Russian and Israeli tank defense systems struggle against drone swarms
Russia's Arena-M active protection systems are being overwhelmed by drone attacks, and similar shortcomings have appeared with Israel's Trophy system in Lebanon. Experts say major militaries are still figuring out how to protect armor on drone-dominated battlefields.
The Russian military may be looking to increase the number of countermunitions carried by its Arena-M active protection systems to better intercept incoming drones and other projectiles. However, Euromaidan Press notes that limited space on the turret-mounted launchers could restrict how far this approach can go.
A problem beyond Ukraine
The struggles of active protection systems against drones are not confined to the Ukrainian battlefield. Similar issues surfaced during the US-Israeli war against Iran. When Israeli forces entered Lebanon to fight the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, their Merkava 4 tanks were fitted with the Trophy active protection system, built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Despite this, Hezbollah released multiple videos showing small explosive-laden quadcopter drones striking Israeli tanks whose Trophy systems still had countermunitions loaded, according to Ukrainian outlet Defense Express — suggesting the system struggled to detect small drone threats.
Compounding the problem, Hezbollah fielded drones immune to radio jamming because they were tethered to operators via long fiber-optic cables, a technique pioneered in Ukraine that became central to Hezbollah's campaign against Israel between March and June 2026, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
While the exact toll on Israeli tanks remains unclear, drone strikes became the leading threat to Israeli forces in Lebanon and were responsible for most Israeli soldier deaths after an April ceasefire, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Even with uncertainty over the Trophy system's real-world performance, several European countries continue purchasing it to bolster tank defenses against drones. The EuroTrophy joint venture plans to equip 400 European Leopard tanks with the system, per Breaking Defense, while the US has already installed Trophy on several hundred M1 Abrams tanks.
Still, it's evident that the US and other militaries are continuing to work out how best to deploy tanks in an era of drone warfare. During this year's Combined Resolve exercise in Germany, Ukrainian drone operators simulated wiping out an entire brigade of US Army tanks and armored vehicles.
