The US Army Command decided not to wait for the completion of the second phase of testing the Trophy active tank protection system (Meil Ruach, Windbreaker) and to begin the process of equipping Abrams tanks in service with it.
The first protection developed in Israel will be received by about 100 vehicles of a tank brigade stationed in Europe, Defense Update reports. After that, the brigade will be in Europe on a permanent basis, and not on a rotation basis.
The deal is valued at $ 150 million.
Recall that last week the Ministry of Defense approved the purchase of a trial batch of «Windbreakers» for the second phase of testing on Abrams M1A2 tanks.
The Trophy system, called «Meil Ruach» («Windbreaker«) in the Israeli classification, has been in service with the IDF since 2009. It is installed on Merkava IV tanks and Namer armored personnel carriers.
On March 1, 2011, the system was first tested in combat, successfully shooting down an anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip.
