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Germany buying Israeli Trophy active protection system for Leopard 2 tanks

Merkava MBT with the Trophy APS
Illustration: An Israeli Merkava MBT with the Trophy APS on the turret

The German government has approved the purchase of Trophy active protection systems for the German Army fleet of Leopard 2 tanks.

Built by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Trophy APS provides protection against rockets and missiles while simultaneously locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response.

The German government said the system can significantly reduce the threat posed by anti-tank guided missiles and handheld weapons.

Trophy is a hard-kill protection system and uses sensor data to determine interception points, initiate countermeasures and neutralize the missile.

It is already in service with the Israeli and US armed forces. The US Army received the final Trophy APS for its Abrams main battle tanks earlier this year.

The German Army will convert an unspecified number of the Leopard 2 A6 A3 main battle tanks, while one system will be retrofitted on a test vehicle for developmental support. In order to install the Trophy APS, the hulls of the tanks will have to be replaced in order to integrate the additional power supply required.