Following the Type 05 155mm self-propelled howitzer, the Type 15 light tank participating in the exercise in the high-altitude western border Gobi area, as netizens jokingly said, also carried out the "shed reform" operation, and it seems that the roof of the anti-drone has been installed.
In the first picture of this article, three heavily armed PLA soldiers in desert camouflage training uniforms, armed with Type 20 5.8mm assault rifles, charge into battle with a Type 15 light tank that has been "renovated" and equipped with a remote-controlled weapon station, which seems to have the immediate sense of actual combat in the "Middle East conflict".
This proves from the side that the training of the Chinese Army in the western plateau is close to the background of actual combat. The rapid spillover of the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the Red Sea crisis to the world has undoubtedly brought new challenges and tests to military doctrine and land operations.
Among them, there are ubiquitous unmanned aerial vehicles carrying small bombs, loitering missiles (also known as tactical loitering munitions) and cheap shuttle aircraft (FPV), etc., these low-altitude and slow-speed aviation vehicles, which pose a great threat to armored targets such as ground tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery and infantry.
Among the related videos that appeared on the Internet, the FPV with the first-person perspective of the concept of "man-machine integration", the drone that brings a unique immersive experience, and the picture of chasing the infantry hiding in the east and west, I believe that many netizens have left a deep impression.
The kind of air-to-ground strike drone that only carries 82 mortar shells, RPG-7 rockets, etc., is simply made, and it is specially designed to attack the weak parts of the armor such as the top, side armor, and engine compartment of armored targets, and can often hit with one hit.
Even if the drone is eventually shot down by the adversary's anti-aircraft fire network, the price to pay is extremely low. The destruction of low-cost drones has been exchanged for the destruction of expensive armored targets.
In order to prevent the killing caused by low-speed and slow-speed aviation aircraft such as drones, the Russian and Ukrainian military have added explosion-proof armor to tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery and other armored combat vehicles participating in the war, and almost invariably set up iron fences on the top of or around the hull. It is used to prevent attacks by drones and other vehicles, and to improve the survival rate of tanks and the like on the battlefield.
Although these seemingly clumsy methods cannot fundamentally prevent and eliminate the air-to-ground strikes of UAVs, from the perspective of actual combat effects on the battlefield, they do improve the survival probability of armored targets under UAV air-to-ground strikes.
Now, iron fences and other devices have become the standard configuration of armored combat vehicles for both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so they have been used as a reference and absorption by the armies of relevant countries concerned about the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the main battle tanks of the Israel army that carried out a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip were one of the first armies to install this "roof" armor after the Russian and Ukrainian armies to prevent drone attacks by the Hamas resistance group.
Aware of the huge threat posed by drones to army armored targets, the Chinese Army has also adopted a similar approach to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, and the Type 05 155mm self-propelled howitzer equipped by the 76th Group Army was first found to be equipped with wire cage armor in the live-fire exercise in the western Gobi.
An iron fence was placed on top of the turret, and such a device was called "canopy" armor, jokingly called "anti-drone canopy". This seemingly simple but effective device is used to defend against suicide drone attacks, and is a more practical and feasible method.
Our military has always attached great importance to electronic warfare, defense awareness of future UAV threats, and has developed relevant on-board small electronic warfare equipment. This makes the Chinese Army on the Type 05 155mm self-propelled howitzer and the Type 15 light tank, most likely equipped with an electronic jamming system, and even a laser system in the future.
In wartime, it can release electronic jamming signals in time when the enemy's cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are approaching, so that it loses its attack capability; Or deviate from the target of the required attack, and even make a forced landing, further improving the battlefield survivability of our army's armored combat vehicles.
All in all, the Russian-Ukrainian war has shown that drones and other slow aviation aircraft pose a very great threat to ground targets, and the Chinese army will gradually build a multi-level and multi-faceted drone defense system in addition to covering armored combat vehicles with "roof" armor to improve the probability of survival.
Tanks, self-propelled guns, etc. can be equipped with anti-drone roofs, which can provide additional means of protection against UAVs and other attacks, and can effectively resist simple anti-tank ammunition thrown by low-altitude and slow-moving aircraft. It has been tested in actual combat in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and has also been applied to a certain extent in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Drawing on and drawing lessons from the Russian-Ukrainian war, it is believed that our army will establish a passive/active comprehensive defense system such as electronic jamming and laser interception, which will greatly improve the battlefield survivability of armored targets such as tanks and drones under threats such as cruise missiles and drones.