Israeli defense giant ramps up Polish collaboration with cutting-edge systems
The Israeli defense company Rafael, which already manufactures Spike missiles in Poland, is expressing readiness for closer collaboration with Polish companies and the military. Among the offerings is the Trophy system, designed for the active protection of armored vehicles from missiles and drones.
Rafael is one of the largest Israeli arms manufacturers and has been active in Poland for many years. At the Świętokrzyskie MESKO plants, Rafael's Spike LR anti-tank missiles are produced. These missiles, which can be used manually or installed on platforms like Rosomak transporters, have become a key element in the Polish Army's anti-tank arsenal. They are part of the armament on the unmanned ZSSW-30 turret, installed on the new Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles.
Company representatives assure that Rafael is ready to integrate Spike missiles with additional platforms—this includes the currently developing Polish tank destroyer program, which involves light vehicles armed with anti-tank weapons. As Igal Helemski, Rafael's regional director, noted in an interview with PAP, integration could extend to helicopters such as the American AH-64E Apache combat helicopters ordered for the Polish army.
Helemski also expressed readiness to increase the company's industrial involvement in Poland. This means providing launchers and other equipment that accompany missiles, as well as increasing the involvement of Polish firms as partners and subcontractors.
Rafael is also open to selling—and partially producing in Poland—the Trophy system, an active protection system for armored vehicles.
These systems are designed to protect armored vehicles—tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, transporters, or self-propelled howitzers—from various threats, including incoming missiles or hostile drones. The system's general principle is to detect an incoming threat, such as a drone or missile, using a sensor system and to fire small counter-missiles intended to neutralize the threat. The manufacturer assures that the system can detect and track multiple threats simultaneously.
The necessity of equipping armored vehicles with such systems, as experts highlight, stems from lessons learned during the war in Ukraine, where many tanks and other vehicles were destroyed by threats like kamikaze drones.
Recently, the Polish Armament Agency has declared interest in acquiring these systems. According to the Defence24 portal, the systems under consideration include Trophy and the competing Iron Fist system, produced by another Israeli company, Elbit Systems. Iron Fist is currently used on some CV90 infantry fighting vehicles in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.
Trophy system in Korean K2 tanks
The Trophy system is installed and operational on Israeli Merkava tanks. A lighter version has also been developed, suitable for installation on lighter vehicles such as infantry carriers.
Helemski emphasized that Trophy is currently the most advanced and tested system of its kind globally, used by the armed forces of Israel, the USA—on M1 Abrams tanks—as well as in the UK and Germany.
In Poland, the Trophy system would initially be installed on K2 tanks, which Poland is ordering from South Korea, with plans to eventually produce a localized version in domestic plants. In later stages, as Rafael assures, it could also be adapted for other vehicles used in the Polish Army.
