Published: 07/01/10, 4:11 PM / Last Update: 07/01/10, 4:05 PM
New Protection for IDF Namer APCs
Spurred Arrow system installed on APCIsrael news photo: IDF Spokespersons Office
by Hana Levi Julian
The IDF is about to acquire a new defense system for its Namer (Tiger) armored personnel carrier (APC) – the Spurred Arrow (Chetz Durban in Hebrew).
The system, produced by Israel Military Industries (IMI), will soon be the Namer's primary defense against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank missiles and tank shells.
It has also proven to be of great interest abroad: according to IMI Marketing Vice President Avinoam Tzapir, “Foreign militaries show great interest in purchasing [it]... since it is a precise system that makes it possible to organize joint combat operations of infantry corps and armored corps forces.”
Three central components comprise the system. The first is a set of detectors that includes an advanced radar detector and electro-optic detectors that identify the munitions fired at the vehicle in which the system is installed. The second element in the system is a computer that processes the data collected by the detectors, recognizes the threat and decides on the best way to neutralize it. The third and final component is a launcher that is equipped with interceptors and an electro-optic isolator that enables the Spurred Arrow to force anti-tank missiles to change their course and head off-target.
To deal with threats the isolator is unable to neutralize, an interceptor explodes in close proximity to the target, thus destroying it. The entire process takes place within a fraction of a second, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, and is carried out automatically. The system will also enable operators to identify the source of enemy fire, making an immediate and accurate response that much easier. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
New IDF Weapon Defends Soldiers against Psychological Warfare
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IDF officers are learning how to help soldiers in the field respond to psychological methods used by the enemy to affect soldiers’ spirit and morale. New IDF guidelines for countering psychological warfare are scheduled to be approved by the end of this year.
The field of psychological warfare has developed dramatically the last few years due to various factors including the development of the media in Israel and worldwide. Terror organizations increasingly photograph and film attacks on IDF forces and publish them on television stations. For example, at the beginning of April 2010, Hamas published documentation of an incident in Kissufim, during which Maj. Eliraz Peretz and Staff Sergeant Ilan Sviatkovsky were killed.They also publicized a film about Gilad Shalit in which his father dreams of his death.
“Commanders must know important principles and concepts regarding the issue,” Battle Doctrine Department of the Operations Directorate explained to the IDF magazine BaMahane [In the Camp].
The enemy uses this modern warfare technique, employing propaganda and psychological methods to influence combat soldiers’ spirit and their morale, IDF spokespersons added. Hamas terrorist leaders have constantly used the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as a tool to try to break Israel's morale.
One of the recommendations for the commanders is to hold motivational conversations with their soldiers, so that their battle spirit cannot be negatively affected. “Our goal is that during the planning of any operational activity, the officers will be aware of the issue and will prepare their soldiers also for dealing with the enemy’s psychological battle tactics,” an officer added.
Among other things, the new Battle Doctrine will include concepts of psychological warfare, including that of ‘white messages,’ which come from a trustworthy source, as opposed to ‘black messages,’ whose distributor is unknown.” (IsraelNationalNews.com)
Fire-Breathing Robot among Rafael's New Tech Developments
Meet PincherIsrael news photo: Rafael
by Gil Ronen
'Pincher,' a new robotic system designed to disable improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from long distances is in development at Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and another defensive system, the Trophy active defense for tanks, is in its pilot phase.
Ram Fabian, director of Rafael's Land Warfare Systems, told Defense Update that the 'Pincher' is currently in prototype phase and could become operational next year. Pincher fires pencil sized pyrophoric rockets at the charge, causing it to burn instead of exploding and thus eliminating the risk of shrapnel.
Pincher will join 'Thor,' a system developed by Rafael together with the U.S.'s General Dynamics, which uses a high-energy laser and a 12.7mm machine gun to neutralize IEDs from a safe distance.
Meanwhile, Rafael is placing finishing touches on 'Trophy,' a miniature anti-missile system that detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach the armored vehicles.
A radical change?
The Trophy system “could radically alter the balance of power if the country goes to war again” and its performance “could also have much wider implications as American troops and their Western allies battle insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Associated Press reported.
"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 GlobalSecurity.orgwebsite. "The future of the United States army is riding on the proposition that something like this can work."
Pilot project underway
The Trophy will compete with "active defense" systems being developed by manufacturers in the US and elsewhere. Rafael officials said the system has passed more than 700 live tests, and already has been installed in Israeli Merkava 4 tanks in a pilot project.
Israel Military Industries is also producing 'Iron Fist,' an anti-missile defense that is expected to be installed on Israeli armored personnel carriers in 2011. Iron Fist using jamming technology that can make the incoming missile veer off course. Failing that, it can create a 'shock wave' to blow it up. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Israel's Bunker-Buster Bird-Scaring Technology
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel is putting its scariest military technology on the market, one that can kill a man with sounds waves. Its mild-mannered alter-ego, however, is being used to scare man's feathered friends away from airports.
The Jewish State's military industry now plans to market the cutting-edge “bunker buster” weapons technology in the form of a sonic cannon.
The science behind the device was introduced years ago for the benign purpose of scaring away birds, by former Soviet researcher Igor Fridman, who made Aliyah in 1991. Similar technologies are used in the U.S. for repelling pesky squirrels.
Although the technology itself can be used for a relatively harmless purpose, not so the new sonic cannon, powered by fuel-air explosive technology. It delivers sound rays so powerful that according to a recent report in Defense News, anyone hearing them within 10 meters is instantly killed. The blast that results from the explosive fuel-air combustion process explodes from one end of tubular combustion chamber, which operates much the same as a cannon barrel.
The device resembles its gas-fueled predecessor that was used to keep birds away from airports, agricultural crops and military installations, and is fueled by bottled liquified petroleum gas (LPG). Also known as cooking gas, LPG is comprised of a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. It is a major energy source in Israel's national economy, and is used in industry and agriculture as well as in the domestic and institutional sectors.
The process used in the new "bunker buster" technology, patented as Pulse Detonation Technology (PDT), is much the same as the pulse-detonated fuel-air mixtures used in the Argus “pulse jet” that propelled the “Doodlebug” V-1 cruise missiles used by the Nazis in World War II.
Many of Iran's nuclear facilities are buried deep underground in concrete-shielded bunkers, which experts believe will be difficult to target in any military operation. Hizbullah terrorists also hid much of their ordnance and guerrilla manpower in such bunkers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. They have also spent the past several years training Hamas terrorists in Gaza to do the same. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
IDF Keeping the Peace and Preparing for War
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
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While Hamas resumes Kassam attacks on Israel civilians, the IDF wraps up a large-scale exercise under the Southern Command to prepare soldiers “for every possible scenario.”
The drill included regular and reserves soldiers for combat in the Gaza region, where the de facto Hamas government fired another Kassam rocket at Israel on Tuesday, narrowly missing a direct hit on civilians. Without any connection to the exercise, the Israeli Air Force Tuesday night bombed a weapons storage facility in the Gaza area in response.
The exercise was planned in advance as part of the annual training program and regular exercise plan in order to fully prepare soldiers. Officers implemented maneuvers based on lessons learned from previous exercises and during the Operation Cast Lead counter terrorist war last year.
Ground, air and naval forces and military intelligence branch participated in the exercise, stressing cooperation and coordination between the different bodies and military branches. Earlier this week, a soldier lost his life when comrades mistakenly fired on his tank unit in what apparently was the result of failing to communicate during a hunt for suspected terrorists who had infiltrated from Gaza.One circumstance that complicated the terrorist hunting maneuver and may have resulted in the tragic death was the military order that the tank unit not fire artillery due to fears of possibly wounding civilians. Instead, the tank unit approached the separation barrier on foot and was thus mistaken for the infiltrators.
The military drill placed an emphasis on humanitarian aspects and maintenance of reasonable living conditions for Palestinian Authority Arab civilians in Gaza during combat. New weapons and information systems were integrated in order to improve the combat capability in the region.
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited the exercise in the Southern Command, which is under the command of Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
IDF Updates Arms Strategy
by Maayana Miskin
The IDF has revealed a new strategy designed to secure the army's weapons and ammunition in case of war. Over the past two years, the army has been shifting equipment in order to keep it secure.
The policy was revealed by head of IDF Logistics Brigadier-General Nissim Peretz on Wednesday in a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies.
Top commanders looked into various methods of protecting supplies, and ultimately decided that fortification was not the answer, Peretz said. The new strategy will allow the IDF access to supplies in case of war while protecting equipment from targeted strikes, he explained.
A second new IDF tool revealed this week is the Magna thermal camera system. The IDF website reported that the system, developed by the Magna Company in its Dimona branch, is being installed in the Hevron region.
The system combines thermal and regular cameras, and can scan several miles of space. Regional commanders hope the system will provide security in areas where there is no fence between Judea and pre-1967
Israel. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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