Israel Matzav

Iran training 'Palestinians' in use of anti-tank missiles

Iran has trained a number of 'Palestinian' terrorists in the operation of sophisticated Russian-made anti-tank missiles. Presumably, the terrorists would use these missiles if, as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Tuesday may happen, the IDF has to go back into Gaza again.

The IDF believes that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have obtained several hundred advanced Russian-made antitank missiles – such as the Kornet and the Fagot – which have a range of more than 4 kilometers and are capable of penetrating armored personnel carriers and some IDF tanks.

Terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip had a small number of these missiles ahead of Operation Cast Lead – Israel’s offensive against Hamas in 2009 – but only used them in a handful of known instances.

“They were not trained well then, and as a result, the missiles were not effective,” a senior IDF officer explained this week. “Since then, the groups have significantly increased the stockpile and have also sent specific terrorists to Iran for extensive training where they became anti-tank missile experts.”

The level of expertise was demonstrated earlier this year when Hamas fired a Kornet anti-tank missile at a school bus near Nahal Oz, which killed 16-year-old Daniel Viflic.

The missile was fired from a distance of close to 3 kilometers and the operator had to fire in between the Gaza security fence and electrical cables. “He also had to hit the bus, which was not easily seen on the road,” the officer said, explaining the complexities of the attack as a demonstration of the level of expertise in Gaza.

The Kornet (or Cornet) is easy to operate.

This semi-automatic laser beam riding missile is effective at ranges of 100 – 5,500 m' in daytime and up to 3,500 m' at night. The missile utilizes a tandem shaped charge anti-tank warhead or a thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) charge, for anti-personnel and anti-material blast and incendiary effect. The manufacturer claims penetration of 1,200mm of steel armor or 4.5 meters of concrete. The NATO designation of the Kornet is AT-14.

A firing unit consisting of launcher, thermal sight and a single missile container weigh 65 kg and can be installed and ready for action in 3 minutes, operated by 3 men. Most often, the missile will be deployed on vehicular platforms, a modular design for such launcher can utilize a lightweight launcher or an integrated turret designed for a hummer sized vehicle, integrated with the thermal sight and four ready to fire missiles and five more in stowage. Other configurations include an automatic, remotely operated win-missile turret installed on the BMP-3 (16 missiles, of which 12 are stored in an autoloader) and BRTR-80 chasis (12 missiles, 8 in autoloader). The missile's launched is fitted with thermal imaging system, to facilitate effective operations under low visibility, day and night.

The IDF believes that Hamas has smuggled hundreds of these missiles into Gaza in the last three years.

“The Gaza Strip is completely different today than what it was almost three years ago,” a senior defense official said. “The amounts of weaponry are significantly higher as well as the type of weaponry and its sophistication.”

Aren't you glad now that the Olmert-Barak-Livni government turned down the opportunity to wipe Hamas out three years ago so as not to disturb Barack Hussein Obama's inauguration? A lot of goodwill that bought us....

Some of you may that Israel has the Trophy system installed on its tanks and that Trophy can stop many anti-tank missiles. That's true, but as the article implies, Trophy is not yet installed on all of the IDF's tanks. (I posted a video of Trophy in action here).

In face of the threat, the IDF is moving forward with plans to install the Trophy active protection system on Merkava Mk 4 tanks that are in production ahead of their delivery to the 401st Armored Brigade. Two of the brigade’s battalions have already received the system and the remaining battalion will finish receiving it by the beginning of 2012.

The IDF has known for a long time that the 'Palestinians' had these missiles. So why wasn't the system delivered to all battalions already? And why hasn't it been installed on older tanks (I doubt we're taking them out of commission). Will Hamas and Islamic Jihad cooperate by only shooting Kornets at tanks that have the Trophy system involved? (I suspect that the answer to my questions is that the IDF did not have the budget). What could go wrong?

Labels: Cornet anti-tank missile, Hamas, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic Jihad, Trophy system

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:15 AM