Metis-M & Kornet AT Missiles vs. Merkava Tanks

Djuice · #1 September 16th, 2006, 02:35 AM

RPG-27/29/illegal clone is most definitely confirmed, there are various images available on the internet, of captured ones, showne by israeli officals.

Regarding ATGMs, they used 9M111, 9M111-2, 9M113, 9M113-1, TOW, 9M14, 9M14M, 9M151, RaaD, RaaD-T, Milan, and possibly Toophan supplied by Iran. Regarding 9M131M Metis-M and 9M133 Kornet-E which Israel claims that Hezbollah used, they didnt provide any photographic evidence to the public.

PlasmaKrab · #2 September 16th, 2006, 06:06 AM

Illegal copies of RPG-29s??

Doesn't sound too surprising from the Hezbollah, at least in principle, but that one is a bit of a high-tech weapon.
Have I missed something or were the latest scratch-made weapons they used Qassam and Katiuscha rockets? Sounds like a big leap forward.

Possibly Syria could arrange production of retroengineered Vampirs, and Iran most certainly could (an would like to!) if only they had got their hands on some. Did they?

Marek_Tucan · #3 September 16th, 2006, 07:24 AM

Illegal copy doesn't neccessarily mean home made Quassams

Don't know Syrian retroengineering capabilities but Iran has the experience needed, even with RPG style weapons, so if they managed to lay their hands on some RPG-29 (say from Syria) they'd be most likely able to put up some copy...
Also IIRC Jordany was thinking of building their version of 29.

Marcello · #4 September 16th, 2006, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Possibly Syria could arrange production of retroengineered Vampirs, and Iran most certainly could (an would like to!) if only they had got their hands on some. Did they?

If Iran wanted some RPG-29s, the russians will be glad to sell them.
But reverse engineering them probably is not that simple.
From what I have managed to learn so far about shaped charges manufacturing (not a lot but still) high end ones, and the RPG-29 definitively is, can be rather complex to make.Making them might require expensive and technically challanging retooling of the production lines.
Casting rocket motors for battlefield artillery rockets is a relatively simple task in comparison.
The current tandem warhead round for the Saghegh was probably deedemed a more practical and cost effective solution, even if less powerful than the RPG-29.

pdoktar · #5 September 18th, 2006, 04:05 AM

The guerrilla force wins, when it does not loose, the regular army looses, when it does not win. From The WinSPMBT end quotations. Seems to work fine, especially considering modern-day media.

PlasmaKrab · #6 September 20th, 2006, 05:24 AM

Some intersting news, guys.

New Weapons Turning Up on Mideast Battlefields: Abizaid

Excerpts:

Quote:

Gen. John Abizaid said the weapon, an RPG-29, has a dual warhead and has proved effective against most types of armored vehicles.
(...)
He said only a single RPG-29 has turned up in Iraq so far, and it was unclear how it was smuggled into the country.