Technology of the future
The life and thoughts of an Israeli soldier serving in a field unit in the Israel Defense Forces
This headline article on Yahoo! caught my attention. It describes the "Trophy" active protection system for tanks. I have some friends in the armored corps, and they told me that up until recently the Trophy system was a huge secret. According to the article (and some of my friends), this system is supposed to give a quantum leap in terms of defending and protecting the Israeli Merkava tanks from hostile anti-tank weapons. Only when you consider the IDF's Armored Corps casualties during the Second Lebanon War, can you appreciate the system's true value.
According to what I've read, Israel is the first country to deploy such a system ("Active Protection"). Yes, before the US, UK, all of the EU countries, Russia and so on.... And it's not the first time that this happens. Israel might rely mostly on its skilled soldiers, but it also relies heavily on the weapons and equipment that they operate. Being outnumbered and outgunned by default (by too many hostile forces surrounding us), we have no other option but to OutTech our foes.
Israel 's military weapons and equipment industry is one of the most advanced in the world. Discovery's "Future Weapons" shot 2 specials about Israeli arms. But this wasn't a matter of choice for us. It was a necessity caused by weapons embargos that were imposed on Israel and the IDF since its establishment in 1948 (Leading to one of the funniest chapters in IDF's history in the form of the so called "theft" of five missile boats from Cherbourg in 1969).
My friends and I operate Merkava Mk4 tanks, Israeli modifications of F-16 and F-15 fighters jets, Hi-Tech missiles and precision munitions – all built or modified in Israel . I can only imagine what it felt like for the 1948-1973 fresh Israeli recruits, fighting with outdated WW2 equipment. Nevertheless we won. I guess they had to Outspirit them...
Yoav B
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