Will Tank Shields Really Work?

During the Second Lebanon War, Hizbullah missile crews mauled Israeli armor, damaging several dozen Merkava tanks and destroying another five. Following this debacle, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. promised to step up development of the Trophy active defense system.

Unlike traditional armor, Trophy defeats an incoming projectile before it hits the vehicle.  The radar-guided system accomplishes this by firing a burst of metal fragments that intercepts high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shells, or any other threat, at a distance of 10–30 meters

However, The Jerusalem Post notes that the Israeli system is two years behind schedule and will only be ready by 2010.  Meanwhile, Israel Military Industries (IMI) has been pushing a competing active defense system, called Iron First, which fires mortar-shaped interceptors.

See IMI commercial for Iron Fist:

Both Israeli systems sound cool, but serious questions remain.

Would the infantrymen or civilians near a tank be killed when its active defense system is activated?  Would not multiple systems in an armored convoy lock on to the same incoming rocket? Finally, how effective are these systems against top-attack missiles?

For its part, the US Army has gone with Quick Kill Active Protection System (APS) being developed by Raytheon.  However, Quick Kill (which resembles Iron Fist in concept) is an even less mature technology than Trophy and will only be ready for testing in 2011.

NBC News reports on the Quick Kill vs. Trophy debate:

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