The U.S. Army plans to purchase Israel’s Trophy defense system to shield its Abrams tanks, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced on Tuesday.
The contract is worth $193 million, the company said.
Trophy, also known as the Windbreaker defense system, is an active anti-tank missiles and rocket-defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles with a shotgun-like blast.
The system was declared operational in 2011 and has since been installed on more than 1,000 IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The American defense contractor Leonardo DRS, Inc., partnered with Rafael to manufacture them.
According to Rafael, under the terms of the contract, “Leonardo DRS will provide the [U.S.] Army with Trophy systems, countermeasures and maintenance kits.”
Aaron Hankins, of Leonardo DRS, said his company “is proud to be a part of this important effort to bring life-saving technology to our war-fighters, and we are actively investing to ensure Trophy provides a solid, American-made foundation for the Army’s coming Vehicle Protection Suite program.”
Moshe Elazar, executive vice president and head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Systems Division, said “our company has been providing defense solutions to the U.S. military for more than two decades. We are proud to continue doing so with the Windbreaker [Trophy] system.”