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On a dusty, wind-swept field overlooking the Mediterranean, a small team of researchers is putting the final touches on what Israel says is a major game changer in tank defense: a miniature anti-missile system that detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach the armored vehicles. If successful, the "Trophy" system could radically alter the balance of power if the country goes to war again against Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon or Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Its performance could also have much wider implications as American troops and their Western allies battle insurgents in Iraq and...

Responding to a Haaretz report that Syria is boosting its army and moving troops closer to its border with Israel, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Thursday that Israel should refrain from making further statements regarding Syria, and urged officials to avoid a verbal escalation of tensions. Speaking at his weekly meeting with Defense Ministry officials, Peretz said that the situation would be assessed based on concrete information, and that the army would prepare itself as necessary. Earlier Thursday, Israel Radio quoting Syrian parliament member Mohammed Habash as denying the Haaretz report. According to the radio, Habash told the Dubai-based Al...

There are grave concerns among the defense establishment about the possibility that Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip is now in possession of Sagger anti-tank missiles. Recently, Hamas and other Palestinian paramilitary groups have stepped up their efforts to acquire more advanced anti-tank weaponry. This stems, in part, from the relative success of Hezbollah guerrillas armed with anti-tank missiles against infantry and armored units of the Israel Defense Forces during last summer's second Lebanon war. The IDF fears Hamas has succeeded in its efforts to smuggle Sagger-type missiles from Sinai to the Gaza Strip. It appears that the number...

Soldier Hit by Anti-Tank Mine Praises Up-Armor Up-armored humvee saves the lives of soldiers hit by anti-tank mine. U.S. Army Pfc. Durwood Blackmon 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs TIKRIT, IRAQ, Sept. 18, 2006 -- U.S. soldiers are issued cumbersome protective gear that they have to lug, carry and drag everywhere they go. With heavy steel doors and blast shields, vehicles in the Army are no exception either. For one soldier of the 25th Infantry Division, Combat Aviation Brigade, however, both of these security defenses helped to save his life and the life of his fellow comrades when their...

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials said Friday that a senior delegation went to Moscow this week to complain that Russian-made anti-tank missiles were used by Hezbollah guerrillas in their 34-day conflict with Israeli forces in Lebanon. Asaf Shariv, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said that the delegation had gone to Russia, but did not elaborate. The anti-tank missiles proved to be one of Hezbollah's most effective weapons in combat in south Lebanon, killing many of the 118 Israeli soldiers who died in the clashes. Israeli officials say that Iran and Syria passed the arms to Hezbollah after buying...

Israeli Spike snares Tiger By Arie Egozi in Tel Aviv The Spanish army is to equip its Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters with Rafael’s Spike-ER anti-armour missile, with the French army also evaluating the weapon for its production aircraft. Eurocopter has already partially integrated the Spike weapon system on the Tiger using initial funds from Spain, with this work culminating with four test launches of the 8km (5 mile)-range weapon. A full contract is now expected to be placed by year-end to arm Spain’s future fleet of 24 Tigers. Spain has already decided to purchase the ground-launched LR version of the...

<p>QUETTA, Pakistan -- A crowded bus carrying a wedding party hit an anti-tank mine in a volatile region of southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 26 people, a senior government official said.</p>

ORLANDO: Responding to an urgent request from warfighters, Lockheed Martin expanded the capabilities of its Predator anti-tank weapon and delivered 400 rounds to the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Marine Corps requested Lockheed Martin to modify the shoulder-fired, short-range Predator anti-tank weapon into a direct-attack urban assault weapon. Renamed the Short-Range Assault Weapon-Multiple Purpose Variant (SRAW-MPV), the new urban assault missile has a multiple-purpose blast warhead, enabling it to defeat a variety of targets such as buildings and bunkers, as well as light-armored vehicles. "The ability of the SRAW team to field the SRAW-MPV in less than six months in...

Spike on Target By L.¯. 9 March 2005 The modern Spike-LR anti-tank guided missiles, bought by the Polish Ministry of Defense for the Polish Army from the Israeli company Rafael, underwent further tests on a training site near Toruñ at the end of February. The first missile tested destroyed the armor of a tank from a distance of almost 3 kilometers. The long-range Spike-LR is a new generation lightweight, Fire & Forget PLUS multi-purpose missile system with a range of up to 4 km. It takes antitank technology to a whole new level. The basic operation of the missile is...

Search of Nogales home yields anti-tank explosive, grenades NOGALES, Sonora - U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating a heavy weapons cache discovered in this border town that police believe was headed south to arm drug cartels. In a late Wednesday search of a Nogales home, police found an anti-tank warhead, six hand grenades and more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition, Nogales Police Chief Ramses Arce Fierro said Friday. Officers also found an empty missile tube for a larger sized shoulder-fired weapon, he said. A task force of FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were working with...

New Russian weapons are showing up in Iraq, apparently smuggled across the Syrian border. One of the more dangerous has been the RPG-29. This is a larger version of the widely used RPG-7. With a ten pound launcher firing a 14.7 pound 105mm rocket, the RPG-29 warhead is designed to get past some forms of reactive armor (ERA). The larger weapon (3.3 feet long when carried out, six feet long when ready to fire and 65 percent heavier than the 85mm RPG-7) is more difficult to carry around and fire, but some have been captured, and the damage on some...

May 2, 2004: The American Stryker Combat Vehicle is seeing its first war in Iraq. As the Army’s newest armored combat vehicle, the Stryker has endured its share of criticism, some of which is not without substance. The Stryker has some major advantages over its predecessors, the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier and the M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, such as speed and its ability to fire its heavy weapons from controls inside of the vehicle. However, its biggest weakness, ironically, is a new version of the four decade old Russian RPG-7 anti-tank weapon. The Stryker was designed to be a well-protected...

<p>Shortly before dawn on Aug. 28, an M1A1 Abrams tank on routine patrol in Baghdad “was hit by something” that crippled the 69-ton behemoth. Army officials still are puzzling over what that “something” was.</p> <p>According to an unclassified Army report, the mystery projectile punched through the vehicle’s skirt and drilled a pencil-sized hole through the hull. The hole was so small that “my little finger will not go into it,” the report’s author noted.</p>

Huntsville Redstone-Developed Missile Unstoppable Steve Johnson Reports, 7/25/03 It's called LOSAT, Line of Sight, Antitank. It's a missile that uses no explosives, but can take out any known tank, and any tank that can be foreseen. It has been developed at Redstone Arsenal. According to the Project Manager of Close Combat Weapons Systems, Col. Lloyd McDaniels, "It gives us the leap ahead in technology to actually be able to defeat anything a potential adversary can give us on the battlefield." LOSAT works by speed and mass. The 109 pound missile travels at mach five, and on impact releases enough kinetic...

May 8, 2003 The "Gil" Personal Anti-Tank Missile Based on lessons drawn from various wars fought by the IDF, it was decided to make improvements in the area of firepower and (battlefield) command and control, as well as intelligence gathering on the battlefield. IMI (Israeli Military Industries) has developed advanced missiles that fit the above-mentioned areas of improvement, including the "Popeye" and "Python" aerial missiles, the "Barak" naval missile, and the "Gil" anti-tank missile.The "Gil" anti-tank missile, manufactured by Rafael, is a member of the "Spike" family. The IDF makes widespread use of anti-tank missiles used againist armored vehicles and...

The armed wing of the Islamic Palestinian resistance group Hamas, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Saturday it had successfully fired a new home-made anti-tank missile at an Israel tank. "Our combatants fired an Al-Battar (sword) missile on Friday made by the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades on an Israel tank in Beit Hanun (northern Gaza Strip)," a statement said. It said the missile hit the tank successfully. The army said earlier Saturday that Israel troops had come under fire from an anti-tank rocket. A number of home-made rockets of the Qassam type made by the Hamas fighters were fired across the...