Against FPV drones: Rafael has shown new capabilities for the protection of Trophy armored vehicles

The battle-proven Trophy system has received new enhancements that provide critical enhancements against various threats from above.

Israeli defense contractor Rafael has announced the development of a new version of the Trophy active defense system, which can now better repel air attacks. This is what The War Zone writes about.

Thus, the Trophy has the ability to counter highly maneuverable varieties of FPV drones and mine-dropping drones.

The Trophy system was first developed in the late 2000s years and was originally intended to protect against anti-tank guided missiles and other types of infantry anti-tank weapons, such as MANPADS.

The main Trophy components available are a number of small radars and launchers loaded with “hard-kill” projectiles. The radars detect threats and guide the launchers, which then launch the projectiles. Although a small explosive charge is used to propel them, the projectiles themselves are kinetic and designed to destroy or at least destroy anything they hit with the force of the impact.

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The published pictures show the new capabilities of protecting the Trophy from impacts from above and show pronounced traces of the explosion. It is unclear whether this reflects the firing of additional kinetic interceptors, the use of an actual explosive charge to defeat incoming threats, and/or secondary explosions from successful interceptions.

Regardless of the device of the improved system, it provides additional protection against drones and other threats, such as anti-tank guided missiles with a top-down attack capability.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) first began using the Trophy on its Merkava tanks in 2009. The system, which is now increasingly used around the world, particularly by the US military, has since demonstrated its usefulness many times in combat.

Trophy Vulnerabilities

At the same time, Trophy has long been known to have a number of restrictions, for example, regarding threats that approach from steep angles from above. Rafael representatives did not hide this in the past either.

New Hamas clash footage from Khan Yunis , southern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YPysrg4CmZ

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 13, 2023

Trophy's potential vulnerabilities became more visible after large-scale terrorist attacks by Hamas in southern Israel October 7, 2023

Palestinian terrorist group used drones to drop small munitions on Israeli Merkava tanks and other vehicles, as well as on static defensive structures.