Kontakt-5

Kontakt-5 is a type of Soviet/Russian third-generation explosive reactive armour (ERA) used on tanks. It is designed to defeat armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) projectiles.

The key feature of Kontakt-5 is its "heavy" ERA design. Unlike earlier ERA systems which primarily target HEAT rounds, Kontakt-5 is specifically designed to disrupt kinetic energy penetrators. It achieves this by using explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) or explosively propelled plates, that are positioned to strike the penetrator as it passes through the armour. This oblique impact is intended to shear, bend, or otherwise disrupt the penetrator, significantly reducing its effectiveness.

Kontakt-5 offers improved protection compared to its predecessors, such as Kontakt-1, and has been fitted to a wide range of Russian main battle tanks, including variants of the T-72, T-80, and T-90. While effective against many types of threats, its effectiveness is not absolute, and newer generations of ammunition and other countermeasures have been developed to mitigate its protective capabilities.