Posted on 07/25/2014 3:26:10 AM PDT by Star Traveler
JERUSALEM–At least five times in the past week in Gaza, Israeli tanks equipped with a revolutionary defense system have deflected anti-tank missiles fired at them by Hamas fighters, according to the Israeli army.
The success of the Windbreaker system, as it is called in Israel, augments on the ground the technological achievement in the air of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system which Israel credits with neutralizing the intensive rocketing from Gaza of the past two weeks.
The Windbreaker system (known abroad as Trophy), which became operational in 2009, has since been successfully tested by live fire twice when Israeli tank patrols on the periphery of Gaza were fired on two years ago. The current Gaza campaign is the first time the system is being tested in a face-to-face war against advanced Russian anti-tank rockets. In the 2006 Lebanon War against Hezbollah, missiles penetrated 22 Israeli tanks, destroying several.
Installed on Israel’s most-advanced tank, the Merkava 1V, the system’s sensors instantly identify a rocket or RPG heading toward it. Without intervention of the crew, the system fires pellets that detonate the rocket at a safe distance from the tank. It also informs the crew of the location from which the incoming rocket was launched, permitting counter-fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
M48(Patton), A5E3 model.
And if fired at a rocket coming right at you, the pellets will likely continue on towards the shooter.
This country is no longer serious about winning wars, and hasn’t been for about 70 years.
He was. I got the list and the image from his profile page.
Still here!
Cool!
Thanks for the video link. It appears to be a very sophisticated system.
David Drake is one of my favorite SciFi writers...
I’m still here!
That’s a game-changer.
Drozd 1 and 2 had numerous problems and had a nasty habit of killing the infantry accompanying the tank. It also couldn’t provide all-aspect protection and wasn’t terribly smart. After it failed in Afghanistan and Chechnya, they developed Arena.
Nobody said it was perfect. :P Unlike earlier systems, it doesn’t automatically kill infantry near the tank, though.
I considered the probability of the pellets also hitting the shooter of the rocket to be a feature, not a bug...
Regards
Treadheads? Never heard of ‘em.
> Installed on Israel’s most-advanced tank, the Merkava 1V, the system’s sensors instantly identify a rocket or RPG heading toward it. Without intervention of the crew, the system fires pellets that detonate the rocket at a safe distance from the tank. It also informs the crew of the location from which the incoming rocket was launched, permitting counter-fire.
TS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.