Even though Norway is one of the European countries most critical of Israel, what happens in the diplomatic arena is not necessarily reflect in defense procurement. Germany has begun supplying Norway with Leopard 2A8NOR tanks in the first sale of the advanced platform, which also carries Israeli technology.
Each 2A8-series tank has the Eurotrophy system, the European version of Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Trophy, active protection system for military armored vehicles.
Eurotrophy is a joint venture by Rafael, Germany’s KMW and General Dynamics Land Systems Europe for the production, marketing and sale of Trophy systems in Europe. Trophy has been operational since 2010. In 2018, Trophy was sold to the US Armored Forces and in 2021, it was selected for the German Leopard and British Challenger tanks.
The system is currently installed on 16 platforms around the world, but it had not been operated on any major scale to protect tanks until the war which began in October 2023, with hundreds of maneuverable systems in the field. In meeting the challenge of anti-tank missiles, which military experts define as unprecedented, the system is successfully withstanding attacks from Hezbollah on Israel’s northern front.
Trophy has been operational since 2011 and according to Rafael’s website, the company has sold over 2,000 platforms which have seen over 2 million hours of operations. As threats to armored vehicles evolve, from RPGs to advanced anti-tank guided missiles, the integration of active protection systems like TROPHY is seen as essential for maintaining battlefield dominance.
Installed on the Merkava IV and Namer APC, Trophy was used extensively by the IDF, especially during the recent Israel-Hamas War. The system has also been installed on over a dozen different platforms around the world including the US Army’s Abrams MBTs, the UK’s Challenger MBTsas well as the Boxer, Patria AMV and others.
In January, EuroTrophy GmbH, the German subsidiary of Israel’s defense group Rafael Advanced Defense Technologies, announced that it had signed a €330 million contract with KNDS Deutschland to supply its Trophy active protection system (APS) for the Leopard 2 A8 main battle tank programs of Lithuania, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Croatia.
APS systems such as Trophy are designed to detect and intercept any anti-tank threats before hitting the platform, including anti-tank guided missiles, RPGs, drones and more. Developed as a result of cooperation between the IDF and Rafael, the company describes it as “the world’s only combat-proven active protection system.”
