General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), along with its Canadian subsidiary, is planning to conduct the live-fire testing of combat vehicle equipped with active protection system (APS) for Canadian Army officers and defence procurement officials.
Scheduled for this month (October) at a Canadian test range, the live-fire event will evaluate a Canadian Army’s light armoured vehicle III (LAV III) equipped with a version of the TROPHY APS against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), reports DefenseNews citing defense and industry sources.
The demonstration, which follows a series of tests concluded last month on the GDLS-integrated vehicle equipped with a version of Trophy, will coincide with the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada’s annual conference.
The Trophy system, designed to neutralise chemical energy threats in flight, from rocket-propelled grenades to high-explosive rounds and tandem warhead anti-tank guided missiles, was deployed in August 2009.
Israel’s state-owned Rafael-developed Trophy system, which is used on Merkava Mk4 main battle tanks.
First activated during a March 2011 Israeli operation in Gaza, the Trophy accomplished a second operational intercept against an anti-tank missile fired at an Mk4 tank in August 2012.
Rafael said its Trophy-LV version uses energetic blades to defeat RPGs launched at very short range and offers similar 360-degree protection as the larger variants.
On 3 October 2013, the Canadian Army Col. Andrew Jayne had expressed army’s intentions to purchase limited quantities of APS to protect the service’s highest value assets and the orders for actively protected vehicles are reportedly slated for 2023-27.
Image: Canadian Army’s LAV-III vehicle. Photo: courtesy of Helene Samson.
