Years ago, Israeli defense outfit Rafael developed the equivalent of a “bubble shield” for military vehicles. The Trophy Active Protection System basically blasts incoming missiles into oblivion with a turreted shotgun. Now this tech is finally running on American M1 Abrams tanks and Stryker armored vehicles.
US forces use some unique techniques to train soldiers to use shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles against enemy aircraft. So how do the crews in the sky learn to defeat similar threats? Enter the Man Portable Survivability Trainer (MAST), the shoulder fired missile simulator of the future.
Force fields have been a mainstay in science fiction since just about forever. Now, the future may finally be close at hand as Boeing recently patented a "method and system for shock wave attenuation via electromagnetic arc," which aims to make invisible and instant protection from nearby explosions a reality.
One of America's most potent air combat creations doesn't hang as a poster on adolescent boys' walls or gets featured in a Bruckheimer blockbuster. The humble yet game-changing Miniature Air Launched Decoy has had a quiet history and it is already operational in two iterations. Now, this radar stumping super-missile…
Just because low-flying C-17s can drop their cargo under the cover of night does not mean they won't come under attack from heat-seeking missiles. Being one of most highly defended aircraft in the world, its defenses can include popping flares and clouds of infrared energy. It can even shoot lasers directly at the…
Just because low-flying C-17s can drop their cargo under the cover of night does not mean they won't come under attack from heat-seeking missiles. Being one of most highly defended aircraft in the world, its defenses can include popping flares and clouds of infrared energy. It can even shoot lasers directly at the…
We have discussed Active Protection Systems many times before, but it is another thing seeing one work operationally. The video below depicts a Merkava IV tank being fired on in Gaza by an RPG, with Trophy intercepting and destroying the explosive projectile before it could plow through the tank's side armor.
After a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, US Airways, Delta and United have all cancelled flights into Israel, with one aircraft diverting mid-flight to Paris. The events of last week have reminded carriers just how deadly flying even high above an embattled areas can be.
