JERUSALEM (JNS) — In recent days, Israeli defense corporation Rafael made a dramatic announcement, stating that it delivered on time the first batch of Trophy Active Protection System to the U.S. Army.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Trophy, a system that was first deployed by the Israel Defense Forces in 2011 and which has intercepted many threats fired at Israeli armored vehicles, will be eventually be installed on-board four American M1 main battle tank brigades, for both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
The fact that the world’s most powerful military chose an Israeli active protection system to protect the lives of its tank crews is historic.
In Israel, Trophy is installed onboard Mk3 and Mk4 Merkava tanks, and onboard the advanced Namer armored personnel vehicle. It has made many successful combat interceptions of anti-armor missiles and rockets, particularly those fired by Gazan terror factions, with no injuries to Israeli personnel or damage to platforms.
It is about time that there was some protection for the M1-5A U.S. Army tank, and its crews. During the Iraq War, terrorists would sneak up behind those tanks, and fire rocket propelled grenades at those tanks, which were supposed to withstand such attacks. The terrorists knew that the rear of that tank was most vulnerable, and hence disabled many of those tanks, in that manner. The Pentagon for many years, refused (even to this day) to reveal how many of our tanks were lost in that manner, and what they were going to solve that problem. I congratulate the Rafael Corporation, for developing a system, to protect our troops in our tanks.