Israel Matzav

US fighting vehicles to be equipped with Israeli anti-RPG technology

A few days ago, my friend Charles at Little Green Footballs ran a story that indicated that American forces in Iraq were being instructed not to use Israeli bullets in battle! Today, it seems that the American troops are going to get a much more advanced type of Israeli technology, one that will hopefully protect the good guys against shoulder-launched RPG's.

One of the most deadly weapons that America's fighting men and women in Iraq face are rocket propelled grenades - the shoulder-launched missile weapon known as RPGs which are favored by insurgents.

Now, an Israeli-developed technology with a futuristic bent is raising hopes that the RPG threat will become a thing of the past.

Taking a cue from The Incredibles in which teenage daughter Violet is able to create a protective force shield bubble around herself, the Trophy Active Protection System - developed by RAFAEL Armament Development Authority - does something uncannily similar with armored military vehicles.

In live-fire tests conducted by weapons manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems in Dahlgren, Virginia last week, the Trophy detected, tracked and knocked out an inert RPG fired at a moving Stryker armored car using a small rocket automatically launched from the vehicle.

"Our mission is not to discover the 100 percent solution, but to find the best solution that can meet warfighter needs today," said Marine Corps Col. Wade Hall, in a General Dynamics news release after the test. "Currently, the warfighters' only counter to the RPG threat is armor, more armor and more armor.

"As demonstrated today, the Department of Defense now has at its disposal technology that allows US Forces to defeat both the archer and the arrow."

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:40 PM