Development of RAFAEL's Trophy Active Protection System (APS) has been completed, including integration of the system into current AFVs as well as the introduction of reloading systems, positioning the Israeli active protection system as the first system available in the West. Initial systems are expected to go into new-production and currently deployed Merkava tanks as well as the new Merkava-based armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles (Namer). While the system has been approved for production, procurement of the first lot is still awaiting funding allocation. RAFAEL is expected to deliver the first systems for the first IDF Merkava MK4 late 2007 or early 2008. After the conflict in Lebanon last summer, Active Protection Systems were identified as a critical complement for the protection of main battle tanks such as the Merkava Mk4. The Trophy active protection system creates a hemispheric protected zone around the vehicle where incoming threats are intercepted and defeated.
Trophy began full scale development in 2005 after completing R&D phase sponsored by Israel's Defense R&D Directorate (DRDD). The system was designed by an industry team including RAFAEL and IAI/ELTA. At a later stage, General Dynamics joined in to offer the system to the US armed services. Contrary to US Army assessments, which did not approve Trophy for procurement for current systems, some European armies are evaluating the system. In its latest interim report, the Institute for Defense Analyses, an Alexandria, Va., think tank, designated Trophy as the most mature APS system under development, suggesting that the system could be used as prototype for future developments in US planned active protection procedures.
--David Eshel in Israel
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