Sarab Active Protection System


The Sarab Active Protection System is an active protection system, developed by the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center and designed to help the Syrian Army’s T-55, T-62, T-72 and T-72 Adra tanks counter line of sight anti-tank guided missiles.

Design

Syrian intelligence acquired 18 Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missiles from the Free [Syrian Army]; these missiles were used by the CERS to develop a countermeasure. The resulting soft-kill system incorporated powerful infrared jamming lights which were 80% effective against ATGMs. This has significantly reduced Syrian tank losses during the Syrian civil war.
Sarab can effectively jam SACLOS missiles such as the TOW, HOT, MILAN, Dragon, 9K115-2 Metis-M, 9M113 Konkurs and Malyutka and laser guided weapons such as the Copperhead and some variants of the Maverick and Hellfire.

Versions

, the Sarab system has three versions:Sarab-1 was introduced in early 2016. Using multiple IR emitters mounted on a tank turret, it covers the 180° frontal arc of the tank and can operate for 6 hours.Sarab-2 entered service at the end of 2016. It includes a protective casing and uses less power, letting it operate continuously for up to 10 hours.Sarab-3 was introduced in 2017. Unlike the prior variants, it provides full 360 degree protection by using more IR emitters.

Operators