Russia has made the incredible claim the Afghanit active protection system (APS) defending its new T-14 Armata main battle tank (MBT) can defeat high velocity 120 mm depleted uranium-cored Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) rounds fired by the U.S. M1 Abrams MBT.

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The Afghanit is described as a complex electronic system that combines radar with active phased array radar processing subsystems to detect multiple battlefield targets. Its hard kill system consists of launchers firing special fragmentation rounds that scatter shrapnel to destroy anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and now tank rounds, as claimed by the Russians.

Currently, the maximum claimed speed of an interceptable target by the Afghanit APS is 1,700 m/s.

A source at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation cited by Russian media, however, said the Afghanit APS was successfully tested against depleted uranium-cored APFSDS rounds with speeds of between 1,500 m/s to 2,000 m/s.

That would be significant because APFSDS rounds fired by the Abrams tear through the air at 1,740 m/s. Experts believe APS' such as Afghanit are ineffective against the high velocity kinetic energy (KE) penetrators of APFSDS rounds such as the U.S. Army's M829A4 that can reach a speed of 1,670 m/s.

If proven true, this KE kill capability will make the T-14 practically invulnerable to U.S. and NATO MBTs. But the claim hasn't been verified and western experts are skeptical since APS' such as Afghanit are only effective against relatively slow-moving ATGMs with a speed of 300 m/s and even slower RPGs.

One western expert explained that an APFSDS is basically an incredibly dense depleted uranium dart that can't be destroyed by an APS' fragmentation round.

He said the Afghanit APS won't probably destroy the M829A4 Advanced Kinetic Energy (AKE) fifth generation KE round, the latest variant of the M829.

The Afghanit's frag round might possibly push the dart off course with some sort of hit-to-kill approach, but won't stop it.

TagsAfghanit active protection system, T-14 Armata main battle tank, U.S. M1 Abrams MBT, APFSDS, Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot, RPG, RPG Games