Effectiveness of Israel's Trophy active protection system against drones has been called into question following combat in Lebanon. Yet sales in Europe remain strong and may grow further.
EuroTrophy Managing Director Dan Kalfus outlined the company's market expansion plans to Breaking Defense. EuroTrophy is the company responsible for the European region and is a joint venture between Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and European firms KNDS and General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS).
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The largest current customer is the German government and KNDS Germany, producing Leopard 2A8 tanks that roll off the production line already fitted with Trophy. According to the Israeli-European venture, approximately 200 vehicles will go to Germany and Norway, followed by a further 200 units for four other countries.
On the strength of this, EuroTrophy believes it can expand its European customer base, including through integration on new platforms such as the CV90 IFV, Boxer armored vehicle, and Patria AMV, all of which are used across many European countries, including variants such as the Polish KTO Rosomak.
Germany has also built out supporting infrastructure for active protection systems, and the company expects other current and future operators to do the same. The broader ambition is to make Trophy a European standard.
From Defense Express's perspective, the Israeli system's prospects in Europe do look reasonable. However, they could be undermined by domestic European companies developing alternatives, as well as the political positions of various governments.
That said, it is important to note that while Trophy can counter anti-tank missiles and conventional munitions, significant doubts exist about its effectiveness against FPV drones, a serious shortcoming, given that drones currently represent the greatest threat to armored vehicles on the modern battlefield.
Rafael claimed back in 2024 that its APS can intercept strike UAVs, a claim subsequently used in the system's marketing. However, during fighting in Lebanon, FPV drones successfully struck Merkava 4 tanks equipped with Trophy systems without apparent difficulty.
The details and statistics needed for a thorough assessment are not available to us, but the current impression is that Trophy still cannot effectively engage the most prevalent threat on the modern battlefield. This factor may also influence the systems further prospects in Europe.
For now, what is being discussed is largely EuroTrophy's plans and ambitions. In practice, equipping vehicles with active protection remains expensive and far from universal. An increasing number of countries are nonetheless paying attention and even attempting to develop cheaper alternatives including in Ukraine.
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