Coming to an M1A2 near you...
when will the “Palestinians” ever tire of living like rats running through rubble?
OUTSTANDING!
Headlines from Gaza:
Windbreaker Makes Hamas Break Wind
Unfortunately, despite Rafael’s claims to the contrary, the Trophy, aka Windbreaker, system has claimed the life of one Israeli solder; further, only one brigade (401st armored) of tanks has the system.
That said, the 401st is unstoppable, unless the politicians decide to pause, allowing Hamas time to regroup and come up with a defense against it.
Right now, the Israelis are apparently debating whether of not to go for a major effort to totally destroy Hamas’ underground command center in Gaza City - which would be spearheaded by the 401st after IDF victories in Shejaiya, E. Rafah and Khan Younes.
“the Windbreaker system...”
Great technology, I’m very happy they have it.
Sure reminds me of Spinal Tap’s second album: “Break Like The Wind.”
This is an old idea though really, seriously studied with various alternatives having been tested since the Yom Kippur War was analyzed at least. Sturdy, reliable, sensors and electronics having been the bottleneck until mid-eighties. At that point the cost per vehicle became the main consideration. It came down to money compared to how real the threat was considered to be and when the threat was real enough it was sure to be deployed by anyone would could afford it.
Russians have considered the threat very real since WWII but not so severe that it couldn't be defeated by having more infantry with their tanks. Urban warfare becoming more common rules that solution out to a degree, so they started extensive testing of such systems in the late eighties. The few tanks fitted with one of their systems performed well in Chechnya leading Russia to start widespread retrofitting albeit at a slow pace, or at least so I've heard.
There were multiple systems tested in both Russia and the US that I know of, probably in other countries as well. A friend in AL who works with the M1 says kits to fit a system like this to both the M1 and Bradley as well as M113s are already available but weather that means designed and tested or sitting in a warehouse waiting for the order to install them, I have no idea. Even reactive armor kits would be a major improvement on the M113. They melt like solder, splashing aluminum around when hit from an angle that isn't lethal (given the fact they're a shoebox, it's surprising how often they were hit from a bad angle in VN and not penetrated)
Obviously Israel can do what we and the Russians can when it comes to armor and most other weapons systems as long as they're willing to spend the money. The Russian system is known to work and work well it's just not been deployed to any great extent. Whether their system can be easily fitted to APCs and such, I don't know.
And believe it or not, this administration wants to give Qatar — al Qaeda friendly Qatar — our Javelin, anti-tank, fire-and-forget, missile system.
I read that last week, I think, and I nearly choked.
With that system, counter fire is much less significant because the shooter can shoot and run.
The next American president along with Israel and the entire west should stop all TV broadcasts in Islamic countries and cut in with a “commercial” that runs 24/7 for a week. The “commercial” would tell them that unless all terrorist activity is stopped Mecca will be destroyed. End the “commercial” with an image of a thermonuclear device going off, mushroom cloud and all.
The response would be that zillions of islamists would go to Mecca to stand around and scream and holler. Fine, but keep to the plan...
..................
Expect some RPG-30s to find its way into the region soon. It fires a smaller projectile a fraction of a second ahead of the main to clear a path for the warhead.
That’s a game-changer.