Saturday, April 03, 2010

Trophy System Unveiled in Israel

Cool.

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 Afghanistan.

“I think people will be watching the Israelis roll this thing out and see if they can get the hang of it,” said John Pike, director of the military information Web site GlobalSecurity.org in Alexandria, Virginia. “The future of the United States army is riding on the proposition that something like this can work.”

The Trophy is believed to be the first of a series of so-called “active defense” systems to become operational. Such systems aim to neutralize threats before they strike the tank. In the past, tanks have relied on increasingly thick layers of armor or “reactive” technology that weakens an incoming rocket upon impact by setting off a small explosion.

(1) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1532 hrs
Military + Technology

  1. The neat thing about this particular system (at least according to what I have read), is it will calculate whether the incoming rocket is going to land in a populated (neighborhood) or unpopulated (farm field) area and then decide whether to shoot it down or not based on where it will land.  Important because the incoming rockets are relatively inexpensive and the defending missiles are not.  Also, it will be difficult to overwhelm the system or run it empty using the type of unguided rockets Hamas and Hezbollah tend to use.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 04, 2010 at 1532 hrs


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