Britain is modernizing its heavy battle tanks. In terms of active protection, the Rafael Trophy Active Protection System prevailed. The Bundeswehr also wants to equip some Leopard 2s with it.
Rheinmetall plays a central role in upgrading British main battle tanks. The old Challenger 2 will be upgraded to status “3” and, strictly speaking, will be completely dismantled and rebuilt with new components. The Challenger played an important role in passive protection, and its composite composite Chobham armor was groundbreaking. But today, active protection systems play an equally important role. They do not help against the armor-piercing ammunition of other tanks, but against the always dangerous anti-tank missiles (ATGM). They can be moved and operated by two infantrymen and have an enormous range. Modern systems find their target even without line of sight.
Guided missile threat
Bazooka and Panzerschreck from World War II could only be used at a very short distance, modern ATGMs hit their target from more than three kilometers. An ATGM does not blow up the target with brute force, such as hard core ammunition made of uranium or tungsten, but uses a kind of “welding beam”. Active protection catches them before they hit. A special radar detects the approaching missile, a charge on the tower is aimed at the threat, and shortly before the impact it is ignited and creates a splinter cone that shreds the approaching warhead. The Russian armed forces are well advanced in terms of active defense systems. Tanks have been equipped with the Arena system since the 1990s. Here a cassette is ejected from the tower, its explosion then triggers a hail of splinters.
It is now planned to equip the 148 Challenger 3 tanks with the active protection system Rafael Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS). It comes from Israel and is the only system in the West that has already been tested under combat conditions. The Bundeswehr also wants to use the system on the Leopard 2 and the USA will retrofit four brigades with M-1A2 SEP2 Abrams tanks with it.
Defense through “shotgun”
The Trophy missile defense system can detect incoming enemy bazookas (RPG), guided missiles and other ammunition with a radar. Four flat antennas provide a 360-degree view. Shortly before the impact, a case from the system is fired, then a whole cloud of steel balls emerges. The weapon does not have to hit exactly, but the ignition point has to be exactly right.
That sounds easy, but in practice it is tricky. Because the battles that Israel fights, but also as you could see them in Iraq, Syria and Eastern Ukraine, are not wars of movement like those practiced in the Cold War. Instead of a large tank battle, heavy battle tanks move in the midst of infantry in urban terrain. It is therefore crucial that a defense system reliably destroys an approaching missile, but the bullet cloud must not kill the infantry in the area or shred vehicles nearby.
Colonel Will Waugh, Director of the UK Main Battle Tank Program, said: “This technology, which has already proven itself with our international allies and partners, will greatly improve protection against guided and unguided anti-tank weapons – a threat that is spreading and deadly around the world becomes.”
Proven system
The Israel Defense Forces began work on Trophy in the early 2000s. After the loss of several Merkava tanks in the 2006 Lebanon War, the system was installed in 2010. Compared to other developments, it should be from the time of the teething troubles. Several videos show how it has stood up to real attacks. Among other things, it was able to repel a Kornet missile. The Kornet is originally a development of the USSR and roughly corresponds to the German Milan.
The Trophy System recognizes incoming projectiles through the four phased array radars and then calculates the best time to fire back. It also tries to determine the opponent’s position and can align the tower with the target. With connected weapon systems, these values are transmitted, so an artillery strike could immediately take place on the position of the enemy.
The states of the West urgently need to catch up here, as Russia also has experience with active defense systems and not only uses them in the most modern T-14 Armata tanks, but also modernized the T-90, T-84 and T-72 types with them. NATO is currently facing the situation that the main weapon of battle tanks such as the Leopard 2 cannot penetrate the frontal armor of a T-14 or a modernized T-90. And in addition, these tanks can also defend themselves with an active protection system against anti-tank missiles, while the western models – like the Challenger 3 – are only slowly catching up.
Eternal race
In times of increasingly sophisticated anti-tank missiles and the threat of drones, heavy battle tanks without active protection have no chance in battle. Efficient defense systems are supposed to make battle tanks invulnerable again, as it was in the first half of the Second World War.
It remains to be seen whether this will succeed. The systems should already be able to repel drones today. And even then, they couldn’t destroy a swarm attack. Such a system quickly empties itself when attacked with dummies. Therefore, even a simple anti-tank rifle like the Russian RPG-30 Krjuk can overwhelm a system like Trophy. The RPG-30 throws two missiles in a row. In front of the deadly warhead, a dummy flies on the same path, shortly before the target the dummy detonates and thus triggers the missile defense. The actual warhead should then come through and destroy the target.
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