Posted on 01/09/2007 9:07:26 PM PST by Braak
WASHINGTON - In September, NBC News first reported on a fierce debate within the Pentagon over an Israeli-made system that shoots rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) out of the sky. The Army seems intent on killing the system, but officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense believe it can save American lives.
Over the last three years, U.S. commanders in Iraq have issued a series of urgent pleas for a system to counter RPGs — a favorite weapon of insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation (OFT) scoured the world for a solution and thought it found one in "Trophy," which was developed over the last decade in Israel.
Trophy works by scanning all directions and automatically detecting when an RPG is launched. The system then fires an interceptor — traveling hundreds of miles a minute — that destroys the RPG safely away from the vehicle.
OFT subjected Trophy to 30 tests and found it is "more than 98 percent" effective at killing RPGs. Officials then made plans to battle-test the system on some Stryker fighting vehicles headed to Iraq this year.
But the U.S. Army blocked that testing. Why? Pentagon sources tell NBC News — and internal Army documents seem to confirm — that Army officials consider Trophy a threat to their crown jewel, the $160 billion Future Combat System (FCS). Under FCS, the Army is paying Raytheon Co. $70 million to build an RPG-defense system from scratch.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I saw it too......every time she asked a direct question the Trophy company hesitated a fraction of a second and looked away quickly before he answered......I'm no body language expert, but his responses were plainly less than honest.
Obvious hit piece. If we go for this then they'll come out against it.
This speaks volumes. If there were serious reasons to doubt the weapon's effectiveness, it might make good sense to defer. But this should settle the issue.
Ha! Silencio, a? Dis is America, a? So Iya ain't gotta no thing say 'bout no steenking good deal widda da government.
Well, if this could save American lives and improve the sittutaion in Iraq, it has to be forbidden.
In other words, show us taxpayers some cost and effectiveness numbers to compare the FCS to the Trophy. Rhetoric might work in the old country (Sicily, for example), but it isn't enough here.
I don't know jack about armored vehicles (other that the observation above, based on an article from the NYT), serving in the military, or designing weapons systems. But neither does Lisa Meyers or the producers and writers who wrote her cue cards. I hope some General who will have to testify about all this media induced concern is turned loose on these fools and the Democrats on the Armed Services committees, who will no doubt amplify this crap.
This has been considered.
Since the Stryker is used with dismounted infantry, a system that smacks into the RPG (which is not in the sky, rather it is a short range system with minimal trajectory) and blows it up would cause grave risk to any dismounts in the area.
The Russians also have a system that shoots something like shot in the general direction of the anti tank round, putting a dent in the carfully machined penetrator, reducing its penetration capability.
One Russian idea that has been fieled is the slat armor. The detonator on the RPG is about the diameter of a dime, and the round is about 80 mm in diameter. The slat usually bashes up the RPG round and will usually miss the detonator.
Another Israeli idea is Blazer reactive armor: it puts explosive blocks on the outside of tanks. Again, because of the risk to dismounted infantry, this is not suitable for infantry vehicles.
Number of men killed by RPG rounds inside a US tank in the last 20 years: 1.
Number of men killed by RPG rounds while working outside of an armored vehicle: ~400
Important to know how big the problem is. The big problem in Iraq seems to be the IED, usually made out of artillery shells, wired to a cell phone or other remote detonator.
Do you suppose if we had a weapon that was only 40% effective against IED's, we would fail to "test deploy" it at a minimum?
If this thing can knock an RPG down - lets try it. You don't have to give it to every unit all at once. But not testing it borders on criminal neglect!!
I'll bet Rummy wasn't the one that killed the testing!!
More nonsense/lies from the MSM!
Mark
Trophy has never worked as advertised. In addition, it is a serious hazard to exposed troops and nearby civilians. The U.S. Army is never going to use it in a counterinsurgency environment.
The manufacturer is waging a very intensive disinformation campaign to get the media to do just what they have done.
"Number of men killed by RPG rounds inside a US tank in the last 20 years: 1.
Number of men killed by RPG rounds while working outside of an armored vehicle: ~400
Important to know how big the problem is. The big problem in Iraq seems to be the IED, usually made out of artillery shells, wired to a cell phone or other remote detonator."
They do seem to bounce around between Hummers, Strikers and tansk a good bit but your same question asked about AFV's would show a heck of a lot of casualties from RPG's
I hope an Airbrone CSM or treadhead gets there first.
Tonite PMSNBC will be in some "ordinary" grunts home watching the Pres's speach - so they can get some instant feedback, like they really care about a grunt.
It ain't news, it's Agiprop - pure and simple. And nobody in the Administration dare call it for what it is.
Why doesn't this surprise me? Jeez..Doesn't anybody remember the favorite Chechen tactic of firing RPGs at Russian tanks to trigger the reactive armor to frag the accompanying infantry, then close assaulting the vehicle?
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