- WIADOMOŚCI
The US Army is gearing up against drones. The first vehicles with active protection have been received
One of the US Army’s armoured brigades has received a batch of infantry fighting vehicles equipped with an active vehicle protection system. These are the first vehicles of this class with such equipment to enter service in the American ground forces.
As reported, the 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team (6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment) and the 1st Brigade Combat Team (2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment) of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army have taken delivery of the first batch of the new M2A4E infantry fighting vehicles and M7A4E1 armoured reconnaissance vehicles. These vehicles have been equipped with the Iron Fist active protection system, which provides significantly enhanced protection against attacks from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high-explosive (HE) ammunition fired from tank guns, or even against sub-calibre anti-tank ammunition and unmanned systems, such as loitering munitions or FPV drones.
In the US Army, Iron Fist carries the designation XM251, as the system is still treated as experimental and has not been fully standardised; however, once this occurs, it will receive the designation M251. This system is intended not only for the M2A4E1 infantry fighting vehicles but also for their successor, the XM30 vehicle, which will be designated M30 after standardisation. It is also not entirely clear whether the system will be installed on the new M1E3 main battle tank, which will receive the designation M1A3 upon standardisation. One of the official US Army graphics, as well as tank models, suggests the installation of the Iron Fist system, but the M1A2 SEPv2 and M1A2 SEPv3 vehicles use the ASPRO-A Trophy system. It is therefore possible that this depends on further testing.
Photo. US Army
The advantages of the Iron Fist system include its relatively low mass, fast reaction time, and the relatively large distance from the protected platform at which an incoming threat can be intercepted and neutralised. The fundamental disadvantage of the Iron Fist system is that there are only two ready-to-use effectors for each of the two launchers. Furthermore, the launchers must be reloaded manually, which means that one of the crew members must leave the safety of the vehicle’s interior to reload them. This does not change the fact that the system is effective. Iron Fist is installed by the Israeli Tzahal (Israel Defence Forces) on Eitan wheeled armoured personnel carriers and D9 armoured bulldozers. This system is also installed on CV90 infantry fighting vehicles operated, for example, by the Czech Republic.
