Weapons And Tactics Of The 06 Middleast War

Indianfighter

Junior Member
The following article is by Ayaz Amir, a formerly in the Pakistani Army, and now a journalist in Pakistan.

How many F-16s does Hezbollah have?

By Ayaz Amir

To get an idea of the battle picture in South Lebanon turn not to BBC or CNN, both little better than apologists for the Israeli army. Read the Israeli press, especially Haaretz (
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. More and more Israelis while still in favour of the war are questioning the way it is being conducted. The swift victory they were led to believe in has turned out to be a mirage.
The Israeli army has taken heavy casualties and Hezbollah is still raining rockets on northern Israel.

As a sign of how the war is faring, Maj Gen Udi Adam, GOC Northern Command, has been replaced by Maj Gen Moshe Kaplinsky. The security cabinet has decided, after an agonizing debate, to expand the offensive in South Lebanon. Sounds suspiciously like a reinforcing of failure.

Fifteen IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday, … "in a series of firefights across the front…" as Haaretz reports. "Twentyfive soldiers were wounded in Wednesday's actions, six seriously."

Here's another excerpt: "At around 1:40 P.M., an IDF Merkava tank was struck by an explosive device in the village of Aita al-Shaab in the western sector. The tank's four crew members were killed instantly…The kind of damage sustained by the tank (its turret was blown off) appears to indicate that the vehicle was hit by a large explosive device, but a senior Northern Command officer told Haaretz on Wednesday night that it was more likely that the Merkava had been hit by an anti-tank missile.

"Efforts to extract the tank and four dead crew members took place under heavy fire, and continued late into Wednesday night.

"The day's harshest incident occured at 2:00 P.M. when one or two anti-tank missiles were fired at an IDF force that had occupied a house in Debel. The missile strike left nine soldiers dead, including two who died on their way to the hospital, and 11 wounded, including three seriously…

"Rescue efforts again were severely hampered by intense Hezbollah gunfire."

And then tellingly: "Commanders in the sector said Wednesday night that Hezbollah guerrillas were closely following the movement of Israeli forces. They said the group is analyzing the IDF's firing positions, and doing a good job of pinpointing those locations where the forces are exposed."

This should give a flavour of the fighting. Israel has not faced anything of the kind in its entire history. Regular Arab armies it has beaten black and blue, brought Arab countries to their knees after a few days of fighting. This is different because Israel is being compelled to fight a war whose tactics are being dictated by the enemy -- Hezbollah. Israel can push in as many troops as it likes. It will face more guerrilla attacks.

........

The Israelis thought they would vanquish Hezbollah swiftly. There have been surprises in store for them.

Only the gullible think that the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah is what triggered this war. There is a growing body of evidence to show that Israel had planned this assault for a long time. That it hasn't turned out the way it figured is a different matter.

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utelore

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I think the Israli may be using a modified non-radar attack version of the Harpy. This system is used also by the PRC and appears to be a very effective attack system.

Israeli sources said a UAV struck a military position along the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley on July 31. They said the UAV exploded and destroyed the Masna checkpoint and a truck suspected of being laden with Syrian weapons and headed for Hizbullah.


It was the first time the military has acknowledged the use of UAVs in the war against Hizbullah in Lebanon. The military did not identify the UAV.
But the sources said the unmanned platform was probably the Harpy attack UAV, produced by the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries. The UAV, with a range of 500 kilometers, was designed to detect and destroy enemy radar and could be launched from a ground vehicle or surface vessel.

Harpy, which weighs 135 kilograms, contains a high explosive warhead set to detonate just above the target to maximize damage. The platform, sold to China in 1995, was designed to loiter a target until given orders to attack.

It seems three more Merkava's have been knocked out of action due to anti tank missile fire. These attacks have resulted in the Death or injury of the crew for these three attacks. I would love to know just what system is working the best for the Hesbulla fighters. TOW, Metis-M, or Kornet

One soldier from Brigade 7 was killed after an anti-tank missile hit his tank in the village of Kantara in the eastern sector on Saturday. One soldier from Brigade 401 was seriously wounded after an anti-tank missile hit his tank in the village of Batiri

Another soldier was killed and five seriously wounded during clashes between a force from the Nahal Brigade's Battalion 931 and Hizbullah gunmen in the village of Randuyia in the western sector. In the same village two other soldiers were killed- one from the Nahal and the other from Armored Brigade 401 - during clashes with guerillas.

In an unfortunate accident, two other soldiers were killed and one more was seriously wounded when a tank reversed into the soldiers from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade in the village of Hadta in the central sector. In the same village another Golani soldier, from Batallion 12, was killed during clashes with Hizbullah gunmen.

Another soldier was seriously wounded after his D9 armored bulldozer drove over a large explosive device in the village of Atiri in the central sector. An officer from Brigade 401 was also seriously wounded and three were lightly wounded after an anti-tank missile hit their tank in the village of Dir Sirin in the western sector.
 
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crazyinsane105

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Hezbullah shot down an Israeli helicopter today. A new missile called the Waad (means Promise in Arabic) is now coming into Hezbullah's arsenal. Israel has declined to comment on how many casualties there were, but there must have been quite a few since it seemed like it was a transport helicopter with several dozen commandos...
 

utelore

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No members of combat units were aboard helicopter that was shot down (Haaretz)
Also reports are coming in from around the networks that as many as 11 Israeli troops have been killed today with up to 70 wounded. Israel report it has killed more than 40 enemy fighters.

Israel said seven of its soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded — Israel radio reported 100 wounded — in an expanded offensive that tripled Israeli troop strength in southern Lebanon to 30,000. Israel confirmed guerrillas shot down a helicopter, and Hezbollah claimed to destroy 21 tanks.

Israel said it killed more than 40 Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah issued a statement saying three of its fighters had been killed but gave no date


It appears Israel can go were it wants with the proper combat package. It also appears Hesbulla can and does inflict casulities then leaves or is killed in the defensive postions. I am still somwhat surprised by the effectivness of the ATGW systems that are being used. They are not effecting the outcome of operations but making it tuff at times in conducting missions.
 
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coolieno99

Junior Member
crazyinsane105 said:
Hezbullah shot down an Israeli helicopter today. A new missile called the Waad (means Promise in Arabic) is now coming into Hezbullah's arsenal. Israel has declined to comment on how many casualties there were, but there must have been quite a few since it seemed like it was a transport helicopter with several dozen commandos...

Five soldiers were killed when an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire late Saturday, the IDF said. Hezbollah claimed the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile. IDF sources confirmed a helicopter had gone down.
Some anti-tank missiles do have anti-helicopter capability. The AT-14 Kornet can engage helicopter as well.
 
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isthvan

Tailgunner
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coolieno99 said:
Five soldiers were killed when an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire late Saturday, the IDF said. Hezbollah claimed the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile. IDF sources confirmed a helicopter had gone down.
Some anti-tank missiles do have anti-helicopter capability. The AT-14 Kornet can engage helicopter as well.

Well if helicopter was hovering it was more then good target… I guess that whit static target as big as CH-53 even older ATGM like AT-3 could score hit…
 

Indianfighter

Junior Member
Patriots Step In When Arrows Fail To Shoot Down Qassams

UPI Senior News Analyst
Washington (UPI) Aug 01, 2006

Israel's inability to intercept incoming rockets has prompted its defense forces to field a limited early-warning capability, the British journal Flight International reported Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces has deployed a U.S.-built Patriot missile battery to the northern city of Haifa -- which has so far been hit by over 1,000 projectiles -- to provide a one minute warning of incoming fire.

Israel's two Arrow anti-ballistic missile batteries, built by Israel Aircraft industries, are incapable of defending against the less-sophisticated rockets, the report said.

Israel in May selected a joint proposal from Rafael Industries in Israel and Raytheon in the United States to develop a "hit-to-kill" weapon to meet a new requirement for a short-range anti-ballistic missile defense system. Intended to intercept Qassam rockets fired from Gaza and missiles launched from Lebanon, the system will be developed using funding from Israel and the United States, Flight International said.

In the first phase of the fighting in southern Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force tried to stop the rocket barrage almost on its own, with ground forces later crossing the Lebanese border. But it has had had only limited success so far.

Source: United Press International

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isthvan

Tailgunner
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Hi Indianfighter

Currently there are no weapons that can destroy multiple Katyusha rockets. You can have some success whit CIWS guns but if you know how limited range CIWS have protection of any urban area whit that system becomes unrealistic…

Only way to stop these rockets is to destroy launchers before they can fire rockets and that isn’t so simple task (as this conflict showed)…

Israel and US had joint development of laser system called THEL that was designed specifically for this task but AFAIK system was recently canceled… Radar subsystem of THEL was used to detect Katyusha launches from Gaza since 2004 and probably in current conflict…

Northrop Grumman has continued work on similar system called Skyguard but AFAIK system is still under development…

Here is some info about MTHEL

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Best regards
Isthvan
 

Shahid

New Member
Well, it appears that the '06 Middle-East war is over,
and accoring to the "Haaretz" quoting Shaul Mofad, the former isarel's Defence Minister : " Israel has suffered a complete military defeat."

Israeli units have started withdrawing from south Lebanon, as the UN decision #1701 became effective by 7pm this day, and a cease fire has been established. The Knesset is seriously questioning Olmert's actions during this major crisis and some political party have asked for his demission. Lebanese refugees are coming back to their houses in the south, and the whole country is celebrating " Hizbollah's divine victory".

Here is the final casualties count given by IRINN according to Hezbollah and lebanese officials:

IDF casualties :
120 soldiers and ranked KIA and more than 500 WIA

IDF equipement destroyed or heavily damaged by Hezbollah:
120 Merkava series tanks
30 armored vehicles (APC, armored engineering vehicles...)
1 Saeer 5 ship
1 Saeer 4.5 ship
1 Patrol boat
3 Apache helicopters
1 F16 fighter
1 MK drone

Lebanese loses :

1135 civilian killed, more than 3000 wounded, and around 500 000 homeless
61 Hezbollah fighters
35 Lebanese troops (army and police force)


IDF claimed to have destroyed 1600 pieces of Hezbollah equipement, including different types of rocket laubchers (single tube, multitube, and truck mounted) and ATGM sites.

Around 4000 rocket were fired on Israel's territory during the 33 days of fighting. Hezbollah claimed to have 12000 rockets of different type in his arm caches by the beginning of the hostilities.

The exact count of israeli civilian casualties was not given (around 100 dead).

The Israeli Ministry of Economy estimated the war damages around 6 billions US $.
 

The_Zergling

Junior Member
Hopefully this will be the end of killing of this scale in the region for now... (although unfortunately the same can't be said for hostilities, which can only have grown stronger and deeper)

Looking at the casualty lists, you have to wonder what's gone wrong when Israel's "smart" and "precision" weapons caused a nearly 10:1 civilian/combatant death disparity...
 
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