System Will Eventually Equip Four Brigades
Leonardo DRS and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced on 11 October that they have delivered the first TROPHY active protection systems (APS) to the US Army for the ABRAMS main battle tank fleet. The delivery is the first of four that will ultimately equip four tank brigades.
Under contracts awarded last year on an ‘urgent needs’ basis by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS), the companies are equipping front-line M1 ABRAMS tanks for both the Army and Marine Corps with their first APS. The deliveries are the culmination of a multi-year qualification process. A joint team of government and industry from both the US and Israel worked together to adapt and integrate TROPHY for both Army and Marine Corps ABRAMS variants.
“We are proud to deliver the first advanced defensive protection systems for our front-line tanks to give our warfighters a needed layer of survivability against real and emerging battlefield threats,” commented Leonardo DRS CEO, William J Lynn. “[The] partnership between Leonardo DRS and Rafael has worked tirelessly to bring this battle-proven technology to the US military while improving the system to meet the stringent needs and requirements from the customer.”
Developed by Rafael in response to the ongoing proliferation of anti-armour threats, TROPHY provides mature, combat-proven protection against rocket and missile threats, while at the same time locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response.
According to Rafael CEO and President Yoav Har-Even, the delivery “marks a major milestone in US-Israel cooperation. There is no greater pride and satisfaction than the knowledge that the technology developed by Rafael and ELTA over many years of investment, trials and combat performance will play an instrumental part in safeguarding American lives, just like it has saved Israeli lives and revolutionised the way our armoured forces perform their missions. Rafael and Leonardo DRS are proud to deliver the first TROPHY systems to US warfighters on time. We were tasked to meet challenging production time lines, an integration process and the most challenging test scenarios. I would like to thank our partners at Leonardo DRS for their support and I look forward to our continued cooperation.”
TROPHY is the only fully integrated, combat-proven APS in the world, according to the companies. Since its first deployment in 2011, and currently installed on Israeli MERKAVA Mk3 and Mk4 tanks and NAMER APCs, TROPHY has made numerous combat interceptions with no injuries to crews, dismounted troops or damage to platforms. Having undergone over 4,000 successful field tests, TROPHY has accrued over 500,000 operating hours and is now under contract for serial production for thousands of systems.
