Tag: Iron Fist

The US Army recently completed rigorous testing on the Iron Fist Active Protection System (APS) that showed significantly improved results over previous tests. The testing completed in October 2022 of the Iron Fist Light Decoupled (IFLD) system demonstrated improvements in both durability and system effectiveness, compared to the previous testing on the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The Army is considering the system to equip its Bradley, OMFV and other light armored vehicles.

Israel's Ministry of Defense has selected Oshkosh Defense to produce hundreds of hulls for the IDF's new wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers (APC). The announcement follows a process led by the Ministry of Defense's Procurement Mission in the US, in cooperation with the Tank and APC Directorate. The program is likely to produce 500 vehicles, with hundreds more deliveries expected in the future. Eitan will replace M113s in service with the IDF since the late 1960s. 

Israel Integrates "Iron Fist" Active Protection Systems (APS) in the 'Eitan' Armored Personnel Carrier and 'Panda' Armored D9 Bulldozer. A final test series completed the integration process, demonstrating successful interception tests in various challenging scenarios. The video documenting the tests depicts a new version of the APS, employing a smaller radar panel and protected launchers.

Israel will soon begin serial production of Eitan 8x8 armored personnel carriers (APC) at the IDF Technical and Logistics Directorate Development and Maintenance Center, where Merkava and Namer heavy armored fighting vehicles are produced. Eitan is expected to become operational at the end of 2021, replacing the half-century-old M-113 APC.

The Royal Netherlands Army has been working closely with BAE Systems Hägglunds to study the implementation of the Iron Fist APS onto the CV9035NL since 2015. The new systems are expected to join the vehicle as part of its planned Mid-Life Upgrade, thus improving its survivability and situational awareness. The Dutch decision is closely followed by the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, Denmark and Estonia that also operating this vehicle.

RADA unveils at DSEI 2019 two new radars addressing the acute threats that land forces are facing in the modern battlefield. Both radars - the aCHR and xMHR, provide the central sensor element in mobile active protection capabilities - both APS and mobile SHORAD, are based on the company’s modular software-defined radar platform.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced today the selection of Elbit Systems’ Iron-Fist Active Protection System (APS) for the protection of some of the IDF combat and combat support armored vehicles. The selection followed a competitive evaluation of several APS solutions.

Israel's tactical radar pioneer RADA Electronic Industries reported new orders worth US$5 million for two variants of its mobile radars, the Multirole Hemispheric Radar, employed in Counter Rocket Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM), Counter UAV (C-UAV) and Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) applications.

The IDF is evaluating a new configuration of the Iron-Fist lightweight active protection systems (APS) for the protection of medium wheeled vehicles such as the 8x8 Eitan Armored Personnel Carrier and tactical trucks. The system is also considered for the protection of heavy bulldozers.

Part III of our photo review of DEFEXPO 2018 features news of armored vehicles.

Active protection is a new area of interest for the British Army. During DSEI The Leonardo group announced it was selected by the MOD, to demonstrate APS technologies to counter evolving threats. The British MIPS seems to align well with the Modular APS architecture developed in the U.S., as deliverables from both programs will provide common controllers and other key subsystems that will enable the integration and fielding of affordable soft and hard kill APS solutions.