U.S. Army Tanks to Get Active Protection Systems by 2020

The Israeli-made Trophy system is headed to the M1 Abrams.

By Kyle Mizokami
Oct 10, 2017

A so-called active protection system—defense tech that can shoot down threats to tanks and other armored vehicles—will equip a brigade of U.S. Army tanks, protecting them during a deployment to Europe in 2020. The Israeli-made Trophy system will be retrofitted on up to 80 M1 Abrams tanks, providing added protection against modern tank-killing threats.

The Trophy system is manufactured and marketed by Israeli defense contractor Rafael and international defense contractor Leonardo. It works by ringing a tank with flat panel radar sensors that constantly monitor for incoming threats. Once an incoming tank round, anti-tank missile, or shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket is detected on a collision course with the tank, the Trophy system launches a number of explosively formed projectiles (metal sheets deformed by an explosion into a projectile) in a shotgun-like pattern at the incoming threat weapon. Trophy either detonates the incoming warhead or knocks the object down.

Trophy is called a "hardkill" system (as opposed to "softkill", a system that accomplishes its mission by jamming or distracting the threat), and Trophy offers 360-degree coverage. That's especially useful on main battle tanks, which concentrate their thickest armor to the front of the tank, leaving their flanks and rear surfaces vulnerable. Trophy is also effective against high-angle threats, rockets and missiles aimed from aircraft and helicopters. It can even engage multiple incoming threats.

Colonel Glenn Dean, a project manager at the Army's Redstone Arsenal, told Military.com, "I tried to kill the Abrams tank 48 times and failed."

The Army is evaluating similar systems for the M2 and M3 fighting vehicles and the Stryker interim armored vehicle.

According to the blog Below the Turret Ring, Trophy should be installed on all 80 or so tanks covered by the contract by March 2019, with a per unit price of $350,000 each.