Israeli defence company Rafael and its partner Italian firm Leonardo DRS have demonstrated that their TROPHY Vehicle Protection System (VPS) in a series of can safeguard infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) against missile attack.
During a series of live fire tests conducted in Israel on a Bradley IFV, TROPHY VPS achieved over 95 per cent success in defeating threats, the companies say.
TROPHY was initially developed to protect main battle tanks against attack by rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). It does that by detecting the incoming missile and destroying it with explosively formed projectiles fired like a giant shotgun blast.
TROPHY VPS is a lighter weight version intended for smaller IFVs and other combat vehicles but providing the same levels of protection.
TROPHY active protection systems are of considerable interest to the Australian Army for upgraded Abrams tanks and for new vehicles being acquired under LAND 400 phases 2 and 3.
Video released by Rafael shows the system in action, obliterating approaching missiles by detonating their warheads well beyond a distance in which vehicle armour could be penetrated.
Rafael said the trials included more than 300 live scenarios challenging key aspects of TROPHY’s upgraded hard kill mechanism, taking live tests of TROPHY to more than 4000 since the start of the program.
Threat defeat performance exceeded 95 per cent. The system also demonstrated its ability to locate the source of the enemy fire.
Trophy VPS will next be demonstrated in the US on the Stryker platform.
“Rafael is encouraged by the extensive presence of US and international visitors at the tests,” said Moshe Elazar, executive vice-president and head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Division.
“It shows the growing understanding that system maturity is not just a phrase. We are guaranteeing lower program risk to our customers by leveraging proven performance and broad integration experience on main battle tanks, IFVs and 8X8s.”