The new protection system, SMART-PROTech, first demonstrated at Eurosatory 2018, consists of modules, each of which contains a sensor and one or two countermeasures, depending on the size, position and orientation of the module. Two countermeasures are installed - one from above, directed downwards, and the second from below, facing upwards. The impact surface has an angle of about 30 ° from the vertical and contains a sensor. It is insensitive to small and medium-sized projectiles, so it does not work in cases where round can be stopped by the passive armor of the vehicle.

When a tandem warhead enters the vehicle, the effect of the primary charge is neutralized by passive armor; the impact causes the activation of an appropriate countermeasure that generates sharply directed energy that destroys the main charge even before it detonates, thereby preventing penetration.

It is obvious that IBD has used developments in the field of active armor using similar countermeasures technology and simplifying the system using a different trigger mechanism, which makes its integration much easier than in the case of an active protection system.

The appearance of SMART-PROTech will allow to separate the elements of protection from armor piercing and cumulative ammunition. Each SMART-PROTech module is completely self-contained and has no connection with the on-board systems. According to IBD, this will reduce the overall weight of protection while maintaining a similar free space.

While the weight of SMART-PROTech is comparable to the weight of ERA, and full-circle protection remains an unattainable goal, the new system provides a much higher probability of success in protecting against tandem ammunition compared to ERA.