Trophy active protection system

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Trophy (Israel Defense Forces designation מעיל רוח, lit. "Wind Coat") is an active protection system (APS), designed to supplement the armor of both light and heavy armored fighting vehicles, which intercepts and destroys incoming missiles and rockets with a shotgun-like blast. Trophy was developed by RAFAEL together with Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Group. The developers claim it is a major milestone in weapons design.

1 Design
- 1.1 Advantages
- 1.2 Disadvantages
2 Rejection by the United States
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Design

Currently, the system has been implemented for the Israeli Merkava main battle tank. The design includes an F/G band fire-control radar with four flat-panel antennas mounted on the vehicle, with a 360-degree field of view. When a weapon is fired at the vehicle, the internal computer uses the signal from the incoming weapon and calculates an approach vector. Once the incoming weapon is fully classified, the computers calculate the optimal time and angle to fire the neutralizers. The response comes from two rotating launchers installed on the sides of the vehicle. The launchers fire the neutralizing agents, which are usually small metal pellets like shotgun shot. The system is designed to have a very small kill zone, so as not to endanger troops adjacent to the protected vehicle.

The system is designed to work against all types of anti-tank missiles and rockets, including handheld weapons such as rocket propelled grenades. Trophy is effective against multiple threats and while the vehicle is in motion. Newer versions of the system include a reload feature for multiple firings.

[edit] Advantages

The primary role of Trophy is defense against missile strikes, particularly for lighter armored personnel carriers, which are very vulnerable to rocket attacks. Use of Trophy on the Stryker vehicle will obviate the need for the heavy "slat" armor to defend against high explosive antitank (HEAT) warheads, and allow a vehicle to fit into a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft ready for battle. Slat armor must be removed before the vehicle is loaded into the plane and reattached at the destination. This process in turn takes over 100 hours of cutting and welding, making it impractical under combat conditions. In addition, the newer, smaller size will improve the vehicle's ability to negotiate urban areas.

[edit] Disadvantages

Trophy is not capable of defending against land mines, tank guns, anti-tank guns, anti-tank rifles, or artillery bombardments, and therefore it may not be sufficient to replace or reduce the armor on main battle tanks.

[edit] Rejection by the United States

MSNBC has reported that there is resistance to incorporating Trophy in the US Army. The U.S. Department of Defense has contracted with Raytheon to develop an equivalent system, which will not be ready before 2011 at the earliest (but now declines to say whether it still is on course to meet that deadline),^[1] whereas Trophy could be deployed much sooner. According to MSNBC's sources, the reason for not adopting Trophy for now is that it would remove the need for the Raytheon program.^[2]

The Government Accountability Office has since reviewed the Army's actions and issued a report that concluded that the Army and Boeing, the FCS lead systems integrator, followed the regulations to avoid conflicts of interest; that although Raytheon's technology is not mature, the Army estimated that a prototype for current vehicles could be delivered by 2009; that Army officials found Trophy tests to be unrealistic, and worried that integrating Trophy would delay fielding other capabilities.^[3]