Errymath: trophy

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<img alt="The U.S. Military Is Finally Testing Shotgun-Based 'Force Field' Technology" class="cursor-pointer" data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--JaUmi3f8--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/izihul4v8w5l9gq2yesv.gif" data-chomp-id="izihul4v8w5l9gq2yesv" data-format="gif" height="363" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--JaUmi3f8--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/izihul4v8w5l9gq2yesv.gif" width="800" /><br />
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<b>The Trophy 
Active Protection System.</b><br />
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Years ago, Israeli defense outfit Rafael developed
 the equivalent of a “bubble shield” for military vehicles. The Trophy 
Active Protection System basically blasts incoming missiles into 
oblivion with a turreted shotgun. </div>
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Now this tech is finally running on 
American M1 Abrams tanks and Stryker armored vehicles.</div>
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Active protection systems like Trophy are increasingly important in 
asymmetrical wars like the United States has tended to fight over the 
past few decades. Tanks can cost millions of dollars, are stuffed with 
actual, living humans, and are covered in many layers of the toughest 
armor known to humanity, but some rocket-propelled grenades can slice 
through them like a hot knife through butter.<br />
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That’s a problem. But if a tank could stop the RPG from getting close
 before it made a contact, it could go a long way towards increasing its
 own survivability. That’s how systems like Trophy work:<br />
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The Trophy is a radar rigged paired with shotgun-like weapons that 
destroy projectiles moving toward itself. It has conceptually been 
around for over a decade, but we’ve only seen it in action in the field within the last couple years.<br />
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Trophy is completely automated and capable of responding to an 
incoming projectile much faster than a human could, even at close range.<br />

And it does seem to actually work. Back in 2014, video emerged of an 
RPG being fired at an Israeli Merkava Mk IV tank during one of the 
country’s many conflicts with Gaza, and the Trophy system was seen 
easily swatting the RPG out of the sky:<br />
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Coupled with electronic jamming systems, it seems to work pretty well.<br />

Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, explained in a <a href="https://news.usni.org/2016/04/14/walsh-marines-may-protect-tanks-with-active-and-ew-protection-systems-much-like-ship-self-defense" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>USNI</em></a> report that testing is finally about to begin on American armor, after years of deployment in other countries:<br />

<blockquote>
To that end, the Marine Corps is partnering with the Army
 to test out the Israeli Trophy Active Protection System (APS). The Army
 is leasing four systems and will experiment with their Stryker combat 
vehicle and M1A2 tanks. The Marine Corps is currently modifying some of 
its M1A1 tanks to install mounts for the Trophy system, and the service 
will later work with the Army to test the protective system on the 
Marine tanks against anti-tank guided missiles and RPGs, he told USNI 
News after the hearing. </blockquote>
The United States Navy already uses technology on its warships using 
similar ideas, Walsh explained, but the issue with land vehicles is even
 more complicated.<br />

Weapon systems like tanks and Stryker armored personnel carriers are –
 strangely enough I know – stuck to land. And because of that, they’re 
limited in how big they can be and how heavy they can be. As Walsh 
touched upon in the <em>USNI </em>report, you can’t just keep slapping 
more and more armor onto them. Either they become too unwieldy to use in
 battlefield environments, bogged down with overtaxed engines and 
infrastructure, or they become more and more expensive, with no 
guarantee that the armor will be able to stop current-generation 
projectiles, let alone next-generation ones.<br />

That’s where countermeasure systems like Trophy come in to play. In a
 perfect world, a vehicle equipped with such a system wouldn’t need any 
hard armor. The incoming artillery shells, missiles, and 
rocket-propelled grenades would never even touch the vehicle.<br />

<figure class="has-media media-large has-image"><span class="js_lightbox-wrapper lightbox-wrapper"><span class="magnifier js_lightbox lightbox"></span><img alt="The U.S. Military Is Finally Testing Shotgun-Based 'Force Field' Technology" class="cursor-pointer" data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--aUNlOWLT--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/quxq0iznmjzvuosau2ss.jpg" data-chomp-id="quxq0iznmjzvuosau2ss" data-format="jpg" height="533" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--aUNlOWLT--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/quxq0iznmjzvuosau2ss.jpg" width="800" /><figcaption>M1A1 tank in training (Image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/5392511279/in/photolist-9dw2Jp-ELEr8U-61sog8-91Rx9p-9NUE1F-auC2dz-eyQ3ML-61wuKU-61wuQA-61siig-61sif8-61wuNu-61siBv-61siDM-61sirH-61wuTo-61wv2f-Ct3t9z-61wuYm-61sizp-61sicR-61sit2-CRZezw-9yvWyr-CAFjtE-BFAEEg-rkXEVV-CZMbpi-a3mFx3-9hme9H-61sfQD-a3iNVK-obugjs-61wrPq-9izsQy-u68X-6CNLr1-61wrMb-o7QV4P-n8Ewuz-9dLKzn-BMZyWh-BhJrUi-CZLQMc-7YEQGK-61siMv-d7zto5-61wrSy-a3mFy1-a3mFzy" rel="noopener" target="_blank">US Army</a>)</figcaption></span></figure>

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As it stands, the Army will reportedly test four such systems in 
Stryker vehicles and M1A2 tanks while the Marines will modify some of 
their own M1A1 tanks to mount the Trophy system.<br />

The Stryker is a 19-ton eight-wheeled fighting machine that comes in 
personnel-carrying, reconnaissance, command, firefighting, medical 
evacuation, and various weapon-centric configurations. <em><a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/m1126-stryker-combat-vehicle" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Military.com</a> </em>says the U.S. Army operates more than 2,000 of them.<br />
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<span class="js_lightbox-wrapper lightbox-wrapper"><img alt="The U.S. Military Is Finally Testing Shotgun-Based 'Force Field' Technology" class="cursor-pointer" data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--fpfPszHU--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/xnpxku6acq4zz02jlcdt.jpg" data-chomp-id="xnpxku6acq4zz02jlcdt" data-format="jpg" height="571" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--fpfPszHU--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/xnpxku6acq4zz02jlcdt.jpg" width="800" /></span><br />
<figcaption>Stryker at a training exercise in Korea (Image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/2295718995/in/photolist-4uSagZ-BEaDA-FjdyH-DPXDx-DPX3o-eyCkSM-rz9bb2-fZ6sSB-fjZ3DE-afjoHA-dfRq1X-aFncZp-FjdyD-ERzYD-iYGrtN-fv7PyG-2iwc9T-rz3yLS-qxcYSF-9ikQs9-qxjcog-9ikPTQ-9ihARR-9ikRnu-9ikWzu-Lht9f-9ihDy6-ruFapF-9ikJjA-dehJfQ-9ihAH2-9ihAwD-9khN57-9ihyJr-9VjqVY-9ihyV4-9ikDuG-pT7yoP-fkNMzR-9ihyag-9ihzui-bvTvPu-qCmRLZ-9ikRZL-6TdsnT-9ikKvC-bZMw17-9ikyvQ-qxt1H8-53RLDD" rel="noopener" target="_blank">US Army</a>)</figcaption><figcaption> </figcaption>

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The M1A1 has been a U.S. military mainstay for decades, with a 120mm 
main gun that can hit something more than two miles away. This tank has 
had various tweaks and improvements since its introduction around 1980, 
including the M1A2 which is basically a technological upgrade, as <a href="http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/abrams.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Fprado.com</em></a> explains.<br />

Both variants are still operated by the American military. <br />

The “invisible armor” provided by Active Protection Systems could be a
 huge boost to the strength of these fighting vehicles on the ground, at
 least when it comes to fighting forces with relatively primitive weapon
 systems.<br />

That’s because there are already advanced projectiles, like the Russian <a href="http://www.wired.com/2008/11/russia-unveils/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">RPG-30</a>
 with counter-countermeasures designed to defeat active protection 
systems like Trophy. But don’t worry, the company that developed Trophy 
is already developing a counter-counter-countermeasure system, because 
such is the nature of war.<br />

It’s called “Trench Coat,” and it’s supposed to shoot 17 different projectiles in every direction, according to<a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153102#.VxjoZRMrI_V" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> Israeli defense publications</a>. One of those should hit something.<br />
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Shotgun-Based 'Force Field' Technology

The Trophy Active Protection System. Years ago, Israeli defense outfit Rafael developed the equivalent of a “bubble shield” f...

Errymath

Shotgun-Based 'Force Field' Technology

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