By Jim Morris & Kris Osborn,  

 The US Army has unveiled new directives for its tank forces as part of a deliberate, multi-faceted campaign to counter the massively increasing drone threat presented to armored vehicles and land maneuver forces. 

   Early in July, the Army published a revised 432-page Tank Platoon Tactics Manual that, for the first time, orders M1A2 Abrams tank crews to use their main guns to engage hostile drones. Tankers will be trained to use the 120mm main gun with the well known M1028 canister rounds. Unlike standard High Explosive Anti-Tank rounds and sabot rounds, canister rounds dispersed hundreds of smaller pellets, fragments and explosive material across an "area" to counter groups of enemy personnel on the move. This kind of area weapon, as opposed to a precisely guided intercept round fired at a specific individual target, can be used to target attacking drone swarms. 

"I was a brigade commander not too long ago and I had my unit out in the field doing our training. We were constantly putting ourselves against drones... this is the modern battlefield," Col. John Harvey, Director of Fires, US Army Pacific, told Warrior in an interview. 

One key area of focus in the fight against drones, Harvey explained, pertains to a need to distinguish individual target precision intercepts or "localized protection," from "area protection" wherein weapons would be used to destroy multiple incoming air attacks such as drone swarms. There is a cost-curve element of this as well, given that large numbers of commercially available drones are inexpensive and easy to operate

"You don't want to always fire a million dollar missile at a twenty dollar drone," Harvey explained. 

The new doctrine reflects an Army effort to address a new generation of threats and close gaps in the current short-range air defense (SHORAD) ability. 

In terms of technological adaptation, there are several key areas of emphasis such as "cage armor" designed to stop explosive-filled kamikaze drones from penetrating tank armor. The Ukrainians have been using this method against Russian drones, as both Russian and Ukrainian tanks have proven vulnerable to top-down missile and drone attacks. 

   "Ukraine is kicking out all these studies and kicking out these lessons for us as we try and figure out what technologies and what capabilities are needed," Harvey said. 

Yet another area of revamp pertains to weapons adjustments and the increased use of "proximity" fuzes able to detonate explosive material across a wider "area" to neutralize groups of drones flying in close proximity to one another. 

The tank’s M240 medium machine gun will be replaced by the Konigsberg Protector R6 remote weapon system armed with the XM914 30mm chain gun. Its proximity rounds can detonate near incoming drones.  

 "There's some some great innovation going on in this space. There's a there is a test going on right now with 3rd cavalry regiment on a sight that actually sits on a soldier's weapon.  This sight is so advanced with AI and other technologies that it will do drone tracking. It enables a soldier through their M4 weapon with a 5.56 firing out 600 meters to take a drone down," Harvey said. 

Tank-Mounted Drone Destroying Lasers

   Earlier this year, the Army conducted a live-fire exercise with the Directed Energy Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) that targeted a swarm of Group 1-3 unmanned aerial systems..  

    The Army says the test will yield crucial data that will shape the development of the Enduring High Energy Laser program.  The DE M-SHORAD is a 50-kilowatt laser developed by Raytheon that is mounted on a Stryker 8 x 8 vehicle. The new weapon is being tested in conjunction with the existing M-SHORAD kinetic system.  

    Experts believe lasers are a game-changer at a time when the game itself is changing. For decades, the Army has been developing directed energy weapons to defend against strategic missiles. But now, large swarms of relatively inexpensive drones have been fielded in battle, and that’s resulted in a new focus on closer-in  short-range air defense.   Historically, armored vehicles have been engineered for more linear mechanized land war, yet the Army is now intensely working to keep pace with a new, fast-changing, 360-degree battlefield filled with new threats such as drones and drone swarms. 

Jim Morris is the Warrior Vice President, News. Morris previously worked as a senior executive, writer and producer for ABC News & Bloomberg TV.  Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven