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 1. Military
 2. Weapons
 3. Everything You Need to Know About Israel’s ‘Cope Cage’ Armor on Tanks


EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISRAEL’S ‘COPE CAGE’ ARMOR ON TANKS

Derisively known as “cope cages,” the armor was first seen on Russian tanks
before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

By Kyle MizokamiPublished: Oct 24, 2023
Save Article

Getty Images
 * Photographers have taken pictures of Israeli tanks equipped with cage armor
   designed to offer overhead protection.
 * Derisively known as “cope cages,” the armor was first seen on Russian tanks
   before the February 2022 invasion.
 * The Israeli “cages” are likely meant to protect against drones dropping
   anti-tank warheads from above, not advanced missiles.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Israeli tanks massing near Gaza have been photographed with so-called “cope
cages,” hastily fabricated metal armor designed to detonate anti-tank charges
before they come into contact with the tank itself.

The armor, which resembles a pergola perched on top of a tank turret, was first
spotted on Russian Army tanks shortly before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In
Israel’s case, however, the Israeli Army isn’t so much worried about missiles
like the American Javelin as it is a $300 drone dropping an RPG warhead—at least
one of which has already claimed a Merkava tank.


ARMOR FOR GAZA

At least five Merkava 4s, or a half a company of tanks, are seen with Israeli
cope cages. Not all of the tanks present have them, though.
Getty Images

The armor was spotted at an Israeli Army assembly area in Ashkelon, Israel.
Ashkelon is just a few miles north of Gaza, and is astride a logical invasion
route for mechanized forces into the Palestinian territory, Highway 4. The photo
above depicts Israeli Merkava Mk. 4 tanks, Namer heavy infantry fighting
vehicles, and American-made M113 “Zelda” armored personnel carriers. Judging by
the equipment, which includes vehicles equipped with the Trophy active
protection system, the Israeli unit is likely an active duty unit that will be
one of the first into Gaza.

At least five Merkava Mk. 4s are seen with the armor, which consists of rows of
metal bars held up by four metal posts. The bars are spaced, allowing crews to
still view upward through the armor at the sky above. The armor has a consistent
look, suggesting it’s not a jury-rigged improvisation made by the crew, but
rather a standard design.


EARLY LOSS

View full post on X

The armor is a likely response to an attack on a Merkava tank early in the war.
On October 7, the Al Qassam Brigades, otherwise known as Hamas, shared a video
on social media that showed a quadcopter drone fitted with a PG7V warhead. The
PG7V is a shaped charge, otherwise known as a high explosive, anti-tank (HEAT)
round, that is typically launched from an RPG-7-type launcher.

In the case of the October 7 incident, the warhead was dropped on an
unsuspecting Merkava 4. The round appears to just miss the tank’s 120-millimeter
main gun barrel, and instead lands on the flat (likely thin) armor above the
tank’s engine compartment. (The Merkava is one of the few tanks made that sits
the engine in the front of the hull, in part to add another block of metal
between the crew and a projectile incoming from the front.) Moments later, the
front right side of the tank, where the engine exhaust is located, is burning
brightly, indicating an engine fire.

The fate of the crew was unknown.


“COPE CAGES”

The first reported sighting of a Russian cope cage on a T-72B3. The T-72B3 is
identified by the presence of the Sosna-U optical sight box on the top left of
the turret. This tank was photographed at a firing range near a town of
Osipovichi outside Minsk, Belarus, on February 17, 2022.
Getty Images

In mid-February 2022, Russian Ground Forces tanks fitted with overhead slate
armor were observed in Belarus, just days before the invasion of Ukraine. The
armor was quickly identified as an attempt to defeat Javelin missiles that the
United States had provided to Ukraine. Javelin missiles can be programmed at
launch to fly upward and above a target, then detonate their shaped charge
warhead downward into a tank’s turret armor, the weakest armor on a tank. For
Russian tanks that store a good chunk of their 125-millimeter ammunition in the
turret in an unprotected carousel, the effect is catastrophic.

DIVE DEEPER ⬇️

 * Russia Says T-14 Tanks Began Combat Tests
 * Why Russia Is Using Ancient Tanks as Artillery
 * Why Machine Guns Can’t Stop Abrams Tanks

The ad-hoc armor—dismissively nicknamed “cope cages” as Russian tankers
struggled to cope with the threat—did not prove a success. Javelin missiles and
European-supplied NLAW rockets easily dispatched Russian tanks, sending their
turrets—and crews—skyward.

Merkava 4 tanks are already equipped with the Trophy active protection system, a
combination of millimeter-wave radar sensors and an automatic interceptor
designed to destroy incoming rockets and missiles before they can reach the
tank. Israeli cope cages are more narrowly focused on the drone threat. They are
also taller than Russian cope cages, likely with the intention of allowing the
molten jet charge of a HEAT round to fizzle out before it can touch the turret.


THE TAKEAWAY

Russian vehicle crews were derided for wishful thinking when cope cages first
appeared in early 2022, in large part because the Russian Army was proving so
consistently incompetent and corrupt it seemed unnecessary to give them the
benefit of the doubt. Having said that, the Russians do seem to have been onto
something—only their solution is being tried against a completely different
weapon.

Kyle Mizokami

Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular
Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally
in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval
Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE
News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.










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