Thousands of Indian main battle tanks are expected to be equipped with Israel’s Trophy (“Windbreaker”) active defense system, including Arjun tanks manufactured in India and the Russian T-90S tanks it manufactures under license.

At the Aero India 2025 exhibition, Israeli defense manufacturing company Rafael and Indian company Larsen & Toubro signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote the Trophy active defense system to meet the needs of the Indian Ministry of Defense.

India is a potential market for this Israeli system, as the Indian army has thousands of main battle tanks. India currently operates around 2,400 Soviet-era T-72 tanks, 1,600 T-90S and T-90S Pishma tanks (licensed from Russia), and 124 indigenously built Arjun tanks.

India faces the challenge of modernizing its battle tank fleet, especially in light of increasing military competition with neighboring Pakistan and the possibility of conflict with China.

While details of the deal, including quantities and shipping costs, have not yet been disclosed, local production of the Trophy system in India may be possible thanks to the Make in India program.

The Make in India program is a government initiative aimed at encouraging companies to develop, manufacture, and assemble products within India, while providing incentives for investment in the manufacturing sector.

The Israeli Trophy system technology is field-proven and has proven effective in protecting armored vehicles from anti-tank missiles, RPGs and other threats.

This system is not limited to the Arjun and Pashma tanks alone, but can also be integrated into the new Indian-made Zorwar light tank.

By integrating the Trophy system, it will not only increase the combat readiness of the Indian ground forces, but also position India as a major player in the global active defense systems market in the future.