£20 million contract advances Challenger 3 missile protection system

Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems will provide Trophy active protection systems for evaluation and testing for missile protection on Challenger 3 MBTs for the British Army.

The £20 million ($26.2 million) contract follows the completion of three weeks of assessment phase trials where a representative Challenger 3 system dealt with a total of 25 shots, including live intercepts. 

The new contract will see the purchase of Trophy systems and countermeasures and test equipment required for the qualification and integration activity planned for the upcoming demonstration phase.

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Trophy will be tested and integrated with a Challenger 3 to provide enhanced protection against rocket and missile threats, while simultaneously finding the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response.

The Challenger 3 is being manufactured by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) and is expected to enter service in 2027. 

The Trophy demonstration phase is due to begin in 2024 and will be delivered by Rafael and RBSL as the design authority for the Challenger 3 tanks. The testing will occur at Rafael’s facility in Israel, and in UK test ranges.

RBSL was awarded the UK MoD's £800 million contract to upgrade 148 British Army Challenger 2s in May 2021. The upgraded Challenger 3s will be network-enabled, digital MBTs with state-of-the-art lethality, upgraded survivability and world-class surveillance and target acquisition capabilities.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

Challenger 3 (UK)

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Trophy