BAE Systems has been awarded the U.S. Army’s Soft Kill Active Protection System program of record, marking a major step in the service’s effort to enhance the survivability of ground combat vehicles against modern battlefield threats.
The program will equip U.S. Army combat vehicles with advanced electronic warfare capabilities designed to disrupt and defeat incoming threats before they reach the platform. The effort will use BAE Systems’ Rapid Optical Observation and Kill system, known as ROOK, to counter threats including unmanned aerial systems and anti-tank guided missiles.
ROOK System to Strengthen Vehicle Survivability
ROOK is a soft-kill countermeasure system designed to improve situational awareness and provide rapid threat response in complex combat environments. Unlike hard-kill active protection systems, which physically intercept incoming projectiles, soft-kill systems use electronic countermeasures to confuse, jam, or disrupt the guidance systems of incoming threats.
According to BAE Systems, this approach can render threats ineffective while preserving the limited magazine depth of hard-kill kinetic countermeasures. The system is intended to operate as part of a layered vehicle protection architecture, helping crews survive in increasingly contested battlespaces shaped by anti-armor weapons, drones, and electronic warfare.
“Modern ground warfare demands a layered defense, and soft-kill technologies are a critical, complementary component,” said Dave Gillespie, director of Optics and Countermeasure Solutions at BAE Systems. “ROOK offers a cost-effective, sustainable defense with an infinite magazine depth, continuously disrupting enemy systems.”
U.S. Army Advances Layered Active Protection
The Soft Kill APS program builds on previous research and development work and supports the U.S. Army’s broader objective of rapidly fielding adaptable active protection capabilities across its armored and tactical vehicle fleets.
The contract will also support further development of BAE Systems’ Stormcrow and TERRA RAVEN countermeasure systems, along with the delivery of prototype systems for vehicle integration and testing.
The award reflects the growing importance of electronic warfare and active protection in modern ground combat. Lessons from recent conflicts have shown that armored vehicles face an expanding range of threats, including loitering munitions, first-person-view drones, anti-tank guided missiles, and sensor-guided weapons.
Electronic Warfare Becomes Central to Vehicle Protection
BAE Systems said its next-generation vehicle protection systems are part of the company’s Intrepid Shield layered approach to platform survivability. The company has provided survivability equipment and electromagnetic warfare technologies to the U.S. military and allied forces for decades.
The system is being developed and manufactured at BAE Systems’ facility in Austin, Texas, with research and development support from Merrimack, New Hampshire.
The U.S. Army’s selection of a soft-kill APS program of record highlights a broader shift in armored vehicle protection. As modern battlefields become more saturated with drones, precision-guided weapons, and electronic threats, survivability increasingly depends on layered defenses that combine detection, electronic disruption, kinetic interception, and rapid crew awareness.