Use the Force, Luke
"Active Protection" Speeds UpArmies around the world have been spending a ton of time and money trying to figure out how to keep their fighting vehicles, trucks, and personnel carriers safe. Better armor is one answer. Another is to stop attacks before they ever hit. Several of these so-called "active protection" systems are making progress, both here and in Israel. Generally speaking, they all work in the same way, Defense News' Barbara Opall-Rome notes:
• A radar detects and identifies an approaching threat.
• Target information is transferred to a kill mechanism.
• The kill mechanism destroys the target at a safe distance from the vehicle.A few weeks back, Trophy, an Israeli active protection set-up, went through its first tests on an American Stryker vehicle. It's already being used to protect Israeli tanks against rocket-propelled grenades.
[In a] Feb. 28 test... two inert RPGs were fired simultaneously; one would hit the Stryker while the other was intentionally aimed for a near miss… Trophy was able to track the trajectory, discriminate among the two parallel targets, and determine which one would actually hit the Stryker before selectively unleashing its lethal countermeasures. The actual method used to destroy the targets is classified.
HUH?
Trophy Active Defense System (ADS) is marketed by General dynamics, based on a system designed in Israel by an industry consortium headed by RAFAEL, including IMI and IAI/ELTA. After evaluating several systems available in the world market, General Dynamics selected the system for further improvement and is offering a version of the system to the US Army and other customers. The system can simultaneously engage several threats, arriving from different directions, is effective on stationary or moving platforms, and is effective against short and long range threats (such as RPGs and ATGM). Trophy was designed to be effective in open or closed terrain, including urban area and can be operated under all weather conditions.It's a force field? Deployable to a rectangle in space? Between you (the target) and the weapon approaching?
"Shields up Mr Sulu"
Now there are those out there who want to know why Israel has pragmatic value as an ally. This is the second major contribution that Israel has made (Arrow software for the Patriot is another) in the last few years (altho they get a huge F for the way they have behaved with the Chinese) Some feel that pragmatically speaking the oil is more important ... so besides exploding humans .....(fill in the blanks), and repressive dictatorships (which we originally felt was a good idea).. I'm sorry, how many patents? How many irreplaceable developments?
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- New, Active/passive Defense System For Vehicles And **individuals**
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- And In Today's Mensa "duh" Of The Day Headline...
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