This is what Israel is saying perhaps if you factor in the fact that the first casulty of war is the truth then you can add 30 more tanks to the list and make it 60 in 30 days. Not bad for a heavily out numbered and out gunned fighting force.
30 Tanks Wiped Out in Lebanon
12:01 Aug 11, '06 / 17 Av 5766
(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which Hezb have destroyed IDF tanks.
At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets.
About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
Just what Hezbollah have been saying for weeks!
How humiliating for Israel that dozens of it's much vaunted tanks have been blasted to pieces by Hezbollah, whom they had boasted they could defeat in just days.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
I remember how Israel claimed the Merkava was nearly impossible to destroy when they tried to sell it to Turkey in the late 90s.... Hezbollah dispelled th myth that time too, although through getting a guy to jump on to one and fire a missile directly onto the top. At the time, their missiles could not penetrate the front, side, or rear of a Merkava.
It seems their firepower has improved... they can destroy Merkavas from the side now, and use their older missiles in pairs against infantry who think they are safe in cover.
Israel troops report that when they are in a building or bunker, Hezbollah fire 2 missiles barely seconds apart aiming for the same spot. The first missile cracks the building open, leaving the Israeli soldiers inside exposed. Before they can take cover, the second missile arrives and hits them!
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
If Israel has not won the war by now...then they will never win it.....its just going to become a war of attrition and that can only hurt the Zionists.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
Hezbollah missiles rain down on tanks
From Stephen Farrell in Metulla and Ian MacKinnon in Haifa
Video: Times Online TV
FROM a hill overlooking the Lebanese El Marj valley yesterday we watched Israeli tanks, above, crawling across a battlefield that they have yet to secure four weeks into this bitter war.
Hezbollah anti-tank missiles screamed in from the hazy hills and smashed into a Merkava tank, leaving it crippled. The crew could be seen sprinting to a second tank beneath clouds of smoke as artillery and missile fire thundered overhead. Another incoming missile sent a cloud of sparks billowing skywards just a few feet from a third tank. Later we saw a fourth crippled tank being towed to safety.
All this was happening just a few hundred yards across the border, within sight of Israel’s red-roofed kibbutzim. Small numbers of Hezbollah fighters with Sagger and sophisticated TOW anti-tank missiles were tying down entire units of Israeli armour and infantry as they sought to advance to the villages of Khiam, Marjayoun, Taibeh and Kafr Kila.
Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s fierce resistance is a significant increase in its ground offensive.
But as the death toll mounts and Hezbollah continues to rain rockets on northern Israel — yesterday it killed a woman and her three-year-old son — Israelis are starting to show concern that their country is being sucked back into the flames of Lebanon, from which it retreated in May 2000 after previous illfated ventures.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
Interestingly enough, Hezbollah have managed to put around 0.75% of Israel's total number of active main battle tanks out of action.
That is a stunning result, given that Israel has the most powerful tank force in the middle east. 4,000 tanks and 30 destroyed by a militia in just 4 weeks.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
It seems their firepower has improved... they can destroy Merkavas from the side now, and use their older missiles in pairs against infantry who think they are safe in cover.
Israel troops report that when they are in a building or bunker, Hezbollah fire 2 missiles barely seconds apart aiming for the same spot. The first missile cracks the building open, leaving the Israeli soldiers inside exposed. Before they can take cover, the second missile arrives and hits them!
I read about a sophisticated Syrian (?) ATGM which punctured its way deeeep into an M1A1 Abram (in Iraq), on another forum today. I'll try and post some pics of the damage done by it. But it went through all the layers of armor on that tank, and also skimmed one of the crew.
If it is indeed made by Syria, or supplied by Iran (or China, Russia), and it makes its way to Lebanon, Merkava's will be in deep trouble.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
It seems their firepower has improved... they can destroy Merkavas from the side now, and use their older missiles in pairs against infantry who think they are safe in cover.
I*srael troops report that when they are in a building or bunker, Hezbollah fire 2 missiles barely seconds apart aiming for the same spot. The first missile cracks the building open, leaving the Israeli soldiers inside exposed. Before they can take cover, the second missile arrives and hits them!*
Not such a big deal, you could do that with a WWII bazooka.
The real lesson here is that Israel had an Air Force General running the war. He sent in 5,000 troops when it should have been 100,000. The issue is not missles or tanks. Israel needs to change military tactics. They need to realize that they will lose more men in future wars. The politicians cannot expect to win a war on the cheap, the Powell doctrine is still in effect. Go in with overwhelming force. (And then leave). This was a political failure, and a tactical failure.
You can bet that the Israeli military will replay this conflict a million times over the next two years. By then they will have to face Hizbullah again.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
The real lesson here is that Israel had an Air Force General running the war. He sent in 5,000 troops when it should have been 100,000. The issue is not missles or tanks. Israel needs to change military tactics. They need to realize that they will lose more men in future wars. The politicians cannot expect to win a war on the cheap, the Powell doctrine is still in effect. Go in with overwhelming force. (And then leave). This was a political failure, and a tactical failure.
You can bet that the Israeli military will replay this conflict a million times over the next two years. By then they will have to face Hizbullah again.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
imagine how clever these yahoodis are...plus they have all of american support...all the latest weapons/technology..still these arabs gave them such a good fight...so in two years israel will attack hizbullah again? what do they plan to accomplish? hizbullah is not going away
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
Actually, Syria pretty much worked that one out a while back. Their troops on the Israeli border are pretty much infantry armed with huge numbers of the latest Russian anti-tank missiles, the ones that Hezbollah are using to crack open the Merkavas.
The thing that favours Hezbollah is the South Lebanon terrain - the extensive valley structure makes tanks operating along the valley floors easy targets for infantry positioned above with anti-tank weapons.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
I was reading a Russian newspaper the other day on (Sky Digital) BBC News 24, teletext page number 1020, under the title 'World Papers'.
It said Russians were very proud of the 'Russian-made anti-tank weapons used by Hezbullah' because it finally ended 'the myth about Israel's invincibility' in the region.
Re: Hezbullah figters destroyed 30 tanks in 30 days with terrorist inside
Yeah.. that Russian ATGM is deadly. And, now it has proved its worth. Israeli Merkava is the most armored tank in the world. The French Saggers are also in the hands of Hezbollah.