The trophy vehicle defense system receives a top attack upgrade

JERUSALEM – Israeli defense company Rafael has equipped its Trophy active protection system with a defense capability for peak attacks, closing a vulnerability against drones and missiles that has plagued even heavily armored vehicles, according to the provider.

Rafael representatives unveiled the upgrade here last week in a briefing ahead of next week’s AUSA gun show in Washington, where the company will display its wares.

At the briefing, marketing director Ehud Nir showed a video of the system being subjected to a fire test, with a countermeasure destroying a drone hurtling toward a vehicle’s turret from high above.

The company declined to elaborate on how the upgrade works or when the feature was first introduced to Trophy, saying the system has gone through numerous development cycles since it was first introduced more than a decade ago.

According to Elbit, the top attack capability is available via a software upgrade for existing Trophy installations.

Trophy is a defense system equipped with so-called soft defense measures such as electronic warfare and an active defense system that includes physical interceptors that destroy incoming projectiles before they hit a vehicle’s body.

It consists of a series of sensors and a radar with four antenna arrays mounted around the vehicle. The interception process is activated only when the system detects that a threat will damage the vehicle.

The system is used on the Israeli Merkava Mark 3 and 4 tanks and the Israeli Namer infantry fighting vehicle. Trophy can also be found on American Abrams tanks and has been tested on Stryker APCs and Bradley fighting vehicles. In February 2021, Rafael signed a contract with Germany to equip the country’s Leopard 2 tanks.

Rafael reports an effectiveness rate of 90% for Trophy.