded in 1177 on the Moskva River and Oka River. ... An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, protected by armour and armed with weapons. ... Sectioned HEAT round with the inner shaped charge visible A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy. ... The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... Doppler Effect Doppler radar uses the Doppler effect to measure the radial velocity of targets in the antennas directional beam. ...

The dangerous zone is relatively small, 20–30 meters around the tank, allowing for infantry to operate nearby. When the system is triggered, a warning signal is activated, to warn nearby personnel to keep distance or take cover. However, it should be noted that a HEAT projectile hitting any target creates shrapnel flying from the impact zone. The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ...

Arena was designed partly in response to vulnerabilities of the Russian tanks, discovered during fighting in Chechnya in the 1990s. It is intended to help protect a tank from light anti-tank weapons and ATGMs, including some of those with top attack warheads. The Chechen Republic (IPA: ; Russian: , Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen: , Noxçiyn Respublika), or, informally, Chechnya (; Russian: ; Chechen: , Noxçiyçö), sometimes referred to as Ichkeria, Chechnia, Chechenia or Noxçiyn, is a federal subject of Russia. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Anti-tank, or simply AT, refers to any method of combating military armored fighting vehicles, notably tanks. ... An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a missile the primary purpose of which is to hit and destroy tanks. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

The cost of the system on a single armoured vehicle is approximately $300,000. It was first employed on the T-80UM1 Main Battle Tank. The T-80 is a Soviet/Russian/Ukrainian main battle tank. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ...

Arena's less-sophisticated precursor is the Drozd APS. Drozd is best known as an active countermeasure system developed by Russia. ...

No other nation on this planet has the effective APS system except Russia and Israel

Specifications

• Package mass: 1100 kg
• Reaction time: 0.07 sec
• Engagement rate: 0.2 to 0.4 sec per threat
• Threat speed range: 70 to 700 m/s
• Awareness range: 50 m
• Protected angle: ±110°
• Energy consumption: 1 kW
• Operating power: 27V
• Number of protective elements: 22 - 26

External links

• Description of various active protection systems
• Description of the Arena APS – includes diagrams, photos and movies (in DivX .avi format).