Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is set to deploy tanks fitted with a new active armor protection system along the Gaza Strip, a move which comes in the wake of intelligence assessments indicating a rising threat of anti-tank missile attacks by militant groups.
Deployment of the Me'il Ruach (Windbreaker) system is scheduled to begin in January. The system was developed by Rafael, a division of the Israeli Defense Ministry, after the 2006 Lebanon war, when numerous IDF tanks sustained lethal hits from Hezbollah- fired missiles.
"Windbreaker is integrated into the tank and identifies any projectile fired at it, whether a missile or armor-piercing shell. It then fires active counter-measures 'miniature interceptor missiles' which blow up the incoming projectile in mid-air before it strikes the tank," local news service Ynet quoted a senior IDF officer on Sunday.The IDF on Wednesday will hold an unusual field test of Windbreaker: an actual missile will be fired at a real tank manned by a human crew.
A five-man crew will participate in the experiment, meant to demonstrate the system's credibility, Israel Army Radio reported on Sunday.Army officials on Monday dismissed local media reports from the day before that a missile armed with a real warhead would be used in the field trial, saying the IDF had never planned to fire live ordnance. Bereaved parents of soldiers killed in training accidents implored IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi to call off the drill.
The army plans to equip two additional battalions with the system by mid-2011.An IDF tank was hit by an anti-tank missile in the northern Gaza Strip area two weeks ago, but its crew was unharmed.
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