According to a Tweet published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense on November 2, 2021, following the Government-to-Government agreement signed last February, the German Federal Ministry of Defense and the Israel Ministry of Defense have completed the first series of successful live-fire tests of the TROPHY Active Protection System mounted on German Leopard 2A7 main battle tank.
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German Leopard 2 main battle tank fitted with Israeli-made Rafael Trophy APS Active Protection System. (Picture source Twitter Israeli MoD)
The tests conducted together with the Israeli company RAFAEL defense and German company KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegman) demonstrated TROPHY's integration to the tank and the capabilities of the active protection system - well above 90% threat interception success rate as well as providing accurate fire source location.
On February 22, 2021, Germany has signed a contract with Israel to purchase the Trophy active protection system (APS) for its Leopard 2A7 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs). The installation and integration of the system into the tank are to be carried out by Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), the Leopard’s manufacturer. It is expected that in the future Germany will procure additional Trophy systems to equip most of its modern fleet of Leopard 2 MBTs with APS capabilities.
The Leopard 2A7 is the latest generation of main battle tank in the family of Leopard 2 designed and manufactured by the German company KMW. . The main features of this new upgrade of the Leopard 2 tank include new armor, an energy system, crew compartment cooling system, and new weapon engagement system. The first tanks were delivered to the German army in December 2014. A total of 14 vehicles were produced for Tank Battalion 203, plus four more going to the Armored Corps Training Centre and one vehicle at the Technical School for Land Systems and School for Technology of the Army. In October 2019, the first Leopard 2A7 main battle tanks were delivered to the German and Danish armed forces by KMW. In September 2021, the 393 tank battalion of the German army based in Bad Frankenhausen has officially received a batch of 36 Leopard 2A7V.
The main armament of the Leopard 2A7 is similar to the Leopard 2A6 that includes one L/55 120mm Rh 120 smoothbore gun, one MG3A1 7.62x51mm caliber coaxial machine gun, and a 7.62mm MG3 machine gun mounted on loader hatch located on the left side of the roof turret.
The Israeli Trophy APS is now in service with three countries including Israel on the Merkava 4, the United States on the M1A2 SEPV V3 also called M1A2C, and the German Leopard 2A7A1. The Trophy APS consists of radar antennas, countermeasure, launcher and autoloader. When a projectile is detected, the internal computer calculates an approach vector before the projectile arrives. Once the incoming weapon is classified, the computers calculate the optimal time and angle to fire the counter-measures. The response comes from two rotating launchers installed on the sides of the vehicle which fire a very small number of MEFPs (Multiple Explosive Formed Penetrators) which form a very tight, precise matrix, aimed at a specific point on the anti-tank projectile's warhead.
