At this year's 17th Abu Dhabi International Defense Exhibition, Russia's latest improved T-90MS tank has attracted a lot of attention. This improved tank adopts various new armor defense technologies, which can effectively resist attacks from handheld anti tank grenade launchers, anti tank guided missiles, and FPV drones, and may lead a new direction in tank armor research and development. Armor, as a sturdy barrier for the "king of land warfare" on the battlefield, has been continuously iterated and upgraded in its performance since the world's first tank was introduced in 1915. From the initially thin 10mm thick boiler steel armor, to composite armor with a thickness of hundreds of millimeters, and to a comprehensive armor defense system that integrates active defense, signal management, and local reinforcement, its performance has been continuously upgraded in various wars. In recent years, with the entry of drones into the land battlefield, armored defense technology has quietly undergone changes. Various countries have proposed new armor research and development plans, aiming for "smarter defense and lower cost", becoming the research and development goal for the next generation of tank armor. How future armored defense technology will develop is becoming a hot topic in the military industry. In 1916, during the Battle of the Somme in World War I, a group of oddly shaped steel "monsters" suddenly appeared on the British battlefield. These 'monsters' are tanks, which, in conjunction with the British infantry attack, quickly dispersed the German defense line. From then on, tanks stepped onto the stage of world war. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the armor of the tank was made of ordinary boiler steel material, with a thickness of only 6-12 millimeters. When facing German machine guns and rifle bullets, although armor made of this material can provide some protection, it is difficult to withstand attacks from large caliber artillery. In the process of resisting high explosive anti tank warheads, engineers from multiple countries have found that the design of adding multiple layers of armor with reserved gaps can cause the shock wave and destructive elements of the warhead to become unstable or even broken, and the steel produced by rolling technology has a higher density and a harder surface. Shortly thereafter, multiple types of gap armor were introduced, effectively enhancing the bulletproof effect. In the battle between spears and shields, the thickness of heavy tank armor reached its peak in the late stages of World War II. For example, the German "Tiger" heavy tank used nickel chromium alloy armor steel, with a frontal armor thickness of 102 millimeters, which could effectively resist attacks from most anti tank weapons at that time. However, the opposite is true for the extreme. Overloaded armor greatly reduces the mobility of tanks, especially with the emergence of armor piercing and armor piercing shells, making the defense method of simply increasing armor thickness lose its cost-effectiveness. It is urgent to change the research and development ideas of armor. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union began building a three-layer composite armor consisting of "steel+fiberglass+steel" to enhance the protection of the T-64 tank. The armor greatly improved its ability to resist armor piercing bullets while only increasing its weight by 4 tons, giving the tank a "lightweight bulletproof vest". From then on, composite armor stepped onto the historical stage. In 1974, the world's first widely used explosive reactive armor, the "jacket," was introduced. Compared with the past, the "jacket" adopts the design concept of "two metal plates sandwiching one layer of explosives". When the ammunition hits the reactive armor, the high-energy explosives inside are detonated, and the detonation products react with the metal jet to counteract its huge kinetic energy, thereby weakening its penetration ability and achieving the purpose of protecting the armored vehicle. In the 1982 Lebanon War, Israeli tanks equipped with "jacket" reactive armor effectively resisted attacks from Soviet made anti tank rockets and missiles, resulting in a sharp decrease in the loss rate of armored units. Before the emergence of reactive armor, tanks could only rely on their own armor plates for protection. Once the power of incoming ammunition exceeded the protective capability of tank armor, the tank was highly likely to be destroyed. The emergence and widespread use of reactive armor greatly improved the survivability of tank vehicles and became a standard equipment for modern tanks. In the movie "Operation Red Sea," when the male protagonist and terrorists each drive a tank to confront each other, there is a line that goes like this: "Let's use reactive armor to shoot him first." Is reactive armor really that "divine"? Practice has proven that explosive reactive armor has indeed played a significant role in actual combat, but there are also some shortcomings, such as the inability to effectively deal with armor piercing bullets, the fragmentation generated during explosions can cause damage to nearby infantry responsible for coordination, and cause certain damage to the main armor. In response to these issues, countries have begun to make efforts in multiple aspects such as design, materials, and processes, such as optimizing the thickness of the throwing plate and back plate, improving the asymmetric chamber structure, and finding new materials for manufacturing back plates, in order to enhance the protective ability of explosive reactive armor against armor piercing and armor piercing shells, and reduce the adverse damage caused by explosions. In the 1990s, the Soviet Union developed the "Contact-5" reactive armor shell using high hardness steel with a thickness of 25 millimeters, which contained multiple sets of reactive armor blocks inside, significantly improving its protective performance. In 1996, the US military used M829A1 depleted uranium kinetic energy armor piercing rounds to shoot tanks equipped with "Contact-5" reactive armor. The armor piercing rounds were unable to damage them, fully demonstrating the powerful protective capability of the reactive armor. Afterwards, the structure and performance of reactive armor continued to be optimized in three directions. One is to optimize the structural design. Adopting a multi-layer nested modular layout, the outer module is specifically designed to resist the front stage charge of the serial bomb, and does not affect the inner layer after detonation; The inner module is triggered when the subsequent charge arrives, and avoids "one-time failure" through layered interception. The second is to upgrade the material system. Low sensitivity explosives are selected to resist the small equivalent impact of the front stage, while composite interlayers are used to enhance damage resistance and weaken the armor piercing ability of ammunition, achieving differentiated defense against threats at different stages. The third is the integration of intelligent response. Install a micro detection and precision detonation system, with the control system detection unit used to identify the front/rear characteristics of incoming ammunition. When the front stage attacks, only local units are activated, and when the rear stage arrives, the core area is detonated to concentrate interception energy and avoid wasting defense resources. In recent years, the development of reactive armor has been more rapid. The "Malachite" reactive armor equipped on the Russian T-14 tank adopts advanced explosive reaction principles, which can trigger explosive devices in a very short time, interfere with the penetration direction and energy of incoming ammunition, and can directly resist armor piercing shells with a diameter of no more than 150mm and 120mm kinetic energy armor piercing shells. The Indian High Energy Materials Research Laboratory is also developing the next generation of explosive reactive armor, which uses newly developed low sensitivity explosive components to resist explosions caused by small caliber weapon firing. It can be flexibly installed on various tank platforms, reducing the penetration power of serial charge armor piercing shells by more than 50% and kinetic energy shells by more than 30%. It can be said that the development of reactive armor is not only reflected in the improvement of protective capabilities, but also in the continuous innovation in the confrontation with anti tank weapons. Each new type of reactive armor is designed based on the characteristics of the new anti tank weapons at that time. They actively respond to threats through a "see and take action" approach, thereby achieving effective protection of tanks. The concept of active defense has made reactive armor an indispensable and important component of tank defense systems, and has also promoted the continuous development of tank armor defense technology. To cope with new challenges, lower your posture and turn around in a timely manner. Nowadays, with the characteristics of low cost, high flexibility, and precise strikes, the application of drones in modern battlefields is becoming increasingly widespread, and has also become a new threat to tank armored vehicles. Faced with this new threat, some armor defense technologies that were originally considered advanced and expensive have exposed various problems in practical applications, and the defense effect is not ideal. In the real battlefield, some high-end active defense systems, although theoretically capable of intercepting multiple threats, cannot effectively intercept large-scale drone swarm attacks; At the same time, the manufacturing and maintenance costs of these high-end defense systems have become an unbearable burden. In this situation, some traditional and relatively low-cost armored defense methods have regained attention from countries, and the "new old combination" defense model has become the preferred choice for many countries. For example, fence shielding armor, a seemingly simple defense device, can provide excellent protection against small explosives such as hand grenades and explosives thrown by drones. Fence shielding armor can effectively prevent small explosives from directly contacting the tank's main armor by setting metal fences on the outside of the tank armor, reducing the damage of explosives to the tank. This type of armor has a simple structure, low cost, easy installation and maintenance, and is very suitable for large-scale equipment. So, while lowering one's posture and valuing traditional defense methods, does the new armor technology stop here? The answer is negative. With the advancement of related technologies, especially artificial intelligence technology, new armor technologies are also turning around and upgrading in a timely manner. With the help of advanced sensors and computer technology, intelligent armored defense systems can monitor the battlefield environment in real time, quickly identify incoming threats, and automatically select the most suitable defense method based on the type and characteristics of the threat. It is reported that the US Army has invested $100 million to equip over 380 active armored vehicles with a new generation of integrated defense systems. This system can detect and track incoming drones and precision guided weapons in real time through high-precision radar, photoelectric/infrared sensors, and laser warning devices. Once the target is confirmed, the system can autonomously make decisions within milliseconds to launch interception or jamming missiles for interception or deception, improving the survivability of armored vehicles on modern battlefields. Israel has achieved a breakthrough in armored "coordinated defense". It is an "intelligent armor system" developed for armored vehicles, which integrates four sets of phased array radar, electro-optical warning modules, and armor layout to synchronously monitor omnidirectional threats; The outer side of the armor is equipped with a lightweight explosive forming interception unit. Through the built-in calculation module of the armor, the interception timing is accurately calculated based on the target speed and trajectory parameters captured by the radar, ensuring that the interception is completed before the threat approaches the armor body. This system is adept at dealing with top attacking ammunition, achieving high angle defense through interception units at the top of the armor, greatly reducing the probability of armor being penetrated. The defense mode of "new old combination" fully utilizes the advantages of low cost and high reliability of traditional defense methods, as well as the fast response speed and good defense effect of new intelligent defense technologies, which can effectively control costs while ensuring defense effectiveness. This model is not only suitable for dealing with new threats such as drones, but also provides an important direction for the development of future armored defense technology. In the future battlefield, as the form of warfare continues to evolve, the development mode of tank armor may accelerate iteration. By integrating more advanced defense technologies, a more comprehensive and efficient armor defense system will be formed, providing more reliable protection for tank armored vehicles. Armor, a sturdy barrier that emerged from the flames of war and was designed for battlefield protection, will continue to play an important role in the future battlefield, profoundly influencing the form of land warfare in the future. (New Society)