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Arena (countermeasure)
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<p>Arena is an <a href="/facts/Active_protection_system/yTLBIpna">active protection system</a> (APS) developed at <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>'s <a href="/facts/Kolomna/2NFWh3fv">Kolomna</a>-based Engineering Design Bureau for the purpose of protecting <a href="/facts/Armoured_fighting_vehicle/RGHj9Y1r">armoured fighting vehicles</a> from destruction by light <a href="/facts/Anti-tank/wL0Vh0mV">anti-tank</a> weapons, <a href="/facts/Anti-tank_guided_missile/I3C5D1CS">anti-tank guided missiles</a> (ATGM), and flyover <a href="/facts/Top_attack/hXSmF6ln">top attack</a> missiles. It uses a <a href="/facts/Doppler_radar/4a6nL2lA">Doppler radar</a> to detect incoming warheads. Upon detection, a defensive rocket is fired that detonates near the inbound threat, destroying it before it hits the vehicle. </p><p>Arena is similar to <a href="/facts/Drozd/9sAU238s">Drozd</a>, a Soviet active protection system from the late 1970s, which was installed on several <a href="/facts/T-54%2f55/pIJQEp3W">T-55s</a> during the <a href="/facts/Soviet%25E2%2580%2593Afghan_War/nBl7TvtD">Soviet–Afghan War</a>. Drozd was followed by <a href="/facts/Shtora/kurz1tRE">Shtora</a> in the late 1980s, which used an electro-optical dazzlers or expendable so (smoke/IR smoke) to confuse the seeker head or defeat the user. In late 1994 the Russian Army deployed many <a href="/facts/Armoured_fighting_vehicles/RGHj9Y1r">armoured fighting vehicles</a> to <a href="/facts/Chechnya/mjpuy4nm">Chechnya</a>, where they were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties. The effectiveness of <a href="/facts/Mujahideen/nDVlPBW9">Chechen</a> <a href="/facts/Rocket-propelled_grenade/XXfp4RVs">rocket-propelled grenades</a> against Russian combat vehicles prompted the <a href="/facts/KB_Mashinostroyeniya/m8yhBBtF">Kolomenskoye machine-building design bureau</a> to devise the Arena active protection system in the early and mid-1990s. An export variant, Arena-E, was also developed. The system has been tested on the <a href="/facts/T-80/G1MEC5nN">T-80UM-1</a>, demonstrated at Omsk in 1997. </p>