TEL AVIV — Israel's military has reported damage to about 40 of its
main battle tanks in the war with Hizbullah, or 10 percent of the force
deployed in Lebanon.
Officials said all of the tanks were Merkava-class MBTs, including the
latest Mk-4 model. They said 30 tank crew members were killed in Hizbullah
anti-tank missile strikes.
In all, Israel's military deployed 400 MBTs in Lebanon during the 33-day
war, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said Hizbullah anti-tank missiles penetrated at least 20
Israeli tanks.
"The fighting was fierce and they fired hundreds and possibly thousands
of missiles," Armored Corps chief Brig. Gen. Halutsi Rudoy said.
Hizbullah employed such anti-tank missiles as the European Milan, the
U.S.-origin TOW as well a range of Russian weapons. Officials cited the
AT-14 Kornet, AT-13 Metis, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-4 Spigot and AT-3 Sagger. Most
of these missiles were fired by two or three soldiers.
Officials said the performance of the Merkava was being examined. They
said an anti-tank electronic counter-measures prototype developed by Rafael,
Israel Armament Development Authority was not used in the war.
Rafael has developed the Trophy MBT defense system, meant to destroy a
projectile before it strikes the tank. The system was designed to defend
against such weapons as the Kornet and RPG-29, both capable of penetrating
tanks with explosive reactor armor.
Rudoy said the Artillery Corps would demand the procurement of an
operational Trophy system. The state-owned Israel Military Industries has
offered a similar system termed Iron Fist.
"There is one system that is in development," Gen. Yitzhak Harel,
commander of the military's Planning Division, said. "We had a great dilemma
whether to equip [this system]. Instead, we procured equipment for the army.
This was the dilemma."
Harel said "not a few of these tanks were struck badly. Some continued.
We have to learn how we operated the tanks and what part of the Merkava
proved itself. We never thought that the tank could not be penetrated."
Officials said Hizbullah also used anti-tank missiles against Israeli
infantry forces. More than 70 infantry troops were killed, most of them in
Shi'ite villages near the Israeli border.
Harel said the military would focus on a solution for anti-rocket
defense. Hizbullah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel.
"This is the big challenge on our doorstep," Harel said. "We worked on
this for four years. We are working to locate the batteries and eliminate
them. We did not find a solution. We have been investigating this. We are
sure to find an answer the way the Israel Defense Forces found other
technological solutions."
