IDF Tests Trophy Defense System For Tanks

Israeli tank crews now have active protection against anti-tank missiles in addition to the conventional passive protection provided by armor.

The Trophy system creates a hemispheric protected-zone around armored vehicles such as the Merkava tank, which has operated prominently in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Using advanced radar, the system is designed to detect and track a threat and counters it with a projectile that intercepts the anti-tank missile.

On Tuesday, Ashkenazi revealed that two weeks ago a Russian-made Kornet antitank missile – one of the most sophisticated in the world – hit an Israeli Merkava tank and penetrated its hull. As a result, the IDF has decided to deploy Battalion 9 of the 401st Armored Brigade (the “Tracks of Iron” Brigade) along the Gaza border since its tanks are equipped with the Trophy active protection anti-tank-missile defense system.

On Wednesday, the IDF Ground Forces Command tested the system by firing a dud missile, which impersonated some of the advanced anti-tank missiles in Hamas and Hizbullah hands. The Trophy successfully intercepted the enemy missile.

Defense sources said that the Trophy had been tested hundreds of times by Rafael but that what was significant in the latest test was the presence of soldiers and commanders inside the tank which was fired at.

By: Shelldrake