Modern hollow-charge weapons (ATGMs, antitank grenades, HEAT projectiles) are the most effective and mass-produced antitank munitions. Despite the updating of armor protection, tanks remain vulnerable to antitank hollow-charge munitions. One promising way of tank protection is to equip tanks with active protection systems. Active protection involves the detection of attacking antitank munitions and their destruction at a safe distance from the tank.

In the early 1980s, the Drozd (Thrush) system was developed to ensure high probability tank protection against ATGMs and antitank grenades. The latest research involving the use of advanced methods to detect antitank munitions and process signals as well as the use of new basic components and more effective explosives enabled designers to considerably improve combat characteristics of the Drozd system in its derivative, the Drozd-2.

The Drozd-2 active protection system provides an all-round protection zone in azimuth, which is of crucial importance keeping in mind the ever changing tactics of employment of battle tanks in local conflicts and urban fighting.

The modular design of the Drozd and Drozd-2 active protection systems makes it possible to use them on any Russian and foreign tanks. Currently, there are tens of thousands of battle tanks worldwide, and most of them were manufactured in the 1980s, 1970s and even in the 1960s. Tanks equipped with the active protection system are protected better than the best tanks of the latest generation (T-80, T-90, M1A2, Leclerc).