Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and Spain-based General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) are forming a joint venture to market the Trophy active protection system (APS) for European tank operators.
The JV will be named EuroTrophy, and will be based in Germany with the aim of providing potential marketing opportunities, sales and production of the Trophy APS.
Developed by Rafael, the Trophy APS provides tanks with protection against rockets and missiles while simultaneously locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response. The hard-kill system uses sensor data to determine interception points, initiate countermeasures and neutralize the missile.
EuroTrophy will also supply potential vehicle integration services and related through-life support of the APS. Subject to antitrust clearance and other regulatory approvals, the new company is expected to be established by the end of this year.
The announcement on the forming of the JV comes shortly after the German Army completed first trials of the APS on its Leopard 2 tanks. The service signed a contract with Rafael earlier this year to equip an unspecified number of Leopard 2 tanks with the Trophy APS.
“The establishment of a European joint venture for Trophy is a strategic milestone for Rafael, which speaks volumes of the confidence that European companies have in Trophy as a life-saving system. Germany was the first European nation to choose Trophy to protect its MBT’s, joining the US,” Rafael’s president and CEO, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Yoav Har-Even, said.
“Now with the establishment of EuroTrophy, we are confident that additional European countries will join the growing family of Trophy users, to protect their troops and assets from the growing challenges and threats on the battlefield.”
“With EuroTrophy, we will make a significant step into an important adjacent market for military vehicles since advanced protection technologies will play a crucial role for crew survivability in the future. The establishment of a joint company in Germany is also a clear sign of our commitment to our German and European customers and to international industrial cooperation,” GDELS president Alfonso Ramonet added.
