El US Army inform\u00f3 que comenzar\u00e1n a incorporar en sus VCI \u201cBradley\u201d, el sistema de Protecci\u00f3n Activa IRON FIST (Pu\u00f1o de Hierro} desarrollado por la empresa israel\u00ed Elbit Systems. Los recientes conflictos han puesto en evidencia vulnerabilidades en los veh\u00edculos blindados, para hacer frente a la amenaza de armas antitanque como RPG, misiles port\u00e1tiles y los m\u00e1s recientes UAS con capacidad letal (UCAS) y las Loitering Munitions (LM), cuya participaci\u00f3n se consolida en los campos de batalla. Esto ha motivado que muchos ej\u00e9rcitos contin\u00faen avanzando en la incorporaci\u00f3n de Sistemas APS, para incrementar la supervivencia de las plataformas y su tripulaci\u00f3n. Cabe destacar que en 2022, tambi\u00e9n el US Army comenz\u00f3 a incorporar el sistema APS \u201cTrophy\u201d desarrollado por la empresa israel\u00ed RAFAEL, en los tanques de batalla MBT M1 Abrams.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 Following a redesign of how\u00a0Elbit Systems\u2019 Iron Fist active protection system<\/a>\u00a0is incorporated onto a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, the U.S. Army is now preparing to field the capability to a full brigade.<\/p>\n The Army has worked toward\u00a0providing the Bradley fleet with APS technology<\/a>\u00a0since receiving a\u00a0directed requirement to do so in 2016<\/a>, but\u00a0the service struggled with the original system<\/a>\u00a0and configuration in earlier characterization testing.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2018, with initial testing, we found various areas where the system had some challenges,\u201d Lt. Col. Mario Iglesias, M2A4 Bradley product manager, told Defense News in a recent interview.<\/p>\n The system was only able to counter 50% of incoming threats, Iglesias said.<\/p>\n Israeli company Elbit Systems and Iron Fist\u2019s lead integrator General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems made significant changes to how the system is installed on a Bradley, and they changed the countermeasure solution. The new version of the system is now called Iron Fist Light Decoupled.<\/p>\n The radars, optical sensors and other parts of the system are now mounted and tuned in different ways, Iglesias said, and the cabling associated with the computer hardware was reconfigured. The biggest change was to the software associated with the ability to correctly identify threats, process information and calculate a response, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the last two, three years, they have been able to mature it to the point that it\u2019s much more reliable, demonstrated in most recent testing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The system, in much more challenging and rigorous testing over the course of 2022, is now able to counter threats 70% of the time, he added.<\/p>\n The testing took place at both Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, from February to September.<\/p>\n \u201cWe truly tested the limits of the system,\u201d Iglesias said. \u201cWe fired a lot more shots and, without giving details \u2026 we made it so a good amount of those shots were in what we call \u2018an operationally relevant environment\u2019 where you have other things operating; we go into areas where there are buildings and other vehicles in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Elbit was able to recently demonstrate in Israel \u2014 using the existing Bradley and Iron Fist Light Decoupled configuration \u2014 the ability to counter drones while still maintaining the ability to target other threats like rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided munitions.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a capability that wasn\u2019t required as part of our initial requirement, but due to what we see in Ukraine there has been some interest in what we can do to protect our vehicles from UAVs,\u201d Iglesias said.<\/p>\n While the Army has determined the system is good enough to field a brigade set in 2025, \u201cwe do not have the funding in order to procure this set<\/a>,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n The Army has yet to decide whether the system will go on more Bradleys or other vehicles, according to Iglesias. In the meantime, the service is conducting\u00a0a limited characterization effort<\/a>\u00a0for the medium variant of the Trophy APS\u00a0currently fielded on Abrams main battle tanks<\/a>\u00a0and the StrikeShield system.<\/p>\n The Trophy is made by Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The StrikeShield was developed by Rheinmetall Protection Systems in Germany. The company formed a joint venture with Unified Business Technologies to introduce StrikeShield into the U.S. market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have obtained funding to move out,\u201d Lisa Gronowski, the Army\u2019s product manager for vehicle protection systems, told Defense News in the same interview.<\/p>\n To test both systems, the Army will use a platform-agnostic rig to collect performance data to decide whether the systems work well enough and are suitable for fielding on ground combat platforms, Gronowski said. Testing is to conclude by the end of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no continued action or phase two level of testing once that\u2019s complete,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n The Army has yet to determine if there is a solution for the Stryker combat vehicle after\u00a0the system<\/a>\u00a0it originally tested\u00a0proved unsuitable for the vehicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the Army focuses on delivering Iron Fist to one brigade, the Pentagon\u2019s chief weapons tester noted in his annual report released this month that the Army intends to repeat the testing it conducted in 2022 related to effectiveness and survivability with production-representative systems prior to a limited-user test in fiscal 2025.<\/p>\n The report also said that senior noncommissioned officers, during a soldier touchpoint in September 2022, suggest improvements, such as giving the Bradley commander \u201cthe means to select and place protection zones in a standby mode as they load and unload dismount soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also noted a recommendation that the system alert crew members on near misses so that they can locate and target the origin of the incoming threat.<\/p>\n