An Israeli-made Active Protection System (APS) is being installed on the newest iterations of the combat-proven U.S. Army M1 Abrams main battle tank (MBT) to prepare for coming battles against the Russian Ground Forces in a future war and, to a lesser extent, against the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF).
Israel's "TROPHY Active Protection System" (APS) is a radar-guided defense system that uses cutting-edge electronics to intercept and destroy incoming anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
Once TROPHY's radar system identifies the threat, it fires "neutralizing agents," to destroy the threat. These neutralizing agents are hundreds of small metal pellets that streak-out towards the threat like buckshot fired from a shotgun. A hit from these pellets is all but guaranteed.
The pellets are fired from two rotating launchers installed on either side of the Abrams. Incoming rounds are detected by four flat panel antennas mounted on the tank's turret. TROPHY adds an additional layer of protection to the Abrams' ceramic Chobham armor that can withstand most tank-killing rounds and missiles.
The TROPHY system is designed to defeat modern RPGs such as the tandem-charge Russian RPG-29 and lethal ATGMs such as the Russian Kornet and Chinese HJ-8.
The Pentagon will upgrade 261 M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 MBTs (enough to arm three expeditionary brigades) with TROPHY. These Abrams MBTs will receive the version of TROPHY known as TROPHY-HV, for Heavy Version.
This model weighs some 1,800 pounds and might reach 5,000 pounds depending on the number of add-ons. On the other hand, the lighter M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle will receive the lighter brother of TROPHY-HV - which is TROPHY-VPS (Vehicle Protection System).
Rafael's official weight figure for TROPHY-VPS is about 1,100 pounds. A lighter version now in the works will reduce the weight by 25 to 40 percent.
TROPHY was developed after more than a decade of hard and smart work between Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Group. The U.S. Army recently awarded a $193 million contract to Leonardo DRS (the American partner of Rafael) to acquires TROPHY in support of "immediate operational requirements" to protect M1s from incoming enemy missiles. Leonardo DRS will provide the Trophy systems, countermeasures and maintenance kits, among others.
The Army has been testing the TROPHY system on the M1 to counter the masses of sophisticated armor-piercing guided missiles fielded by the Russian Ground Forces and the PLAGF.
"Leonardo DRS is proud to be a part of this important effort to bring life-saving technology to our warfighters, and we are actively investing to ensure TROPHY provides a solid, American-made foundation for the Army's coming Vehicle Protection Suite program," said Aaron Hankins, vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Land Systems Division.
