COLOGNE, Germany – German and Israeli defense ministries signed an agreement to purchase the Rafael Trophy active protection system for the Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 tanks, the two governments announced on February 23.
The February 22 deal will see the defense system, which fires projectiles at incoming anti-tank ammunition, installed in a company’s tanks, or 17 operational vehicles plus a type of test benchmark, by 2025. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann is the contractor install Trophy components in the tanks during an upgrade of the A6-A3 configuration to the A7-A1 version, according to a memo sent to the German parliament by defense officials in late January that requested funding for the project.
The missive was approved by lawmakers at the time, paving the way for the agreement with Israel and maker Rafael announced today. The 23 trophy sets and 586 interceptors sought by the Germans are priced at $ 48 million. The leopard manufacturer KMW is expected to achieve almost double that from the integration work, which will leave the government here with 18 tank hulls no longer needed after the upgrade.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called the trophy system a “product of Israel’s innovative defense industry”, with Germany’s nod representing an “expression of confidence” in both countries’ defense cooperation.
The German Bundeswehr decided to equip its tanks with an active protection system because “modern anti-tank guided missiles pose a significant threat,” defense officials wrote to lawmakers. The current effort to introduce the Trophy is intended to be a “first step” towards broader use of similar technology, says the memo.
German defense officials considered the Trophy, which is already in use in Israeli and American tanks, the most advanced and operationally proven system available on the market today, lawmakers were told.