Tel Aviv: Israeli company Rafael is introducing additional upgrades to its Trophy Active Protection System (APS) based on its function in the ongoing war with the Hamas in Gaza. Sources said that the new version of the Trophy has already undergone significant upgrades to address contemporary battlefield threats, especially from drones and top-attack munitions.
The latest Trophy upgrades specifically enable interception of low-altitude aerial threats, including kamikaze drones and loitering munitions, which have been increasingly used in recent wars mainly in Ukraine. Live-fire demonstrations and operational deployment have shown the system successfully intercepting drones in near-vertical dives toward armoured vehicles and drones dropping anti-tank warheads.
The system is in use on Merkava tanks, US Abrams tanks, Germany’s Leopard 2, and more.
The efforts made by Rafael focus on additional capabilities against “complicated scenarios” and reducing the systems’ weight. The current weight of approx. 500 kg creates a problem when the protected platform is a lighter one, like an APC.
Rafael is expected to get new massive orders for the systems as the Israeli ministry of defence has allocated a special US $1.5 billion budget for additional Merkava tanks and APC’s for the Israel Defence Force (IDF).
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
