Hungarian Lynx IVCs will be equipped with ADS StrikeShield hard-kill protection from Rheinmetall

With a budget of only € 2,5 billion in 2021 representing 1,5% of GDP, and a workforce of 20.000, the Hungarian armed forces are among the smallest in Europe. But the country has embarked, in 2020, in a vast program to modernize its military capabilities, with the objective of achieving a defense effort of 2% of GDP by 2025, in accordance with the country's commitments to NATO. And if Budapest does not plan to significantly extend the format of its forces, they will be particularly well equipped, in application of the Zrinyi 2026 plan launched in 2026. Among the most significant acquisitions of the country in recent months, we can cite the order of 56 tanks Leopard 2 A4 and A7+, with 24 Pzh2000 self-propelled guns 155mm, as well as 20 armed helicopters H145M and 16 maneuver helicopters H225M Caracal. In addition, in September 2020, the country became the first customer of the KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle from Germany's Rheinmetall, with an order for 218 units.

And while the Hungarian forces will obviously be remarkably equipped, they will also be very well protected. Indeed, Rheinmetall has just announced the signing of a contract worth € 140m to equip the entire VCI Lynx fleet. the Hard-kill Active Defense System, or ADS StrikeShield version, the 3rd version of this system. This is, again, a first export success for the German APS (Active Protection System), Berlin having preferred to acquire the Israeli Trophy to protect the equivalent of a tank company Leopard 2. It is true that the StrikeShield is not, strictly speaking, the equivalent of the TROPHY, a much heavier and more expensive system intended to protect heavy tanks, where the German ADS, lighter, is designed to protect potentially lighter armored vehicles. He also participates, in this capacity, in the assessment conducted by the US Army to protect its Stryker, and is therefore confronted with TROPHY VPS, a light version of the Israeli system.

Rheinmetall's StrikeShield has real arguments to make against its Israeli competitors, it is true at the origin of the very existence of the Hard-Kill system. It is in fact the system with the lowest electromagnetic radiation on the market, so as to preserve the passive stealth of the armored vehicles. It is also the one that displays the shortest reaction times. Thus, during tests, ADS has shown itself capable of intercepting projectiles fired at very short distances, making it particularly effective in urban areas. It is also very precise, and was able to detect 7,62mm projectiles during tests, although the system judged that interception was not required due to the low threat posed by the. small arms.

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