Le Merkava vulnérable

Le char lourd israélien Merkava est un des chars les plus puissants du monde, avec l’accent mis sur la protection et le blindage. L’une des nombreuses surprises désagréables de Tsahal dans la campagne en cours au Liban est sa vulnérabilité. Les bilans sont très difficiles à établir pour l’instant mais il semble qu’au moins trois d’entre eux ont été détruits ou gravement endommagés dans les deux derniers jours.

Parallèlement, et ceci expliquant cela bien sûr, il apparaît que l’équipement anti-chars du Hezbollah dans les combats rapprochés est extrêmement efficace. Il s’agit d’engins anti-chars Metis-M (russes) et Milan (Euromissiles). Associated Press, par le San Diego Union-Tribune, a donné des précisions sur ces divers accrochages.

« Hezbollah has fired Russian-made Metis-M anti-tank missiles and owns European-made Milan missiles, the army confirmed on Friday. In the last two days alone, these missiles have killed seven soldiers and damaged three Israeli-made Merkava tanks – mountains of steel that are vaunted as symbols of Israel's military might, the army said. Israeli media say most of the 44 soldiers killed in four weeks of fighting were hit by anti-tank missiles.

» “They (Hezbollah guerrillas) have some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior military intelligence officer who retired earlier this summer. “This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units,” Kuperwasser said.

(…)

» Israel's Merkava tanks boast massive amounts of armor and lumber and resemble fortresses on tracks. They are built for crew survival, according to Globalsecurity.org, a Washington-based military think tank.

» Hezbollah celebrates when it destroys one. “A Zionist armored force tried to advance toward the village of Chihine. The holy warriors confronted it and destroyed two Merkava tanks,” the group proclaimed on television Thursday.

» The Israeli army confirmed two attacks on Merkava tanks that day – one that killed three soldiers and the other killing one. The three soldiers who were killed on Friday were also killed by anti-tank missiles, the army said. It would not say whether the missiles disabled the tanks.

»  “To the best of my understanding, they (Hezbollah) are as well-equipped as any standing unit in the Syrian or Iranian armies,” said Eran Lerman, a retired army colonel and now director of the Israel/Middle East office of the American Jewish Committee. “This is not a rat-pack guerrilla, this is an organized militia.”

» Besides the anti-tank missiles, Hezbollah is also known to have a powerful rocket-propelled grenade known as the RPG29. These weapons are also smuggled through Syria, an Israeli security official said, and were previously used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to damage tanks. »

Mis en ligne le 5 août 2006 à 08H55