China appears to be continuing to update its battlefield strategies as evidenced by the move by the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) to equip its lightweight main battle tank, Type 15 tank, also known as the ZTQ-15, with anti-drone ‘cope cages’.
Military observer Jesus Roman recently took to X to share images of Type 15 tanks armoured with anti-FPV drone cope cages, covering the turrets.
During a 🇨🇳PLAGF high-altitude (5300m) combined arms combat exercise, involving some armoured units in the Western Theater Command, their Type 15 tanks could be seen for first time with anti-FPV drones cope cages covering the turrets pic.twitter.com/XIaDNB1X0g
— Jesus Roman (@jesusfroman) October 7, 2024
These were seen in the Western Theater Command of the PLA. It is to be noted that the Area of Responsibility (AOR) of Western Theater Command includes India, South Asia, Central Asia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. This is reportedly the first time that Type 15 tanks of the PLA, designed to maneuver challenging terrains, were seen fitted with anti-drone metal caging.
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The caging is intended to protect these tanks against first-person view (FPV) drone attacks. These makeshift frames, mounted on turrets of the tanks, limit the impact of missiles on tanks. The move PLAGF by suggests that China is constantly evolving its defence strategies in the wake of increased use of drone technologies on battlefields.
It has been suggested that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) is learning from the issues faced by Russia in Ukraine, where Russia's armoured vehicles were frequently damaged due to drone attacks.
