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| Quick Kill | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Raytheon [1] |
| Specifications | |
Quick Kill is an active protection system (APS) designed to destroy incoming anti-tank missiles, rockets, and grenades. The Quick Kill system is designed and produced by Raytheon for the U.S. Army. The Quick Kill system was part of the United States Army's Future Combat Systems.
Quick Kill detects incoming RPGs and anti-tank missiles with an active electronically scanned array radar. Once its speed, trajectory, and intercept point are computed, Quick Kill vertically launches a small countermeasure missile. This kind of system is similar to the one that the Israeli Army uses for its ground forces. The system features two types of missiles: a smaller one for defense against close range weapons such as RPGs, and another, larger one to intercept longer range, faster anti-tank missiles or shells. [2] The countermeasure missile intercepts the incoming threat and destroys it with a focused blast warhead. The Quick Kill missile has 360-degree capability and a reload capability, with each launcher typically containing 4 missiles. It can be used stationary or on the move with a wide range of vehicles from armored personnel carriers to airborne helicopters. It is likely that the Humvee or JLTV would not be suitable for the Quick Kill APS, due to the blast pressures generated when the incoming warhead detonates, which is likely to buckle lightly armored vehicles. [3] The system's vertical launch countermeasure is unique in its ability to engage threats fired from any angle or elevation, providing all weather, full 360-degree hemispherical vehicle and crew protection with each countermeasure. The system has demonstrated its ability to defeat multiple threat types by defeating two simultaneous threats. [4] Strengths of the Quick Kill include its reliable radar and interceptors that launch upward before diving, directing their blasts downward rather than sideways, reducing the chance of wounding accompanying troops; however, being basically a miniaturized missile defense system, the system is expensive and complex. [5]
On Feb 8, 2006, Raytheon issued a press release stating that their "Quick Kill System [was] the first active protection system (APS) to destroy a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at close range, using a precision launched warhead with a focused blast" during live fire testing done the day before. [6] However, this was not the first time an Active Protection System (APS) successfully engaged an incoming munition. The Soviet Drozd active protection system was equipped to Soviet tanks in the early 1980s, and saw significant use in the Soviet–Afghan War on older model tanks. Later, during a 1995 special armor conference in Kubinka, a Soviet T-72 tank fitted with an updated version of APS (most likely the Arena Active Protection System) protected against KONKURS ATGMs and RPG-type weapons. [7]
There was some controversy when the United States Office of Force Transformation (OFT) planned to battle-test the more mature, but Israeli-made Trophy active protection system on several Stryker armored personnel carriers headed for Iraq in early 2007. The effort was scuttled by the US Army in favor of waiting for the Quick Kill system to be developed. [8] In 2006–2007, the Institute for Defense Analysis found Quick Kill to be relatively immature and had significant development risks. Important components such as the radar were not yet fully developed and testing of the system as a whole was on hold while the warhead was redesigned. They also found Trophy, which uses a shotgun-like kill mechanism, to be the most mature of the 15 systems they analyzed.
According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report issued June 8, 2007, the Army estimated that Quick Kill could be available for prototype delivery to current force vehicles in fiscal year 2009 and tested on an FCS vehicle in 2011. [9] Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, a top Army acquisition official, testified to Congress that Quick Kill would be ready to "hang on a vehicle in about 2008" and that the Army was already beginning to do integration work to put the system on the Stryker; this was roughly the same time frame as Trophy. Sorenson also said they were concerned about Trophy's high weight, high power draw, lack of reload capability (which it now has), lack of 360 degree protection (also a problem that was taken care of), and higher probability of collateral damage to civilians. Raytheon reported May 22, 2007 that it had delivered its radar on time and on budget. Jane's Defence Weekly reported on Oct 18, 2007 that the US Army had ordered design changes to the Quick Kill system after some rocket motors in an APS interceptor showed 'splittage' in recent testing that summer.
In December 2012, the Quick Kill active protection system defeated an extended set of threats, including one of the most lethal RPG threats by destroying it in mid-flight. The system used the same radar technology that warns Forward Operating Bases of incoming rocket and mortar attacks. The testing is in preparation for formal government evaluations in early 2013 to demonstrate the system's unique RPG-defeat capabilities. [4]
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor which propels the RPG towards the target and they are stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable with new rocket-propelled grenades, while others are single-use. RPGs are generally loaded from the front.
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems.
The Merkava is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces and the backbone of the IDF's armored corps. The tank began development in 1970, and its first generation, the Merkava mark I, entered official service in 1979. Four main variants have been deployed. As of 2023, the Merkava mark IV is the latest version. The Merkava was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War. The name "Merkava" was derived from the IDF's initial development program name.
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Allies deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first developed anti-tank weapon was a scaled-up bolt-action rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, that fired a 13.2 mm cartridge with a solid bullet that could penetrate the thin armor of tanks of the time and destroy the engine or ricochet inside, killing occupants. Because tanks represent an enemy's strong force projection on land, military strategists have incorporated anti-tank warfare into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. The most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II in 1939 included the tank-mounted gun, anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades used by the infantry, and ground-attack aircraft.
The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable man-portable anti-tank system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire-and-forget design uses automatic infrared guidance that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch, in contrast to wire-guided systems, like the system used by the Dragon, which require a user to guide the weapon throughout the engagement. The Javelin's high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead can defeat modern tanks by top attack, hitting them from above, where their armor is thinnest, and is also useful against fortifications in a direct attack flight.
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) is the United States' anti-ballistic missile system for intercepting incoming warheads in space, during the midcourse phase of ballistic trajectory flight. It is a major component of the American missile defense strategy to counter ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) carrying nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads. The system is deployed in military bases in the states of Alaska and California; in 2018 comprising 44 interceptors and spanning 15 time zones with sensors on land, at sea, and in orbit. In 2019, a missile defense review requested that 20 additional ground-based interceptors be based in Alaska.
Arena or Kazt, is an active protection system (APS) developed at Russia's Kolomna-based Engineering Design Bureau for the purpose of protecting armoured fighting vehicles from destruction by light anti-tank weapons, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and flyover top attack missiles. It uses a Doppler radar to detect incoming warheads. Upon detection, a defensive rocket is fired that detonates near the inbound threat, destroying it before it hits the vehicle.
Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged non-nuclear tactical and theater missiles.
An active protection system (APS) is a system designed to actively prevent certain anti-tank weapons from destroying a vehicle.
Trophy is a military active protection system (APS) designed to protect vehicles from anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank rockets, and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds. A small number of explosively formed projectiles destroy incoming threats before they hit the vehicle. Its principal purpose is to supplement the armour of light and heavy armored fighting vehicles. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel and currently fielding over 1,000 systems to all major Israeli ground combat platforms, and U.S. Abrams M1A1/2, and tested on the Stryker APCs and Bradley Fighting Vehicles (BFVs). Trophy protects against a wide variety of anti-tank threats, while also maximizing the vehicle's ability to identify enemy location to crews and combat formation, thereby providing greater survivability and maneuverability in all combat theatres.
Drozd is an active protection system (APS) developed in the Soviet Union, designed for increasing tanks' protection against anti-tank missiles and RPGs. It is considered the world's first operational active protection system, created in 1977–78 by the KBP design bureau of A. G. Shipunov as Kompleks 1030M-01. Its chief designer, Vasily Bakalov, was awarded the Lenin Prize for his work on its development.
Iron Fist is a hard-kill active protection system (APS) designed by Israel Military Industries (IMI), with a modular design allowing adaptation to a range of platforms ranging from light utility vehicles to heavy armoured fighting vehicles. The concept was revealed by IMI in 2006 and was expected to enter Israel Defense Forces tests by mid-2007. The system has been successfully tested against a wide variety of threats including rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles and tank-fired high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunition and kinetic energy penetrators.
Slat armor, also known as bar armor, cage armor, and standoff armor, is a type of vehicle armor designed to protect against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) attacks, as used by anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
AMAP-ADS is a hard-kill active protection system (APS), developed by the German company ADS Gesellschaft für aktive Schutzsysteme, a subsidiary of Rheinmetall and IBD Deisenroth Engineering, as part of their Advanced Modular Armor Protection concept. The system is also known under the name AAC in Sweden and as Shark in France. Due to its modular design it can be adapted to a broad range of vehicles. In particular, it is capable of protecting light vehicles against large caliber weapons which the vehicles' light armor wouldn't stop.
The RPG-30 "Kryuk" is a Russian hand-held disposable anti-tank grenade launcher.
Namer, means "leopard" and also a syllabic abbreviation of "Nagmash" (APC) and "Merkava", is an Israeli armoured personnel carrier based on a Merkava Mark IV tank chassis. Namer was developed by and is being assembled by the Israeli Ordnance Corps. It has entered service in limited numbers with the Israel Defense Forces since the end of 2008. However, as of 2014, still only very limited numbers of Namers were in service with the IDF. Due to budgetary constraints, the introduction of the Namer into the IDF has been slow, leaving the ground forces dependent on the M113 for many years to come.
Iron Curtain is an active protection system (APS) created in 2005 and designed by Artis, an American technology development and manufacturing firm. The system deactivates threats, such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and other shoulder-launched missiles.
The Zaslin active protection system is being developed by Microtek in cooperation with other military design organizations. The system is designed to protect stationary or mobile targets from anti-tank weapons with flat or diving trajectories using various types of guidance systems and warheads. Unlike the existing Russian-designed active protection systems Drozd and Arena, Zaslin can be deployed alongside reactive armour placed in the turret area, which is vulnerable to anti-tank projectiles traveling at speeds up to 1,200 metres per second (3,900 ft/s)
The Pike is a precision-guided mini-missile or grenade munition designed by Raytheon. It is a 40 mm guided munition that can be fired from the barrel of a Heckler & Koch M320 Grenade Launcher Module and Enhanced Grenade Launching Module (EGLM) like a standard 40mm grenade, but is powered by a rocket motor to propel it 2,000 m to give infantrymen improved extended-range precision capabilities. The weapon uses a digital, semi-active laser seeker to guide itself to within five meters of the target; it can operate in a two-man shooter/spotter team or by the grenadier alone lazing after firing, as it can fly for 15 seconds before homing in. When fired, Pike has a small propellant to "kick" it 2.5–3 m (8.2–9.8 ft) out of the tube before the nearly smokeless motor ignites, and range is dependent on firing angle. The munition is effective against fixed and slow-moving mid-range targets, using a 6⁄10 lb blast fragmentation warhead with a 10-meter lethality radius. Raytheon developed the weapon for three years in collaboration with Nammo Talley, which developed the warhead and propulsion system. The Pike is intended to be more accurate with a longer range than rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and standard rifle grenades, while being far lighter and more cost-effective than current infantry guided weapons like the $78,000 each FGM-148 Javelin. Further improvements could include different fuses, multiple-round simultaneous programming and targeting with data-link capabilities, and platform integration onto small boats, vehicles, and small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Pike weighs 1.7 lb (0.77 kg) and is 16.8 in (43 cm) long, too long to fit in the breech of the M203 grenade launcher. At AUSA 2015, Raytheon revealed they had performed two successful test firings of the Pike.
KAPS is an active protection system developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Hanwha Thales for K2 Black Panther in 2011. In order to strengthen the viability of main battle tank in South Korea, it was decided to introduce a hard-kill active protection system that will be applied to K2 Black Panther tanks and completed the development under the leadership of ADD from 2006 to December 2011.