Tel Aviv. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. is announcing that the German Federal Ministry of Defense has decided to equip the Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 MBTs with Rafael’s Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS).
Following the decision, which was made by the BAAINBw and approved by the Bundestag, Rafael was awarded a contract for an initial batch of Trophy systems, which includes a contract with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), the Leopard MBTs OEM, entailing the provision of systems for a company of tanks, interceptors, and spare parts, as well as operational and technical training. The systems will be delivered over the next several years.
It is expected that in the future Germany will procure additional Trophy systems to equip most of its modern fleet of Leopard 2 MBT’s with APS capabilities.
Developed by Rafael in response to successful anti-armor attacks, Trophy APS provides mature, combat-proven protection against rocket and missile threats and simultaneously locates the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response. Trophy is the only fully-integrated, combat-proven APS in the world and has been installed on Israel Defense Forces’ Merkava tanks since 2010, as well as on the Namer APCs. Trophy has made numerous combat interceptions with no injuries to crews or dismounted troops or damage to platforms since its first operational interception in 2011. Trophy has accrued over 1,000,000 operating hours, including 5,400 successful field tests, and is now under contract for serial production of over 1,800 systems.
In January, Rafael and partner DRS announced that they had completed the delivery of Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) ordered by the U.S. Army for installation on Abrams main battle tanks, under contracts awarded on an urgent need basis by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems.
Dr. Ran Gozali, EVP and Head of The Land and Naval Division, Rafael: Germany is joining an exclusive group of advanced tier-1 nations who have chosen Trophy APS to protect their troops and assets from the ever-increasing threat of anti-armor warfare. We are thankful to the German government for joining other user nations and for their confidence in our system and our experience, and we look forward to working with KMW on the integration and installation of Trophy on the Leopard 2 and on future platforms.
