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Trophy (countermeasure)

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Trophy's radar and dummy launcher
IDF Merkava Mk. IV tank with Trophy APS ("מעיל רוח") during training

Trophy (also known as ASPRO-A. Israel Defense Forces designation מעיל רוח, lit. "Windbreaker") is an active protection system (APS), designed to supplement the armor of both light and heavy armored fighting vehicles. It intercepts and destroys incoming missiles and rockets with a shotgun-like blast. Trophy is the product of a ten-year collaborative development project between the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Group.

In August 2009, following a series of tests, the IDF Ground Forces Command declared the Trophy operational.[1] It is scheduled to be installed in an entire battalion of Israeli Armored Corps tanks by 2010.[2]

On March 1, 2011, Trophy successfully destroyed an anti-tank missile launched from the Gaza Strip toward a Merkava Mark IV tank near Nir Oz.[3]

Design

The system is currently being integrated onto Israeli Merkava main battle tanks in the Israeli Army. The design includes the Elta EL/M-2133[1] 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 buckshot. 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. The system can simultaneously engage several threats arriving from different directions, is effective on stationary or moving platforms, and is effective against both short and long-range threats. Newer versions of the system include a reload feature for multiple firings. The Trophy development roadmap includes an enhanced countermeasure unit to be available in the future for protection against kinetic energy penetrators.

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 remove the need for the heavy slat armor to defend against high explosive antitank (HEAT) warheads, and allow a battle-ready vehicle to fit into a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft; 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.

Trophy Light

A new version called "Trophy Light" was unveiled by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in September 2007. While the standard Trophy was designed for main battle tanks, Trophy Light is designed for integration with light and medium armored vehicles, such as Rafael's Golan. It is expected to be about half the weight and volume of the standard Trophy and cost less. According to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the development will only require design and engineering work on the launcher/loader and munitions.[4]

Tests 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, Quick Kill, 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),[5] whereas Trophy could be deployed much sooner. Quick Kill is more similar to Israel's other developing active protection system, Iron Fist. According to MSNBC's sources, the reason for not adopting Trophy for now is that it would remove the need for the Raytheon program.[6]

The Institute for Defense Analyses analyzed 15 active protection systems, including Trophy and Quick Kill, and found Trophy to be the top system. In March 2006, Pentagon testers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren tested Trophy. An official involved with the tests told NBC that Trophy “worked in every case. The only anomaly was that in one test, the Trophy round hit the RPG’s tail instead of its head. But according to our test criteria, the system was 30 for 30.”[7]

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.[8]

According to the DOD Buzz the United States will be testing the trophy system on a Stryker vehicle in 2010.[9]

On February 28, 2011, Trophy manufacturer, Rafael, announced that the system completed a successful evaluation in the USA. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Stryker Armored Fighting Vehicle fitted with TROPHY, a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Active Protection System, withstood numerous missile and rocket attacks under a six-week test and evaluation program by the office of the US Secretary of Defense.[10]

Combat history

On March 1, 2011, a Merkava MK IV stationed near the Gaza border, equipped with the trophy system foiled a missile attack aimed toward it, and became the first operational success of the trophy armor defense system.[11] On March 20, 2011, a missile was fired toward a Merkava MK IV tank equipped with trophy system inside the Israeli area along the perimeter fence of the Gaza Strip, the system identified the shooting, but calculated that it did not endanger the tank, and no intercept occurred. The system passed information about the shooting and the tank crew returned fire toward the source of fire.[12][13][14]

Possible countermeasures

On November 12, 2009, PhD Vladimir Korenkov, who led Russian state unitary enterprise “Basalt” from 2000 to 2009, stated that “The Israeli system of active protection of tanks, “Trophy”, as any other similar systems, can be evaded”. One of the activities of this enterprise was to develop rocket-propelled grenades, designed to destroy modern armament. The rocket-propelled grenade RPG-30, according to Vladimir Korenkov, is designed to overcome these tank defense systems. "All the existing active protection systems in the world share the same idea. This is a radar homing at some distance, close or far, to destroy the target with a warhead that creates fragment stream and explosive field. These systems have common flaws. First of all, the duty cycle, i.e. the time interval of the system response to the threat. RPG-30 easily defeats such a protection system. There is a smaller diameter precursor round in addition to the main round. This precursor acts as a false target spoofing the APS into engaging it and allowing the main round (following the precursor after a slight delay) a clear path to the target, while the APS is stuck in the 0.2 – 0.4 second delay needed to start its next engagement. This time interval is sufficient for defeating the Israeli system."[15]

  • Trophy APS news at Defense Update
  • Trophy APS movie at Fox News
  • Trophy Demonstration Video
  • "Israel armour protection system 'revolutionary'" (Reprint). Jane's Defence Weekly. March 11, 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  • "Anti-tank missile defense system stops attack on IDF tank". Jerusalem Post. March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.

References

  1. ^ Katz, Yaakov (August 6, 2009). "Anti-tank missile defense system operational". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  2. ^ Weiss, Efrat (August 7, 2009). "IDF successfully tests new tank defense system". Ynetnews. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  3. ^ HARTMAN, BEN. "Anti-tank missile system stops attack on IDF tank". News Article. Jerusalem Post.
  4. ^ http://www.defense-update.com/products/t/trophy.htm
  5. ^ Israel field-tests effective anti-RPG weapon – Lisa Myers & the NBC News Investigative Unit – MSNBC.com
  6. ^ Army shuns system to combat RPGs – Lisa Myers & the NBC News Investigative Unit – MSNBC.com
  7. ^ Experts contradict Pentagon on anti-RPG tests – Lisa Myers & the NBC News Investigative Unit – MSNBC.com
  8. ^ Analysis of Processes Used to Evaluate Active Protection Systems GAO-07-759
  9. ^ Colin Clark, US to try Israeli tank protector, DoD Buzz, October 25, 2010
  10. ^ http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/123048/trophy-demos-capabilities-against-real-missile.html
  11. ^ IDF armor-defense system foils attack on tank for first time Haaretz, By AMOS HAREL, 01/03/2011 20:11
  12. ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4044891,00.html
  13. ^ http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4044859,00.html
  14. ^ http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/223/833.html
  15. ^ Russian The Israeli system of active protection of tanks, “Trophy”, as any other similar systems, can be evaded, APMC-TACC, November 12, 2009
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