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Overnight, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles toward the area of Har Dov in northern Israel. As a result, an Israeli civilian doing infrastructure work was injured and he was later pronounced dead. The victim was identified as Sharif Suad, a resident of Ras al-Ein, an Arab village in the Galilee. Overnight, IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Chebaa in southern Lebanon, including a weapons storage facility and a launcher used by the terrorist organization. In addition, IDF soldiers fired to remove a threat in the area. Furthermore, IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah operational infrastructure in the...

TOKYO -- Despite fielding a smaller army, Ukrainian forces have put up a tougher response than anticipated to Russia's invasion thanks in no small part to the multitude of Javelin missiles provided by Western nations. Measuring 1.2 meters in length, the Javelin can be transported and fired by a single soldier. Yet the weapon, made by American contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, has enough firepower to pierce tank armor from 2.5 km away. The traits have made the Javelin the weapon of choice for repelling tank invasions in urban settings. A Javelin operator can covertly approach and engage a target...

U.S. 5th Fleet ships seized approximately 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition from a stateless fishing vessel during a flag verification boarding in accordance with customary international law in the North Arabian Sea, Dec. 20. U.S. Navy patrol coastal ships USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Typhoon (PC 5) found the weapons during a search conducted by embarked U.S. Coast Guard personnel. The illicit weapons and ammunition were later transported to guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77) where they await final disposition. The stateless vessel was assessed to have originated in Iran and transited international waters along...

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — Fighting rages in Ukraine, Leaders in Europe on Wednesday welcomed back a Cold War Hammer. Twelve of the previous one hundred forty, Close-air support A-10 “Warthogs” — designed in the 1970s to knock out Soviet tanks — are back in Germany.

An antitank missile has been fired at an IDF vehicle from the Har Dov area (Shebaa Farms) in a Hezbollah ambush Wednesday morning, and there are reportedly seven casualties, who are receiving treatment. A helicopter has been taking casualties to a hospital. The IDF is certain that none of its soldiers was abducted. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the attack, through journalist Rassan Ben Jiddo, who is close to the terrorist militia. ZAKA emergency services initially said that three people were hurt. The IDF spokesman said that an antitank missile was fired at an IDF vehicle that was moving along...

The IRA has a secret arsenal of deadly munitions capable of bringing down military helicopters and penetrating PSNI Land Rovers, killing all personnel traveling inside. Millionaire Florida stockbroker turned IRA gunrunner, Mike Logan, says he sent the powerful incendiary shells to the Provisionals who tested them and were “delighted with the results”. […] As well as arming the Provisionals with hundreds of handguns as previously reported, he has now disclosed that he also sent munitions as powerful as those the US Army deployed against Saddam Hussein in the Iraq war. He claims that years after the IRA ceasefire, the Provos...

NEW DELHI: Israel has upstaged the US in the ongoing race to bag the huge deal to supply third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Army, in a project which could well be worth $1 billion eventually. Defence ministry sources said the plan to go in for the American FGM-148 Javelin ATGMs has "virtually been shelved" because of Washington's reluctance to provide full military knowhow - licensed "transfer of technology (ToT)'' - to allow India to indigenously manufacture the "tank killers'' in large numbers after an initial off-the-shelf purchase. Instead, the Army has already completed extensive trials of the...

"Trophy" system is activated for the first time during an IDF operation; force identifies and kills the Gazan gunman. A special missile defense system deployed in IDF armored units stopped an anti-tank missile fired by terrorists near the Gaza security fence, the first time the system has been used during an IDF operation. The IDF Spokesperson's office reported that the “Windbreaker” system managed to identify and disable the missile, and that no damage was caused to the tank or its crew. Shortly thereafter, IDF troops identified an armed man in their proximity and opened fire, killing the gunman at the...

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi revealed on Tuesday that an anti-tank missile was fired more than two weeks ago at an Israeli tank on the Gaza border and penetrated its outer shell. "On December 6, a Kornet rocket was fired for the first time and hit an IDF tank and penetrated its outer shell," Ashkenazi told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, saying that the Kornet missile penetrated the tank exterior shell but failed to detonate inside it.- Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi revealed on Tuesday that an anti-tank missile was fired more...

Translation from Hebrew to English by me The Israeli Defense Ministry will be transfering to the Americans in Iraq 40 Armored Hummers, to their request, after their factory in America did not stick to its timetable for supplying these to the American military (Israel Radio). Israel Radio reports also (listening now) "Israel understands the situation America is facing in Iraq. This is a goodwill gesture by Israel." The US asked Israel for these Hummers due to the fact the factory in charge of supplying these to US forces in Iraq was not able to meet the need of the US...

Israel Looks to New of Army Vehicles GAVIN RABINOWITZ Associated Press JERUSALEM - To boost the maneuverability of its army, particularly in the urbanized West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli military plans to equip its troops with armored vehicles that use wheels instead of tracks, Israeli officials said. The military will buy 500 American-made Stryker LAV-3 armored personnel carriers for its soldiers, the Haaretz daily newspaper said. The $750 million purchase of the Strykers will be funded by America's annual defense aid to Israel, Haaretz said. The Strykers, expected to be in use within seven years, would replace...

Egypt - TOW IIA Anti-Armor Guided Missiles (Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Oct. 30, 2007) [With thanks to www.defense-aerospace.com ] WASHINGTON --- On October 29, 2007 the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Egypt of TOW IIA anti-armor guided missiles as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $99 million. The Government of Egypt has requested a possible sale of 2,000 TOW 2A Missiles, plus 28 buy-to-fly missiles, containers, test sets and support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications...

Hezbollah television claims guerrillas attacked advancing Israeli troops about five miles inside the Lebanese border, destroying seven tanks. Militants claim the other six tanks were destroyed in another area along the border. Residents of Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley say an Israeli drone fired a missile into a minibus, killing one person and wounding 12. Another Israeli airstrike targeted a road, while other planes dropped warning leaflets. Meantime, Israel says it's delaying a new ground offensive in Lebanon until the weekend to give diplomats more time to work out a proposed cease-fire. Prospects for a U.N. resolution are uncertain, with the...

January 11, 2005: Israel has decided not to buy American Stryker wheeled armored vehicles for two of its infantry brigades. Instead, it has designed a new armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the chassis of older Merkava I and II series tanks. These tanks are being retired, and one such Merkava I is being turned into a prototype of the new “Nemerah” (“Tigress”) vehicle. This APC has the thick armor of the Merkava, but the turret is removed and a remotely controlled (from inside the vehicle) heavy machine-gun would be added. The Merkava lends itself to this kind of modification,...

Can anyone tell me how the Iraqi insurgents are able to penetrate our invincible Abrams tank?

The U.S. Army is carrying out an aggressive development program to produce a new, lightweight composite armor for its next generation tank. This vehicle, part of the FCS (Future Combat System) series of vehicles, will weigh under 30 tons. The current U.S. tank, the M-1, weighs 70 tons. Composite armor was invented in Britain during the 1980s. The British developers had found that layers of different metals and ceramics made the armor lighter, and more resistant to penetration by solid shot or HEAT shells. The U.S. added a layer of depleted uranium to its composite armor, and produced the most...

(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which terrorists have destroyed IDF tanks. At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets. About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have managed to penetrate an IDF Merkava tank using a missile and the army is now checking if double headed anti-tank missiles have made their way to Gaza, Channel 10 reported Wednesday. IDF tanks in northern Gaza on Wednesday. Photo: AP According to the report, the missile was fired at an IDF tank on Tuesday and its jet stream passed between the tank's soldiers, who subsequently suffered from smoke inhalation. Details released by the IDF about the incident on Tuesday said that four soldiers had inhaled smoke and suffered minor bruises, but had not stated...

One of the major military surprises of the fighting in Lebanon has been the apparent vulnerability of Israeli armour to Hezbollah anti-tank rockets. --- The AT-13 Metis or Saxhorn is a modern tube-launched successor to the Sagger. Its tandem-shaped warhead can punch through armour of up to 46cm (18 inches) thick. The tandem warhead is designed to counter reactive armour as used on many Israeli vehicles. Reactive armour is essentially made up of explosive pads or bricks on the outside of the tank which explode outwards when hit by an incoming missile. This disrupts the effect of the missile warhead,...

It was named one of Time magazine’s best inventions of 2008, but Raytheon’s Active Protection System (APS), formerly known as “Quick Kill,” was nowhere to be found on the floor of the Washington Convention Center at the Army’s annual conference this week. I asked the Raytheon folks about its status and the best they could come up with was that the program is “maturing”; there was no APS on display nor were there videos showing field tests of the system. By contrast, over at the Israeli Military Industries booth, the Israelis were showing video of their “Iron Fist” APS in...