KMW Rafael and GDELS establish joint company for Trophy APS
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Rafael) and General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) announced on November 12 that they have signed an agreement to form a joint venture company under the name of EuroTrophy.
EuroTrophy will be a Germany-based company that will provide potential marketing opportunities, sales and production of the Active Protection System (APS) “Trophy” to European customers and markets. The company will also supply potential vehicle integration services and related through-life support of the APS. Subject to antitrust clearance and other regulatory approvals, the new company is expected to be established by the end of this year.
Rafael’s President and CEO, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Yoav Har-Even: “The establishment of a European joint venture for Trophy is a strategic milestone for Rafael, which speaks volumes of the confidence that European companies have in Trophy as a life-saving system. Germany was the first European nation to choose Trophy to protect its MBTs, joining the U.S. Now with the establishment of EuroTrophy, we are confident that additional European countries will join the growing family of Trophy users, to protect their troops and assets from the growing challenges and threats on the battlefield.”
KMW’s CEO, Ralf Ketzel:”Our joint strategic move to establish the EuroTrophy joint venture is a clear commitment to Germany as a prime business location and underscores the importance of active protection systems. On today’s and tomorrow’s battlefields, they will be an important building block for the crew’s endurance, effectiveness and protection. As the leading system supplier for armored vehicles, the integration of state-of-the-art capabilities into our products is essential.”
“With EuroTrophy we will make a significant step into an important adjacent market for military vehicles since advanced protection technologies will play a crucial role for crew survivability in the future. The establishment of a joint company in Germany is also a clear sign of our commitment to our German and European customers and to international industrial cooperation,” added Alfonso Ramonet, president of GDELS.