New Israeli Tank Developed Just In Time

Israel Matzav writes that Israel has developed a new tank so strong--they fired on it with soldiers still inside the tank:

In an unusual military training exercise, an anti-tank missile was fired at a Merkava Mark 4 tank being operated by soldiers in order to test the Trophy (Meil Ruach) active tank defense system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense System Ltd. and intended to intercept and destroy aerial threats. The experiment was carried out with kinetic missiles without warheads, which simulate the missile's path and do not pose a threat to soldiers. Commander of the Armored Corps' 401st Brigade. Col. Einav Shalev himself will take part in the exercise, sitting in the tank with Commander of the 9th Armored Battalion, Lt. Col. Itai Berin.

It's a good thing the tank passed the test, because it looks like Israel has developed the Merkava Mark 4 just in time:

Gaza anti-tank missile penetrated IDF tank, Ashkenazi reveals

IDF chief tells Knesset a Kornet missile was fired more than two weeks ago at tank on the Gaza border, penetrated its outer shell, but did not explode.

..."It is a heavy missile and one of the most dangerous in the region, which was also fired toward the IDF during the Lebanon War," Ashkenazi added.

"We hold the Hamas as the party responsible in the Gaza Strip," Ashkenazi said, holding the militant group which took over the coastal enclave in a bloody coup in 2007 as responsible for firing the anti-tank missile.

According to Colonel Shalev, the new tank will be available to IDF troops in both Gaza and Lebanon, so ideally what happened 2 weeks ago will not happen again.

Still, this does highlight Israel's need to consistently stay at least a couple of steps ahead of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Technorati Tag: Lebanon and Gaza and Hamas and Hezbollah.