The Spanish Army plans to increase its armored vehicle plans, from the battle to the 8×8 barred vehicle, with an active protection system (APS) to protect against anti-missiles, artillery, rockets, or conventional projectiles.
The use of this type of system has spread in recent years, mainly due to the increase in threats in modern battles. Those who attended the third edition of Feindef had the opportunity to see two APS systems on the market, both Israeli-made, as possible main candidates for the ranks of the Spanish army.
The company GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas presented the Rafael Trophy active protection system installed on board the Ascod vehicle. It should be noted that GDELS, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rafael founded the Eurotrophy company last year to produce, market and sell this system with an eye on European and NATO customers.
A few meters away, not more than a hundred, the company Mechanics & Engineering Escribano shows the Elbit iron fist system installed in its 30 defensive tower at its stand, which will carry the Dragon Army’s 8×8 armored combat vehicle (VCR). In this case the solution was placed in a tower under cooperation between both companies.
Iron fist APS system in Escribano guard 30 towers in Feindef. Photo: Infodefensa.com
Both systems exhibit many similarities and have similar functionality. The radar detects enemy shots, the system calculates the trajectory and immediately activates countermeasures to neutralize the threat if necessary. The answer comes in seconds.
Leopard, 8×8 VCR and VAC
The Army is considering the integration of the APS system in various programs: the 8×8 VCR, the modernization of the Leopard combat tank and also in the longer term the Chain Support Vehicle (VAC).
In the case of the 8×8 VCR, a recent credit extension program approved by the Government opens the door to the incorporation of active protection systems in vehicles. If we talk about leopards, the interest in the APS system has grown especially because of the deployment of the tank in the NATO mission in Latvia.
Outside of Spain, the United States and the United States opted for the Trophy to maintain their Abrams and Challenger cars, respectively. While Germany is also considering the integration of this system in the modernization program of its Leopard car. For its part, the Iron Fist was selected by Belgium for its CV90 armored vehicles. Both the Trophy and the Iron Fist are also used in the Israelite army.
Protection system for armored vehicles
The main purpose of active protection systems is to avoid the impact of weapons against the vehicle that carries it by detecting threats with sensors and radars first and reducing the effectiveness of the weapon. They can be replicated, depending on the method of operation, in two: “soft response” or non-destructive (soft-kill) and “hard response” or destructive (hard-kill).
The former usually ask the threat to change the trajectory or mask of the vehicle to avoid the impact. For this they use different measures such as decoys (IR or straw flowers) or laser shock. While in seconds they are designed to intercept or destroy the enemy projectile before impact against the vehicle. For neutralization, they have a launch that ignites a projectile that explodes near danger.
