【Text by Observers Network, Wang Shipu】 After three and a half years of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S. Army has finally "made peace" with itself and admitted that "the TAP is useful."

According to the "War Zone" website on July 1st, the U.S. Army hopes to spend $92 million to purchase more than 1,500 passive top attack protection (TAP) additional armor systems for its tracked combat vehicles. This system is designed to protect the top of vehicles with less armor from attacks from above. For the reason for the procurement, the U.S. military stated that in both the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Palestine conflict, a large number of armored vehicles have been destroyed due to attacks on their tops.

The Ukrainian army's modified battlefield, which added a large amount of explosive reactive armor and top grid protective measures to the Abrams (top image), and the Russian standardization of the T-80BVM top protection measures

Before the budget was announced, many people warned that the United States was not adjusting its armor capabilities and tactics quickly enough based on the lessons learned from the Ukraine war. Especially, the U.S. military lacks the technology to add extra protection to the tops of armored vehicles as both sides in the Ukraine war do, and these armored vehicles may be at the forefront of future ground conflicts.

According to the U.S. Army's 2026 fiscal year budget justification, the TAP system is "passive additional armor for the base vehicle configuration." "It is strategically placed above the crew compartment and hatches, working in conjunction with the base vehicle armor to mitigate damage from overhead threats. It is most effective against shaped charge projectiles (EFPs) and jets."

The "justification document" adds that the TAP kit "is intended to be installed on all combat vehicles, and will be expanded to other U.S. Army vehicle systems in the future." The number of top attack protections (TAPs) on each platform varies depending on the base armor of the platform and the position of the crew compartment.

According to the budget documents, the Army will allocate $92 million to install TAP systems on 1,528 vehicles. It is part of a $107 million "Vehicle Protection System package" (VPS), which also includes laser warning receivers (LWR) and feature management paint (SMP) to reduce thermal imaging characteristics.

Major Michael Liscano, who was responsible for the design of the U.S. Army's main mechanized M1A2 "Abrams" tanks and M2A2 "Bradley" armored vehicles, said that currently no tank in the world, including the M1 Abrams tank, has an effective passive armor protection against top attacks.

He said, "Future next-generation tanks are being designed with this protection and active protection systems, such as the U.S. Army's M1E3. But now you will see top turret covers, multi-layered explosive reactive armor installed on top turrets, armor plates on top of turrets, and other methods to reduce the damage from top attacks."

"War Zone" stated that this means the TAP system is similar to the "cages" on Russian tanks. Russia began equipping its T72B3 tanks with "cages" in 2021, and then they were used by Russia, Ukraine, and Israel in a more standardized design.

Afterward, "cages" began to appear on tanks and armored personnel carriers around the world.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522314025943777833/

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