Steel Front, founded by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, is providing steel grid screens to provide an additional level of protection for Leopard tanks and their crews from FPV ドローン

The steel screens are designed to protect military equipment and soldiers from FPV drone strikes – which continue to pose a major threat on the battlefield, as well as to cities and towns. Despite a brief respite earlier this month – with Russia ceasing night time attacks on Monday 14 October for the first time in 48 days – Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, warned that Russia is preparing to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter draws closer.

The cost of each steel structure is quoted as approximately $20,000 by Steel Front. This translates to roughly 0.3% of the cost of a Leopard tank deployed in Ukraine, which is reported at roughly $6 million on the official Steel Front website. Furthermore, Steel Front are providing the steel screens to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for free in support of the war effort.

Olexander Myronenko, Chief Operating Officer of Metinvest Group – one of the companies contributing to the Steel Front initiative – outlined the advantages of equipping Ukrainian Leopard tanks with steel screens:

“The primary goal of these screens is to protect the equipment without compromising its functionality, crew safety, or manoeuvrability. The screens are designed in a way that doesn’t affect the equipment’s performance. Otherwise, their use would be unjustified and unnecessary.”

Myronenko provided feedback from the battlefield, highlighting that “the survivability of the equipment increases by 30-40%. We’ve seen real cases where a vehicle was hit on the battlefield, but thanks to our screen, the crew survived unscathed. The soldiers were able to get out, and later, the vehicle was recovered for repairs.”

The Steel Front is the largest private initiative in Ukraine helping the Armed Forces, with Akhmetov and his businesses so far providing more than $240 million for Ukraine’s defence and humanitarian needs.

投稿画像クレジット Steel Front