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The Ukrainian military’s U.S.-made armored vehicles face a variety of Russian threats, from conventional ones like artillery shells, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades to unconventional ones like small drones packed with explosives.
These armor systems, specifically the M1 Abrams tank and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, have hardened exteriors to keep their crews safe, but they remain vulnerable to Russian fire from all angles, including above. Both vehicles have suffered losses.
One Ukrainian effort, Rinat Akhmetov’s “Steel Front,” has erected dozens of steel screens to provide an extra layer of defense against infiltrating threats to Abrams and Bradley vehicles.
A senior official involved in the armored vehicle program said the protective screens were “working well” as the vehicles came under fire.
“The car is being attacked and every time it is attacked it has to be repaired,” the official told Business Insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns, explaining that the screen is meant to absorb damage “so that it doesn’t damage the main body of the car.”
Throughout the war, Ukraine and Russia have been equipping their armored vehicles with net-like screens to provide added protection against incoming munitions, particularly the small explosive drones that have become prominent on the battlefield.
The improvised armour is sometimes called a “corp cage”, and comes in a variety of looks and effects, with some designs being more sophisticated than the crudely made ones such as the unusual Russian “Turtle Tank”.
“The main objective is to protect the crew,” the official told BI. “That’s why we’re putting this in place. And the second [aim] This is to protect the armored vehicles.”
Officials said that if a vehicle is attacked, the damage will ultimately depend on where the explosives landed. For example, a protective screen may not be effective against a direct hit, but could help mitigate damage if the explosion is indirect or occurs at a greater distance.
A completely destroyed protective screen can take two days to repair, but moderate damage can be welded back into place in just a few hours.
A complete protective screen for the Abrams weighs about 900 pounds and costs up to $20,000 to manufacture. The Bradley screen is significantly lighter, about 550 pounds, but costs closer to $12,000. Screens for both vehicles take a day or two to manufacture and another 12 hours or so to install.
While a single screen may cost significantly more than a drone or tank shell, it’s still a relatively inexpensive way to provide needed extra protection for multi-million dollar armored vehicles and their crews. The screens are also being provided free of charge to the Ukrainian military.
Steel Front Initiative has been producing screens for Ukrainian Soviet tanks, including the T-64 and T-72, for over a year and a half, and has produced several hundred screens for these vehicles so far.
The armored vehicle business expanded to the Abrams tank earlier this summer and more recently to the Bradley tank, and has since produced 25 screens for American tanks and at least 70 for infantry fighting vehicles, the first of which was installed about a month ago.
According to the latest data from the Department of Defense, since Western countries began donating armored vehicles to Ukraine in early 2023, the United States has equipped Kiev with 31 Abrams and more than 300 Bradleys.
The provision of these combat-proven American vehicles has significantly improved Ukraine’s armored capabilities, but they are not invincible.
At least 13 Abrams and 99 Bradleys were damaged or destroyed in the fighting, according to Orxy, an open-source intelligence platform. Tracking Battlefield Losses Other Western armored vehicles were also damaged.
BI officials spoken to about the ongoing armor-addition work said that to their knowledge, no Abrams or Bradleys equipped with protective screens have been damaged in the past month.
The plan to armor U.S.-made tanks has begun protecting German-made Leopard main battle tanks. The first variations of the armor screens will take at least a week to be sent to the Ukrainian military for testing. Once full-scale production begins, it will take about two days to make the screens, officials said.