Fighting Israeli's

Ever since its inception in 1948, Israel has been at a state of war or constantly on the verge of war with their Arab neighbors. Actual major conflicts since independence include the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Six-day War, the Yom Kippur War and a pair of conflicts with Lebanon. Currently, all of Israel's neighbors are hostile and terrorists such as Hezbollah within the occupied territories would love to wipe Israel off the map. It is no wonder that Israel spends over 7 % of its GDP being ranked 6th highest in the world on military expenditures in this category.

This tank system dubbed the "Trophy" seems to be the latest in the Israeli military's arsenal. It is an active defense system to knock down anti-tank missiles or rockets. It uses a radar system and shoots quickly at incoming targets.

The tiny Trophy system, lodged behind small rectangular plates on both sides of the tank, uses radar to detect the incoming projectiles and fires a small charge to intercept them, said Gil.

After firing, the system quickly reloads. The entire process is automated, holds fire if the rocket is going to miss the tank, and causes such a small explosion that the chances of unintentionally hurting friendly soldiers through collateral damage is only 1 percent, the company says.

I am curious what the small "charge" is they are referring to. The only 1 % collateral damage would make this quite a unit if the claim is true. The article has capabilities for the system at quite a high standard.

Developers say the Trophy can stop any anti-tank rocket in the formidable Hezbollah arsenal, which struck dozens of Israeli tanks and killed at least 19 Israeli tank crewmen during their month long war.

"We can cope with any threat in our neighborhood, and more," said Gil, the Trophy's program manager at Rafael. Citing security considerations, the company would not permit publication of his last name.

I am guessing the date weapons of Isreal's neighbors would not stand a chance against this unit. Modern weapons most likely would defeat the Trophy. Looking through the article, one key factor appears as with all nifty high tech weapons, cost.

Israeli analyst Yiftah Shapir said it is premature to tell whether the Trophy can make a major difference, however. He said the army must cope with the high costs of the system and determine exactly how it will be used.

"When everyone knows that it works properly, it will change the battlefield," he said.

Israeli media have said the cost is about $200,000 per tank. Rafael refused to divulge the price of the system, saying only that it's a "small fraction" of the cost of a tank.

This might prevent deployment of the weapon. Israel is price sensitive to unproven, expensive weapons due to the country's small size. We shall see Trophy's outcome over the next couple of years.