While the Army moved quickly to field Trophy active protection systems on Abrams tanks, it has struggled to get similar protection on its combat vehicles.
The modern battlefield has become a complex theater of threats, from powerful anti-armor and anti-aircraft missiles to the dawn of small but lethal unmanned aircraft. The Army and Marine Corps know these threats are not just in the hands of organized armies, but have proliferated and will be a part of any potential future conflict the U.S. military faces. To counter these threats, a major modernization effort to incorporate defensive protection systems on aircraft and ground vehicles is underway.
The Army is looking into the future of vehicle protection, with plans to pursue laser-warning systems, reactive armor tiles and signature management solutions.
Army leaders are building in manned and unmanned options into all future ground and helicopter vehicles. This gives commanders on the ground the choice on how to employ their forces.
A variety of issues have caused six to eight month schedule slippages in two out of three of the Army's efforts to qualify active protection systems on combat vehicles.