Iron Fist is the Israel Military Industries (IMI) hard-kill active protection system (APS), with a modular design allowing adaptation to a range of platforms ranging from light utility vehicles to heavy armoured fighting vehicles. The concept was revealed by IMI in 2006 and was expected to enter Israel Defense Forces tests by mid 2007. The system has already been successfully tested against a wide variety of threats including rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles and tank-fired HEAT ammunition and kinetic energy penetrators. A fixed radar sensor developed by IAI-Elta and an optional passive infrared detector developed by Elbit's Elisra detect incoming threats. When a threat is imminent, an explosive projectile interceptor is launched towards it. The interceptor explodes in close proximity of the threat, destroying or deflecting and destabilizing it without detonating its warhead. For this, only the blast effect of the explosive is used — the interceptor casing is made of combustible materials so no fragmentation is created in the explosion, helping minimize collateral damage.
