Slovakia installed anti-drone cage armor on its tanks: the results are ambiguous

The Slovak Armed Forces installed anti-drone cage armor on their T-72M1 and Leopard 2A4 tanks.

Observer Daniel of Bohemia published the photos on his account in X.

The photos show rather primitive protective elements attached to the turrets of both types of tanks. They consist of a thin tubular frame and a mesh resembling a conventional Rabitsa mesh.

The cage armor itself looks unreliable — on some vehicles, it is clear that the rear projection has no protection at all.

In addition, the Slovak military has not yet equipped the engine and transmission compartments and sides with protective structures.

Overall, the trend is clear: European armies are experimenting with inexpensive ways to protect themselves from one of the main threats on the modern battlefield — drones.

At the same time, such solutions remain isolated initiatives of individual units in NATO armies.

Slovak tank fleet

As of today, the Slovak Armed Forces have 45 tanks, which are part of the 14th Tank Battalion of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade of the Land Forces.

Of these, 30 are Soviet T-72 tanks in the M1 variant. The possibility of modernizing them has been considered in recent years, but this program was ultimately abandoned.

In addition, the battalion has 15 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, which Slovakia received from Germany in exchange for transferring its military equipment to Ukraine. Before being transferred, these vehicles underwent major repairs at the German company Rheinmetall.

The Slovak government is considering purchasing more than 100 new tanks to form two additional tank battalions.

The type of future vehicles has not yet been determined, but it is most likely that they will be Leopard 2 tanks.