The Army confirmed Thursday its search for an active protection system for Stryker vehicles includes an offering from Germany’s Rheinmetall, and it will test the system alongside a lighter version of
Leonardo DRS’s TROPHY capability at a demonstration in February.
Ashley John, director of communications for Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, told Defense Daily the Army will use the upcoming evaluations to decide whether one or both capabilities will move forward to a vehicle integration phase.
Photo: U.S. Army
“We are currently evaluating additional non-developmental Active Protection Systems, specifically the UBT/Rheinmetall Active Defense System and a lighter weight Trophy system from DRS/Rafael. After evaluations are complete, we expect senior Army leadership to make a decision on which [non-developmental] system(s) and platform(s) will proceed to a full platform installation and characterization activity,” John said.
Rheinmetall had not previously announced its Active Defense System would be included in the upcoming demonstration “rodeo” to test anti-tank missile protection capability offerings for Strykers.
The German manufacturer disclosed at October’s AUSA conference it was working with Raytheon [RTN] on the developing the Lynx fighting vehicle for the Army’s upcoming Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle competition (Defense Daily, Oct. 9).
Leonardo DRS and Rafael announced Tuesday the lighter version of their TROPHY active protection system would be included in the upcoming February demonstration (Defense Daily, Jan. 8).
Leonardo previously showcased the TROPHY VPS, which is 40 percent lighter than its APS counterpart, on a Bradley fighting vehicle at a series of live-fire qualification in Israel last year.