Leonardo DRS has been awarded a contract worth US$193 million to provide the US Army with Trophy active protection systems for its Abrams tanks in support of immediate operational requirements. Under the terms of the contract, Leonardo DRS will provide the Army with Trophy systems, countermeasures, and maintenance kits.
Developed by long-time partner Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel and currently fielding some 1,000 systems to all major Israeli ground combat platforms, Trophy provides combat-proven protection against anti-armour rocket and missile threats.
“Leonardo DRS is actively investing to ensure Trophy provides a solid, American-made foundation for the Army’s coming Vehicle Protection Suite program,” Aaron Hankins, Vice President and General Manager of the Leonardo DRS Land Systems division, said. “This award is the culmination of several years of hard work by a strong, bi-national government/industry team to protect our warfighters and address a critical capability gap in our armoured formations.”
Trophy fitted to a US Army Abrams. Credit: Rafael.
Rafael has provided protection solutions to U.S. service members for over two decades via passive and reactive armour on vehicles such as Bradley, Stryker and AAV7.
“The majority of Trophy components are manufactured by the American Defense Industry and we are excited by the opportunity to increase manufacturing in the U.S., including for Israeli systems, as the U.S. acquires additional systems,” Moshe Elazar, Executive Vice President and Head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Division.
The move follows an extensive testing program in the US over a number of years.
Trophy-HV active protection system (APS) will be fitted to 261 M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams main battle tanks as an interim measure to address urgent threats against US tanks in Europe, according to a report in Breaking Defense.
About a year ago the US Army was directed to install and characterise existing APS, and it chose to work with Trophy for Abrams, Iron Fist Light for Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and Iron Curtain for Stryker wheel vehicles.
“Trophy exceeded our expectations” during trials, Colonel Glenn Dean, program manager for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team and lead for the APS effort, told reporters on 9 October, 2017 at the annual Association of the US Army’s (AUSA's) annual conference.
Trophy fitted to a US Army Abrams. Credit: Rafael.