Military May Soon Have "Star Trek" Force Shield to Protect Soldiers, Vehicles

TCV
Apr. 08, 2006

The US military is experimenting with a defense system that is effective in neutralizing rocket-propelled grenades. The system creates a "force shield" that will protect soldiers and military vehicles. It's likened to the defensive shield seen in the sci-fi "Star Trek" TV series and movies, although this system is strictly for a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

The first tests of the Trophy Active Protection System in the US were successfully completed last month by the US Naval Surface Warfare Center. Conducted at the request of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Office of Force Transformation (OFT), the tests certify comprehensive experiments conducted by the Israel Defense Forces, validating Trophy's ability to detect, track and destroy incoming rocket propelled grenades, or RPGs, at safe distances from the host vehicle.

A Stryker eight-wheeled combat vehicle equipped with Trophy underwent testing in support of OFT’s Project Sheriff, or the Full-Spectrum Effects Platform (FSEP). FSEP program officials seek to meet urgent operational requirements for a range of lethal and non-lethal technologies on a rapidly deployable platform. Trophy was selected in 2005 to be FSEP’s active protection solution.

The Dahlgren tests culminated in a live-fire demonstration March 30 for various US and international military dignitaries. Trophy detected, tracked and defeated an inert incoming RPG while the Stryker combat vehicle was on the move. Similar tests were successfully conducted in Israel in late February.

“Our mission is not to discover the 100 percent solution, but to find the best solution that can meet warfighter needs today,” said Marine Corps Col. Wade Hall, transformation strategist at OFT. “Currently, the warfighters’ only counter to the RPG threat is armor, more armor and more armor.

As demonstrated, the Department of Defense now has at its disposal technology that allows US forces to defeat both the ‘archer and the arrow.’

As General George Patton once said, "A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future."

General Dynamics Land Systems and Rafael Armament Development Authority, Ltd. entered into a teaming agreement in 2005 to introduce Trophy in the United States for possible integration on ground vehicle fleets.

Offered as a kit, Trophy would increase lightweight armored vehicles’ survivability and enhance mission profiles. Under the General Dynamics Land Systems-Rafael teaming agreement, General Dynamics serves as the prime contractor for related US Department of Defense programs.