Army to Receive Active Protection Systems.

• Author: Jordan, Sonja
• Position: NEWS BRIEFS

The Army recently awarded Leonardo DRS, Inc. a contract worth $ 193 million to purchase Trophy active protection systems for use on Abrams tanks.

The Trophy systems were developed by Leonardo's Israel-based partner Rafael Defense Systems Ltd. to provide protection against anti-armor rocket and missile threats. They are currently installed on approximately 1,000 Israeli ground platforms, according to a press release. The system took about 20 years to develop.

"Trophy counters all known anti-armor shaped charge threats by detecting them when they're fired and intercepting them with a counter-measure that's fired from the platform, and basically defeats the threat some distance away from the platform," said Mike O'Leary, director of business development for survivability and lethality at Leonardo DRS, an Arlington, Virginia-based company.

Leonardo DRS and Rafael have been partners for about seven years, he noted.

As "we were looking for an expanded role in ground vehicle survivability... [Rafael] was looking for a U.S. partner for their advanced survivability technology, namely Trophy," he said.

Delivery timeline schedules and other contract details are still being finalized, O'Leary said.

"We're extremely pleased...