Arena (Russian: Арена) is an active protection system (APS) developed at Russia's Kolomna-based Engineering Design Bureau for the purpose of protecting armoured fighting vehicles from destruction by light anti-tank weapons, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and flyover top attack missiles.

Drozd was followed by Shtora in the late 1980s, which used an electro-optical dazzlers or expendable so (smoke/IR smoke) to confuse the seeker head or defeat the user.

In late 1994 the Russian Army deployed many armoured fighting vehicles to Chechnya, where they were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties.

The effectiveness of Chechen rocket-propelled grenades against Russian combat vehicles prompted the Kolomenskoye machine-building design bureau to devise the Arena active protection system in the early and mid-1990s.

[2][7] Although reported to offer an 80% increase in survival rate during its testing in Afghanistan, the radar was unable to adequately detect threats and the firing of its rockets caused unacceptably high levels of collateral damage.

The Shtora-1 system consists of an infra-red radiator interface station, composed of the jammer, modulator and control panel, a number of forward-firing grenade discharges capable of producing a smoke screen, a laser warning receiver and a general control panel.

This triggers the grenade launch, creating a smoke screen to reduce the ability of the missile to lock-on the vehicle.

[19] Modern rocket propelled grenades can penetrate almost 1 metre (39 in) of steel armour, posing a serious threat to tanks operating in environments of asymmetric warfare.

[27] Arena works during the day and night, and the lack of electromagnetic interference allows the system to be used by multiple vehicles as a team.

By contrast, Arena is a hard-kill system like Drozd, designed to destroy the warhead through the use of munitions before the missile can engage the vehicle being protected.

[3] The modernized Arena-M's manufacturer claims it is able to intercept munitions coming from all aspects, including true top-attack missiles like the Javelin and that it will be installed on Russian T-80 and T-90 tanks.

[30][31] In 2023, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Russia would soon equip its T-90M and T-80BVM tanks with Arena-M.

[33] The Arena active protection system was first tested at the Kubinka proving grounds in early 1995, successfully defending a Russian tank against an anti-tank guided missile.

[27] In 1998, American defense contractor General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) proposed licensing Arena from KBM for sale to Turkey and the United States.

[24] In 2007 South Korea and KBM Design Bureau reached an agreement to fit the Arena-E on the K2 main battle tank.