Chinese language ZBD-09 infantry combating automobiles have been noticed with metallic screens atop their turrets, harking back to these utilized by Russian and Ukrainian tanks.
These screens, designed as a further layer of protection, are primarily meant to supply safety in opposition to unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs), generally generally known as suicide drones.
The emergence of those anti-drone measures underscores the evolving panorama of recent warfare, the place countermeasures in opposition to aerial threats have gotten more and more essential.
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The Russian army was the primary to make use of this sort of add-on armor, typically derisively known as “cope cages,” on tanks and different armored automobiles. It has now develop into a fixture on either side of the conflict in Ukraine, to supply further safety in opposition to FPV drones.
Jesus Roman, a army observer, famous the presence of those anti-UAV screens throughout a latest army competitors involving the Folks’s Liberation Military Floor Power (PLAGF).
Throughout a army competitors the place 12x🇨🇳PLAGF Firms take part (organized 60 years after the 1964 competitors, with the identical models) a ZBD-09 Infantry Preventing Automobile (unit ID erased) was seen with an anti-UAV prime cage/internet much like those in 🇺🇦Ukraine (by way of wb/拓跋尊) pic.twitter.com/cQ3S9NTHnc
— Jesus Roman (@jesusfroman) March 21, 2024
Whereas the precise origin of those screens stays undisclosed, they bear a resemblance to the “cope cages” seen on Russian tanks. Nevertheless, they seem lighter and fewer sturdy, doubtlessly optimized to discourage light-weight FPV drones that might develop into entangled within the mesh.