A recently emerged video shows testing of the Chinese GL-6 active protection system (APS), including against a drone-launched rocket-propelled grenade. High-angle top-down attacks are particularly threatening to tanks and other armored vehicles and can present challenges for many APSs. The footage also highlights the potential of hard-kill APSs to provide a valuable additional layer of defense against uncrewed aerial threats, including highly maneuverable first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones, something TWZ has previously explored in an in-depth feature.
The video of the GL-6 testing, seen below, first began circulating on social media yesterday after being broadcast by state-run television outlets in China. The footage shows variants of the Soviet-designed RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade, or of the Chinese copy, the Type 69, being fired at a Type 96 tank, or at least the turret from one, fitted with the APS. The rocket-propelled grenades are seen fired from a commercial-style hexacopter drone, as well as a test fixture at ground level. One clip notably shows the GL-6 engage a top-down threat and then quickly shift to respond to one coming in laterally.
At its core, the GL-6 consists of two main components, turreted launchers that fire projectiles with explosive warheads and an array of small radars to detect incoming threats and cue turrets to engage them. Many hard-kill APS designs on the market globally, such as the combat-proven Trophy from Israel’s Rafael, use some combination of projectiles designed to destroy or at least disrupt their targets and associated sensor arrays. Israeli firms have been and continue to be particular pioneers in this space.
The GL-6’s turrets are designed to allow for high-angle engagements against top-down threats. Chinese media reports say that the system is capable of defending against anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), infantry anti-armor rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, and uncrewed aerial threats like loitering munitions.
The GL-6 is not new, having been seen publicly displayed since at least 2022. There is evidence that it has been tested, if not fielded on several Chinese armored vehicles already. This includes the Type 99/ZTZ-99 main battle tank and a new infantry fighting vehicle capable of being air-dropped that first emerged last year, the official designation of which is not yet known. It is also being offered for export, including as an option for the VT-4A1 main battle tank.
Hard-kill APSs are already becoming an ever more common feature on tanks and other heavy armored vehicles around the world, just due to threats posed by the steady proliferation of increasingly more capable ATGMs and other infantry anti-armor weapons. Within this, there has also been work to expand the ability of APSs to tackle threats with specialized top-down-attack capabilities, as well as typical lateral attack profiles. A prime example of the former is the U.S. TOW 2B anti-tank missile, which has a tandem warhead that detonates downward as it passes over its target.
There is also just the danger of enemy forces using high ground to launch high-angle top-down attacks, especially in dense urban environments. The tops of tanks and other armored vehicles are typically their most vulnerable points and their crews often have limited situational awareness even in open field conditions, especially if they are buttoned up inside the hull for added protection.
In addition, as noted, the new GL-6 testing footage highlights the additional role defensive systems could play against similarly expanding dangers posed by uncrewed aerial systems. Drones, especially highly maneuverable FPV kamikaze types, can be used to conduct both top-down and lower-angle attacks.
Though the threat of drone attacks, including on armored vehicles specifically, is not new, something TWZ regularly highlights, the ongoing war in Ukraine has been instrumental in thrusting that reality into the public consciousness. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces now make daily use of FPV kamikaze types, as well as weaponized commercial designs capable of dropping small munitions. Various tiers of armed uncrewed aerial systems are now a common feature in hotspots globally and new advances driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning promise to make them even more deadly, as you can read more about here.
China has already clearly been taking note of what is happening in Ukraine and elsewhere when it comes to its own expanding drone capabilities, as well as ways to defend against them. Chinese media has shown several videos in the past year or so highlighting new training for members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) around the use of FPV kamikaze drones in particular.
When it comes to adding additional defenses to armored vehicles, various Chinese types have already emerged sporting so-called “cope cage” anti-drone armor screens. Copes cages first appeared on Russian tanks in the immediate lead-up to the all-invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and have now become commonplace on both sides of that conflict. Such screens have been increasingly showing up on vehicles elsewhere around the world. Cope cage-type armor has popped up on platforms beyond ground vehicles, too.
With all this in mind, hard-kill APSs like the GL-6 continue to present a potential route to adding an additional layer of counter-drone defenses to tanks and other armored vehicles, many of which already have such systems installed. In our feature last year, TWZ noted that there were already examples of defense contractors adding anti-drone capability to their APSs or at least looking to do so. This past October, Israel’s Rafael notably announced that it had added new functionality to the Trophy systems specifically to enable it to defeat drone attacks.
It is important to note that hard-kill APSs, even just against ATGMs and other infantry anti-armor threats, are not a silver bullet solution in themselves. Modern armored vehicle design is defined by continually evolving layers of defensive capabilities.
The new GL-6 testing footage is the latest evidence of the general trend toward hard-kill APSs becoming not just valuable, but essential additions to tanks and other armored vehicles. This only looks set to be increasingly the case if systems like this can also demonstrate their ability to provide added protection against drones.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com