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Israel-Palestine
Israel unveils tank protection system
2005-03-08
Israel Tuesday revealed a system it says will protect vehicles -- from Humvees to tanks -- against attacks launched from a very close range. The system could help American troops in Iraq if they stay there long enough, indicated the head of the government's Rafael armaments development authority, retired Vice Admiral Yedidia Yaari. Yaari told United Press International militant attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq were the kind of "a reality to which (Israel) had to prepare." The system, called Trophy, detects incoming threats, such as anti-tank rockets, and sprays tungsten balls at them. The tungsten disintegrates a rocket-propelled grenade for example. It thus neutralizes the threat without causing an explosion, Yaari said.
Little Claymore mines on the exterior of the tank?
The danger of attacks on cumbersome tanks in tight urban areas has concerned officers. Palestinians eventually approached tanks and even stole equipment. "The problem has been attacks from a very close range," Yaari said. The new system provides all round protection from attacks launched from as close as 30 to 60 feet away, he said.
I'd imagine it would "shred" pretty much anything at that range. Wonder how tight the pattern is.
Israel showed the system to U.S. officers and, according to Yaari, those who saw it were excited.
Posted by:Steve

#8  Silentbrick - I've been waiting for years for somebody to take Drake's system and try it out for real. It will be hard to implement safely, though. Drake had the advantage of far future computers handling the job in his books.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2005-03-08 5:32:57 PM  

#7  That would be the "Bitchslap" armor system.
Posted by: Matt   2005-03-08 5:29:43 PM  

#6  LOL Jonathan - thanks for the visual
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-08 5:18:47 PM  

#5  First reactive armor and now proactive armor. The next innovation will be armor that reaches out, grabs the guy with the rocket launcher, and slaps him around for awhile. Can't wait.
Posted by: Jonathan   2005-03-08 5:08:23 PM  

#4  I guess the Israelis read David Drake. His stories about Hammer's Slammers have such systems mounted on tanks and combat cars.

And while such a system isn't perfect, it's always nice to have something that can help in some situations. Just because that body armor doesn't stop all threats, people still wear it. This is much the same. Besides, having a toggle switch to turn the system on and off if you have infantry or civvies about isn't hard to do, or even as Drake had it, a switch to detonate the system so that any unfriendlies in range get turned into a fine red mist isn't a bad idea either.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-03-08 4:48:13 PM  

#3  Nice idea in principle but has a lot of flaws, some already pointed out. It sounds like a system that would be almost impossible to make safe for use in an urban enviroment - how would it differentiate between hostile and non-hostile movements? Would firing multiple rockets simultaneously (not difficult to rig) from different points overwhelm the system? Could an attacker use dummy missiles (even something as simple as lobbed bricks or bottles) to distract or exhaust the system before using a real warhead. The system claims to be effective at up to 30 feet - that's quite a long distance in your typical built up area. It might become very unpopular with support troops so you could imagine it being switched off at the times when it would most useful (explosive-reactive armour isn't very popular with infantry for the same reason).
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-03-08 4:24:05 PM  

#2  The tungsten disintegrates a rocket-propelled grenade for example.

Just think what they'd do to a rock throwing Paleo.
Posted by: AzCat   2005-03-08 4:07:26 PM  

#1  It will certainly keep the grunts from using the tank as cover.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2005-03-08 4:04:28 PM  

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