{{Short description|Soviet active protection system}} {{other uses}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2013}} [[File:T-55AD with Drozd active protection system.jpg|thumb|T-55AD with "Drozd" APS. [[Kubinka Tank Museum]]]] '''Drozd''' ({{lang-rus|Дрозд||ˈdrost|Ru-дрозд.ogg|[[thrush (bird)|thrush]]}}) is an [[active protection system|active protection system (APS)]] developed in the [[Soviet Union]], designed for increasing tanks' protection against [[anti-tank missile]]s and [[rocket-propelled grenade|RPG]]s. It is considered the world's first operational active protection system,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://defense-update.com/products/d/drozd-2.htm |title=Drozd-2 Active Protection System - APS |access-date=2010-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414022528/http://defense-update.com/products/d/drozd-2.htm |archive-date=2010-04-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> created in 1977 and 1978 by the [[KBP Instrument Design Bureau|KBP design bureau]] of {{ill|A. G. Shipunov|ru|Шипунов, Аркадий Георгиевич}} as '''Kompleks 1030M-01'''. Its chief designer, [[Vasily Bakalov]], was awarded the [[Lenin Prize]] for his work on its development.<ref name="TGMO">{{cite web|url=http://www.museum-arms.ru/about/tula-armory/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=2095|title=Бакалов Василий Иванович (18.04.1929 - 25.01.2020)|publisher={{ill|Tula State Museum of Weapons|ru|Тульский государственный музей оружия}}|language=Russian|accessdate=29 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="MK">{{cite web|url=http://mk.tula.ru/news/n/26738466/|title=Ушел из жизни известный тульский оружейник В.И. Бакалов|publisher={{ill|Molodoy Kommunar|ru|Молодой коммунар (газета, Тула)}}|language=Russian|date=27 January 2020|accessdate=29 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="Bakalov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kbptula.ru/rus/kbp/awards/awards26.htm |title=Василий Иванович Бакалов |access-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922102815/http://www.kbptula.ru/rus/kbp/awards/awards26.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
Drozd uses 24.5 GHz [[Doppler radar]] to detect incoming rounds travelling between 70 and 700 [[Metre per second|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. [[File:T-55AD turret front Army-2016.jpg|thumb|right|Drozd installed on a T-55AD, 2016]] [[File:T-80 model with active protection system Drozd at Tula State Museum of Weapons.jpg|thumb|right|Drozd on T-80 model, 2013]] 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]]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]], 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]]s, which were designated T-62D or, if fitted with the V-46-5M engine upgrade, T-62D-1.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zaloga|first1=Andrew W. Hull, David R. Markov [and] Steven J.|title=Soviet/Russian armor and artillery design practices : 1945 to Present|date=1999|publisher=Darlington Productions|location=Darlington, Md.|isbn=978-1892848017}}</ref>
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-80|T-80U]] main battle tanks. One prototype vehicle (T-80UM-2) fitted with the system was used in Ukraine and lost in March 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html | title=Attack on Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During the Russian Invasion of Ukraine }}</ref> An even more sophisticated all-round active protection system is the [[Arena Active Protection System]].
==References== {{Reflist}}
*Zaloga, Steven J. and Hugh Johnson (2004) ''T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004'', pp. 24, 33. Oxford: Osprey. {{ISBN|1-84176-792-1}}.
==External links== {{Commons category|Drozd (active protection system)}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060213133357/http://www.defense-update.com/products/d/drozd-2.htm Hard-Kill Active Defense Solutions] — ''Defense Update'' article on Drozd-2 *[http://armor.kiev.ua/fofanov/Tanks/EQP/drozd.html DROZD (Thrush) Active Protection System] at Vasiliy Fofanov's Modern Russian Armour page *[http://www.btvt.narod.ru/3/kaz_drozd.htm Drozd APS] description (in Russian) *[http://armor.kiev.ua/ptur/azt/T-55drozd.html Active protection of tanks] at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian) *[http://armor.kiev.ua/ptur/azt/drozd.html Drozd active protection system] at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian) *[http://armor.kiev.ua/ptur/azt/drozd2.html Drozd-2 active protection system] at armor.kiev.ua (in Russian)
{{APS}}
[[Category:Armoured fighting vehicle equipment]] [[Category:Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Soviet inventions]] [[Category:Weapons countermeasures]] [[Category:Land active protection systems]] [[Category:History of the tank]] [[Category:KBP Instrument Design Bureau products]] [[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1970s]]