A Merkava Mk 4 tank that has lost the shield that covers one of its Trophy launchers during combat in the Gaza Strip. (AFP via Getty Images)
Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has upgraded its Trophy active protection system (APS) to enable it to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and top-attack missiles, company sources stated in recent days.
Trophy has been in service on Israeli Merkava Mk 4 tanks since 2011 and was originally designed to detect conventional anti-tank projectiles using four radar antennas positioned around the turret to provide 360° coverage. When a threat is detected, the system slews one of its two rotating countermeasures launchers to destroy it by firing a plate of explosively formed projectiles (EFPs). A mechanical arm then loads a fresh EFP plate onto the launcher.
However, the system was not originally designed to counter emerging threats that approach at higher altitudes, which include small UAVs that either drop anti-tank warheads or carry them in an armoured vehicle. To counter this threat, some Israeli armoured battalions fitted the turrets on their Merkavas with overhead cage armour for operations in the Gaza Strip over the last year.
Top-attack anti-tank missiles are also becoming more widespread, most notably with the Lebanese group Hizbullah using the Iranian Almas copy of Rafael's Spike missile. These fly along lofted trajectories so they can dive down on armoured vehicles to hit them on their thinly armoured roofs.
The Rafael sources said Trophy's detection and interception capabilities have been upgraded to counter these threats, but declined to describe how this has been done.
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