What is Explosive Reactive Armor and How is it Used in Ukraine?

The evolution of armor, especially in the High Medieval era, shows a steady escalation from leather & wool, to chainmail, to plate armor to counter advances in weaponry, specifically projectiles.

That same evolution can be seen applied to armored vehicles in the 20th Century.

Reactive armor (RA) was first developed during the 1970s as a means of protecting armored vehicles against shaped-charge anti-armor weapons, including Handheld Infantry Weapons (HHIWs) and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs).

The original idea for explosive reactive armor can be attributed to a Russian academic named Bogdan Voitsekhovsky.

Voitsekhovsky’s prototypes for what was then called kontrvzryv, or counterexplosion armor, were all destroyed in an accident. After that, the Soviets decided that Russian tanks were strong enough without it.

Later, a West German researcher named Manfred Held carried out similar work with the Israeli Defense Forces in 1967. His patented reactive armor was first installed on Israeli tanks during the 1982 Lebanon war.

The essential feature of most RA designs is a layer of explosive material sandwiched between two metal plates.

Tank and maintenance crews with 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, install reactive armor tiles onto a M1A2 Abrams tank at the 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Feb. 28, 2017. The installation of the Abrams Reactive Armor Tile system will enhance the tank’s defensive capabilities, providing a greater deterrent against aggression as the 3rd ABCT maintains a persistent presence in Central and Eastern Europe as the rotational ABCT for Atlantic Resolve. Army photo by Capt. (Chaplain) Malcolm Rios. Public domain.