Sarab Active Protection System Explained

Sarab سراب
Origin:	Syria
Type:	Active protection system
Wars:	Syrian Civil War
Designer:	Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS)
Design Date:	2015–2017
Production Date:	2016–present
Service:	2016–present
Variants:	Sarab-1 Sarab-2 Sarab-3
Weight:	1100kg
Guidance:	Doppler radar

The Sarab Active Protection System (Mirage) is an active protection system, developed by the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) 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 (ATGMs).^[1]

Design

Syrian intelligence acquired 18 Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles from the Free Syrian Army; these missiles were used by the CERS to develop a countermeasure.^[2] The resulting soft-kill system incorporated powerful infrared (IR) jamming lights which were 80% effective against ATGMs.^[1] ^[3] This has significantly reduced Syrian tank losses during the Syrian civil war.

Sarab can effectively jam SACLOS missiles such as the TOW (also TOW 2), 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.^[1]

, the Sarab (Mirage) 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.^[4]
Sarab-3 was introduced in 2017. Unlike the prior variants, it provides full 360 degree protection by using more IR emitters.^[1] ^[5]