Global conflicts are demonstrating the importance of defending against asymmetric threats, making advances in force protection essential. This is resulting in new systems that enable manoeuvrability and survivability in the face of evolving threats enable forces to effectively complete their missions and uninterrupted combat continuity.
Social media channels are awash with footage of anti-tank missiles and one-way attack drones destroying personnel and equipment on both sides of the war in Ukraine, while in Gaza, Hamas regularly uploads videos of rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks on Israeli armoured platforms. ‘You can have the best air force and intelligence in the world, but if you don’t have strong, fast, powerful and long-range manoeuvre to break through enemy lines, you cannot win a war,’ said Guy Bitton, Head Of Business Development at Rafael’s Land & Manoeuvre Directorate.
Force protection (FP) has traditionally been defined as a series of defensive measures designed to protect military personnel, equipment and infrastructure from symmetric and asymmetric threats to preserve freedom of action and operational effectiveness. However, given the rapidly evolving nature of the modern battlespace, the most advanced armed forces worldwide are now considering how technologies used to defend static positions can be employed to support offensive operations, particularly combat manoeuvre through complex and contested areas of operation. Ongoing conflicts worldwide continue to illustrate the importance of FP across the contemporary operating environment (COE). In understanding the notion of asymmetric warfare in the COE, one sees that weaponised fixed-wing and quadrotor drones can incapacitate ground combat vehicles worth ‘millions of dollars’.
Recent conflicts have highlighted the danger of asymmetric threats, ’When an adversary doesn’t have the budget, they start to become very sharp and intelligent and today everybody can buy anti-tank missiles and rockets in a very cheap and easy way to facilitate this kind of strike,” Bitton said. As a result three-dimensional, 360-degree, “full hemisphere” protection against threats is vital.
Evolving Force Protection
Rafael’s Land & Manoeuvre Directorate, which has a long history in FP, is now responding quickly to emerging demand signals from the COE, which include the ability to protect combat manoeuvre forces during offensive operations. ‘Rafael is a technology lab for Israel’s Ministry of Defense, so there is a very close connection with the Israel Defense Forces [IDF],’ said Bittion, ‘This is why we bring a lot of technology and a lot of systems and capabilities that can help the force to manoeuvre on the battlefield,’ he said, highlighting Rafael’s approach to FP. The cornerstone of Rafael’s FP offering is the Trophy Active Protection System (APS) which has been combat-proven onboard multiple Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ground combat vehicles, including the Merkava MkIV main battle tank and Namer armoured personnel carrier.
Trophy is designed to protect vehicles in open terrain as well as in densely populated, urban areas and due to its extensive operational history with the IDF, many european and other international users have opted for the APS on their MBTs and AFVs. ‘The feedback we have received from the IDF shows that Trophy is not just an APS but also an enabler for offensive operations. Not only does it protect the team, Trophy also enables manoeuvre,’ Bitton said, highlighting video footage which showed Trophy successfully neutralising RPGs at very close-in range. ‘If a commander identifies a point on the map where his unit must get to within a certain period of time, Trophy enables that unit to reach that place under any threat. This is force protection for an agile and rapid combat manoeuvre force,’ he continued.
Futureproofing Force Protection
Rafael is now responding to requests from the IDF and international customers, by constantly adapting to evolving threats, including airborne. Some of these capabilities have been proven in recent live fire tests, which show top attack defence capability. The Trophy APS has been able to protect vehicles against top and salvo attacks by anti-tank guided munitions and loitering munitions. ‘Our message to all of our customers, whether they be in Israel, Europe, North America and beyond, is that we now bring even more capabilities to the full hemisphere arena,’ enabling the most advanced protection to both crews and platforms in the field, Bitton stated.
Rafael’s latest Modular C-UAS solutions for force protection can operate alongside Trophy APS in a combat formation to further improve combat ground manoeuvre across the battlespace. The C-UAS Drone Dome solution, with its laser interception capability, can be integrated onboard 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 wheeled and tracked vehicles to support counter-drone missions as well as other force protection mission sets.
The company’s Modular C-UAS solutions are capable of detecting, identifying and neutralising drone threats thanks to electro-optical and radar sensors and a variety of plug-and-play soft and hard kill effectors, which can include Rafael’s Radio Frequency jammer; Lite Beam high energy laser; and anti-drone drones.
Additional hard kill effectors include a 30mm cannon on board Rafael’s Samson remote-controlled weapon station (which can be programmed to fire airburst ammunition) and the company’s popular Spike LR2 anti-tank and anti-personnel missile.
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