Israel's Rafael eyes expanded collaboration with Poland on missile defense
The Israeli defence company Rafael, which already manufactures Spike missiles in Poland, is expressing its willingness for closer collaboration with Polish companies and the military. The offer includes, among other things, the Trophy system, designed for the active protection of armoured vehicles against missiles or drones.
Rafael is one of the largest Israeli arms manufacturers and has been active in Poland for many years. At the Świętokrzyskie MESKO plants, anti-tank Spike LR missiles designed by Rafael are produced. These missiles, which can be manually operated and installed on vehicles such as the Rosomak, have now become one of the primary types of anti-tank weapons in the Polish Army. They are also part of the armament of the unmanned turret ZSSW-30, installed on the new Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles.
Company representatives assure that Rafael is ready to integrate Spike missiles with additional platforms. This relates to the currently developing Polish tank destroyer programme, involving light vehicles armed with anti-tank weapons, and also, as stated in an interview with PAP by Igal Helemski, Rafael's regional director, helicopters, including the American AH-64E Apache attack helicopters ordered for the Polish army.
Helemski has also expressed readiness to increase the company's industrial involvement in Poland. This includes, as he mentioned, launchers and other auxiliary equipment for the missiles, as well as increasing the participation of Polish companies as collaborators and subcontractors.
Rafael also expresses readiness to sell to Poland—and partially produce in the country—the Trophy system, an active protection system for armoured vehicles.
Such systems are designed to protect armoured vehicles—tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, carriers, or artillery guns from various threats, such as incoming missiles or enemy drones. The fundamental operational principle of the system involves detecting an incoming threat—a drone or missile—using a sensor system and firing small counter-projectiles to neutralise the threat. According to the manufacturer, the system can detect and track several threats simultaneously.
According to experts, the need to protect armoured vehicles with such systems is one of the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, where many tanks and other vehicles were destroyed by weapons, including kamikaze drones.
In recent weeks, the Polish Armament Agency has expressed its intention to acquire such a system. As reported by the Defence24 portal, the systems being considered include Trophy, as well as the competing Iron Fist system, produced by another Israeli company, Elbit Systems. Iron Fist is currently installed on some CV90 infantry fighting vehicles used by Sweden, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.
Trophy system in Korean K2 tanks
The Trophy system is installed and operational on Israeli Merkava tanks, among others. A lighter version has also been developed for installation on lighter vehicles, such as infantry carriers.
Helemski emphasised that Trophy is currently the most advanced and tested system of its kind in the world, used by the armed forces of Israel, the USA—on M1 Abrams tanks—as well as by the United Kingdom and Germany.
In Poland, the Trophy system would initially be installed on K2 tanks, which Poland is currently ordering from South Korea. In the future, it is planned to localise production within domestic plants. In subsequent phases, it could be adapted—Rafael assures—to other vehicles used in the Polish Army.
