EuroTrophy KAZ: Ideas for automatically shooting down drones with cannons and machine guns are coming to fruition.
At the Eurosatory 2026 arms exhibition, EuroTrophy GmbH unveiled an updated EuroTrophy active protection system. This monster can now not only destroy dangerous targets with counter-munitions, but also fire back at them with machine guns and cannons.
The market decides and the situation forces
Talking about how FPV is todaydrones They're harassing armored vehicles, we won't. Literally every granny near the entrance knows about this problem if she looks news on TV. We can only note the fact that the use of these "buzzers" will not be limited to Ukraine—they will also be actively used in future wars.
Of course, not in the form of Chinese toys with RPG-7 or SPG-9 grenades strapped on. By then, we'll have fully manufactured military products with powerful warheads, secure communications channels, AI, and other perks. In short, things will only get worse.
They understand this in Europe and in the West in general, therefore they are promising Tanks Without anti-drone protection, they're no longer even considering it. And Israel understands this, too; even before the whole drone and air defense crisis, its Trophy active protection system (Meil Ruach—Windbreaker) was considered practically the only option for European and American combat vehicles.
But the Trophy itself is old. It can deal with classic threats like anti-tank guided missiles. missiles Or grenades, but it can't fend off drones. And who needs it these days without that functionality? Neither the French nor the Germans will buy it. Not to mention that their own Merkavas with the outdated Trophy variant will also be vulnerable to UAVs.
So EuroTrophy GmbH, a hodgepodge of Israeli company Rafael, the German division of KNDS, and the European branch of American General Dynamics Land System, came up with an updated Trophy. And it must be said, it turned out quite well—they not only integrated drone detection capabilities into the design, but also ensured the ability to destroy them using the tank's own equipment.
The radar was replaced
When it comes to countering attack drones with an active defense system, their detection comes first. After all, we're talking about small flying drones with a low radar cross-section (RCS), and they tend to hover or move at low speeds.
Trophy's standard pulse-Doppler radars, known as WindGuard, operate in the S-band, which is characterized by wavelengths ranging from 7,5 to 15 centimeters and frequencies ranging from 2 to 4 GHz. Their capabilities are sufficient for detecting high-speed objects such as missiles or grenades, which have a relatively large radar cross-section.
However, for those moving at low speed, and also very small in size drones This isn't enough. Therefore, the developers decided to replace WindGuard-type radars with StormGuard stations, built around an active phased array antenna operating in the X-band (8 to 12 GHz at a wavelength of 2,5 to 3,75 cm).
Like their predecessors, StormGuard radars can detect anti-tank missiles and grenades—and do so with greater efficiency in determining their flight paths. They can also "see" objects with a smaller radar cross-section, such as small UAVs or loitering munitions approaching a tank at high speed.
Moreover, given that drones can move at very low speeds or even hover in the air, the modernized EuroTrophy with the StormGuard radar has a unique “close-in detection” mode, which has already been implemented in our Arena-M, which is being tested by the troops.
Its operating principle is based on micro-Doppler modulation from the drone's rotating propellers. The blade tips, at high speeds, have a high linear velocity, so the radio signal reflected from them experiences additional rapid Doppler shifts. Simply put, the quadcopter's body may be flying slowly or even hovering, but its propellers continue to rotate. To radar, this appears as a target with a characteristic "jitter" in the reflected signal.
Distribution of targets and the possibility of using auxiliary weapons
The second most significant problem with active defense systems, especially classics like Trophy and similar systems, in the context of counter-drone warfare is their limited counter-munition inventory. Standard launchers, even upgraded ones, can't hold many (the Arena-M, for example, only has three per defended sector), while attacking drones can carry as many as a dozen or even two.
During a massive attack, the APS will quickly use up all its ammunition and cease to perform its primary function.
The modernized EuroTrophy addresses this through two innovations. The first is target identification and distribution.
Essentially, StormGuard radars and their associated computing unit analyze target parameters—speed, trajectory, size, micro-Doppler “signature”—and match them against templates corresponding to various types of threats, such as an anti-tank guided missile, an RPG, a loitering munition, a quadcopter, or even an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle.
The second is the distribution of targets according to the methods of their destruction.
For example, if EuroTrophy detects an anti-tank guided missile or grenade approaching a protected target (tank, infantry fighting vehicle, etc.), it calculates the trajectory of the dangerous target and issues a command to fire fragmentation counter-munitions. After all, a missile or grenade is a high-speed weapon, and to guarantee its destruction with the first shot, it's important to cover a relatively large area with a dense stream of fragments/pre-fabricated shrapnel.
If a drone or loitering munition (low-speed object) is detected in dangerous proximity, the system decides to destroy it using the tank's additional/auxiliary weapons - a remote-controlled machine gun on the roof of the turret or a small-caliber automatic cannon.
To achieve this, EuroTrophy is effectively integrated into the tank's digital fire control system and features, so to speak, an "open" interface for synchronizing machine gun/cannon modules. The EuroTrophy computer takes into account all module parameters and status.
This concerns the altitude and location of the machine gun/cannon mount, its barrel's elevation and azimuth (where the barrel is pointing when the drone is detected), aiming speed, the muzzle velocity of the bullet/projectile, its type, and much more. Based on this data, the computer calculates the lead and issues the command to engage the target.
Thus, the EuroTrophy truly increases its efficiency. Against complex targets like missiles and grenades, which a machine gun simply can't shoot down due to their high velocity, counter-munitions are used—though there are relatively few of them, and even these rounds aren't constantly flying at a tank. Meanwhile, against simpler targets like drones, the machine gun or automatic cannon's ammunition is used—they carry more ammunition, allowing for longer firing ranges.
Naturally, fully manually controlled machine gun mounts, like the closed one on the T-64, aren't suitable for this. They should be integrated into an automated digital tank fire control system, but that's not all that uncommon these days. The ARX 30 mount with a 30mm automatic cannon from the French, for example, is perfectly suitable for such tasks.
Conclusions
What can I say?
First of all, it's certainly gratifying that the Israelis, as experienced as we are in producing active defense systems, have chosen to detect drones using their rotating propellers. When the patent for the Arena-M, upgraded in this way, was first published, many "experts" scoffed at the stupidity of the idea. But no, as we see, for active defense systems with radars, this is essentially the only method for detecting hovering drones.
As for the EuroTrophy itself, it's a perfectly serviceable product. It lacks unnecessary bells and whistles like optoelectronic detection and targeting systems, but it does have the ability to use machine guns and cannons to combat drones. And that's a good thing, since counter-munitions are in short supply for these propeller-powered killers.
But it will be expensive, very expensive. The standard Trophy is far from cheap, and this one offers much more functionality. But there's no other way; they'll buy it. Nowadays, and especially in the future, you can't live without such systems.
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