US to deploy RPG-busting 'force field'

The Register ^ | April 12 2006

[jmc1969]

The US is to field test an innovative Israeli set-up designed to act as a "force field" around armoured vehicles, protecting them from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and anti-tank missiles, according to a Fox News report.

The system, dubbed "Trophy", uses radar to track incoming threats and then destroys them when they're in range by attacking the warheads with an "invisible force", according to Fox. Quite how it does this is, unsurprisingly, classified, but Defense Update understands Trophy is "designed to form a 'beam' of fragments, which will intercept any incoming HEAT threat, including RPG rockets at a range of 10 metres to 30 meters from the protected platform".

The countermeasure is, then, actually physical - a fact confirmed by Defense Update, which explains the system has "an automatic reload mechanism to handle multiple attacks", although that's about as specific as it gets.

The sceptical among you should note that Trophy has allegedly completed "hundreds of live tests with the Israel Defense Forces and demonstrated effective neutralisation of anti-tank rockets and guided missiles, high safety levels, insignificant residual penetration, and minimal collateral damage".

[clilly54]

sounds like a rail gun tied to radar, and looking at the video, looks like one too

[Tribune7]

[ozzymandus]

The RPG is pretty primitive, being a direct descendant (or steal) of the Panzerfaust of WW2. In fact, the Germans had designed a 2nd-generation Panzerfaust which was a ringer for the RPG, being reloadable and having a pistol grip. I'm glad they finally found a counter to 1940's technology. I don't see how revealing the existence of this system endangers anybody but the RPG gunner.

[visualops]

Really. I just don't get what's up with the blabbing all the time. Congress are sieves as well, can't anyone keep their fracking mouths shut anymore?

[spetznaz]

The article has already given away too much. The Trophy device is a better version of the Russian Shtora/Arena protection system. In particular the Arena Active Protection System uses radar to detect incoming projectiles (eg RPGs, anti-tank missiles like MILAN, TOW, HOT, Hellfire, AT4 and LAW-80 according to its specs) and then launches a projectile from locations around the tank which detonates and destroys the incoming target with a bunch of fragments. If you look at the Trophy system you will notice that in the videos there is a shower of fragments that hit the incoming round.

What I wonder though is whether the Israeli system has taken care of the biggest problem in the Russian system .....the fact that if the presence of any friendly soldiers around the tank when the system engages an incoming round would result in friendly casualties. If that thing goes off, and there are friendly soldiers around the tank, then the results (for the foot soldiers) is not exactly optimal (when it comes to their health). I wonder if that was taken care of.

Now, the British had come up with a system that had an electric current flowing through the apc. That is a new approach to the system (I believe it disrupts the white-hot molten copper jet) and is very different from the Israeli version above (or the Russian analogue).

[Gordongekko909]

And that countertactic is?

Probably... shooting an RPG at the countermeasure system! Mwa ha ha ha haaa!

[PGalt]

Yeah! Great post. Thanks to all contributors.

[RunningWolf]

I have an idea how this system might work based on the article and advances in radar, microprocessor power/speed, & solid state electronics.

The article already mentions that the inbound RPG's are tracked by radar, and the countermeasure is actually a 'physical beam of fragments /paraphrased>

Here is my theory, the inbound RPG round being tracked by radar is indentified by the system as a hostile projectile, the system then launches opposing ‘interceptor rounds’ that have built into them solid state electronics that allows the fire control system to communicate with the interceptor rounds.

At the optimum time (determined by the fire control system) the interceptor rounds are sent a detonation signal to interceptor round for ‘the beam of fragments’

Optimally this system would send out 2 or 3 rounds on a converging path from separate launchers to give a more effective cone of fragments. This cone of fragments would of course converge at the most effective range (probability of kill) to the hostile projectile but still have a wide range of varying effectiveness.

And now that we are at, it might as well track the RPG round to its source, and auto-fire 30 or so 5.56mm rounds back to the insurgent as a 'hello! don’t do that again'

It would all happen in about ½ of one second.

Wolf

[Yo-Yo]

Then you better buy up all of the March 2004 Popular Science copies, and shut down PSs web server.

The images I linked to were from that 2004 article.

[Rembrandt_fan]

As I recall, the principle--using a 'beam' of metal fragments--was considered during the Cold War for anti-missile defense, albeit on a much larger scale, obviously. Glad some of that very expensive research paid off, although disconcerting to note that our people didn't figure out its smaller-scale field application first. Necessity drives, I suppose.

[Yo-Yo]

More like an antimissile shotgun shell. Read this 2004 Popular Science article (pages 4 & 5) to learn more, including the estimated collateral damage.

[null and void]

I like the way you think.

I'd add a really odd sound, so they'd look up to see what the heck that was??

[sit-rep]

Phalanx is one bad mo-fo...

[neodad]

Shields at maximum, Mr. Sulu! Not completely sci-fi, but worthy of a *ping*

[jordan8]

The Russians were also shopping a similar system around a several years ago.

[joesnuffy]

I could tell ya but then.........;)

[Liberty1970]

They keep calling it a force field, but it sounds more like a big shotgun to me. Just one wired up to radar and electronics to respond swiftly to an approaching threat.

I wonder how one would defeat this, apart from sheer numbers of RPGs. Would bullets and other small arms fire set it off? Hey, about about someone invent the first MIRV RPG? :-)

[Chode]

wonder how big the caps are in it...

[4U2OUI]

Yeah, baby!!!

I like it.

[GooberHead]

I got out of the Army in 1980. I was assigned to the Defense System Management College at Ft. Belvoir, Va.

Everything I've seen used over in Iraq, with the exception of the stealth fighters and bombers, we had in 1980.

This is the first new weapon I've seen since I got out. I had heard rumors of a weapon or two that could do what this one does by a couple of means. If this weapon is using one of the ways I heard about, you ain't going to get a countermeasure on an RPG since the amount of armor needed would render the RPG unable to fly.