First Anti-tank Missile Interception for the Trophy System

For the first time since its implementation on IDF tanks, the Trophy active protection system intercepted an anti-tank missile fired at an IDF tank patrolling in the southern Gaza Strip

The IDF has expressed great satisfaction after the success of the Trophy (ASPRO-A) system (designed to actively protect against anti-tank missiles) in intercepting, for the first time, a missile fired at an IDF tank. The missile was fired while the tank was conducting a routine patrol near the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday afternoon.

The system thwarted the missile without any casualties on the IDF's side. “The soldiers were not even sure an anti-tank missile had been fired at them,” explained an IDF officer in the Armored Corps now involved in the investigation of the incident to IDF Website. He made it clear that the system operated automatically and thwarted the attempt to injure IDF soldiers. Shortly after the event, terrorists were spotted in the area and IDF forces fired, confirming a hit.

The soldiers involved in the incident belong to Battalion 9 of Brigade 401 and had trained with the system for the first time only three months ago upon the completion of its implementation. During the exercise, held in the Golan Heights, the soldiers practiced a scenario depicting an emergency situation in the North.

“The system will significantly reduce the anti-tank injuries in the next confrontation,” explained Commander of Division 162, Brig. Gen. Agay Yechezkel, who made it clear that the integration of the system will continue.

“By the end of next year we will have largely integrated the system.” Even Col. Enav Shalev, Commander of Brigade 401, noted that currently, thanks to the system’s success, “the calculated risk we can take during operational missions has been increased, because the squad and tank are more secure.”

The Trophy system, the fruit of a collaborative effort between Rafael Advanced Defense System Ltd., Elta Group and the US’s General Dynamics, identifies various incoming threats directed at a tank, including anti-tank missiles, by means of special radars and sensors, firing back at the incoming threat. This active protection system enables the tank’s crew to contend with dangers they don’t always foresee.