IAI is develop a laser-guided antitank/antihelicopter missile that fired out of tank guns instead of from missile launchers. In its antihelicopter role, the missile would enable tanks to defend themselves against fast-moving helicopters that can fire antitank missiles from beyond the effective range of conventional tank gun projectiles or onboard machine guns.
The missile’s designers claim that it will penetrate both the latest, as well as next-generation, advanced tank armors, which may be impenetrable to conventional 105- and 120-millimeter tank projectiles. The missile’s laser guidance system would also allow it to make in-flight corrections to compensate for evasive tactics by helicopter pilots and tank drivers. This correction capability is not currently possible with conventional tank rounds.
The Lahat significantly increase a tank’s effective engagement range and greatly increase its first-round probability of hit and probability of kill, according to company officials. The range performance of the Lahat is classified, but the current maximum effective range of Western-designed 105- and 120-millimeter tank guns is 2,000 to 3,000 meters. By comparison, the Russian-made AT-10 Stabber, AT-11 Sniper and AT-12 Sheksna, which are also gun-launched antitank missiles, have maximum effective ranges of 4,000 to 5,000 meters.
Israeli tank gunner training emphasizes sniper marksmanship training, which can achieve a maximum first-round kill performance of about 90 percent. However, this performance level is not uniform even among Israeli tank gunners, and it degrades under the pressures of combat. The Lahat is designed to achieve a 95 percent probability of kill under most conditions.
IAI contends that the combination of increased effective engagement range and the Lahat’s increased first-round probability of kill would greatly improve a tank’s survivability in the modern battlefield. This increased capability would justify the projected unit cost of $20,000 (depending on the overall procurement quantity), especially because a tank would carry only a limited number of missiles in its magazine. The Lahat’s anticipated cost is approximately six times the current unit cost of a conventional M829A2 armor piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot 120-millimeter projectile manufactured by Alliant Techsystems, Hopkins, Minnesota. Alliant is one of the two U.S. producers of tank gun ammunition. The M829A2 kinetic energy round does not have the designed antihelicopter capability of the Lahat.
Tanks armed with either a 105-millimeter or a 120-millimeter gun would be able to fire the Lahat by using appropriately sized sabots for each caliber. The weapon is less than one meter in length—the same as a conventional tank gun projectile—and the entire missile plus warhead weigh less than 20 kilograms.
The Lahat launched from the tank gun barrel using its own rocket motor, which is ignited in the gun chamber. The ostensibly similar Russian AT-10, AT-11 and AT-12 antitank missiles, which are already in production, fire from tank guns like regular tank rounds, using separate propellant charges before their rocket motors ignite.
The missile is designed to carry a tandem warhead that was developed for another system already in use with the Israeli Defense Forces. The warhead will have a normal top-attack default option for use against tanks, but it can be switched to the direct-attack mode for use against helicopters. In the top-attack mode, the missile will be able to strike tanks in their much thinner and more vulnerable top armor.
The top-attack mode, combined with the missile’s velocity, would reportedly enable it to overcome active protection systems that tanks might carry. According to IAI officials, active protection systems are primarily designed to counter horizontal threats and are relatively ineffective against high angle-of-attack impact weapons. A company official hints that the Lahat might also carry embedded active protection system countermeasure capabilities.
During the firing sequence, the tank’s fire control system would transfer data to the electronics contained in the missile’s shell casing to program the missile for either top attack or direct attack.
A laser designator mounted on the tank would guide the Lahat. This approach is unlike that of the missile’s Russian counterparts, which use laser-beam-riding guidance, or the U.S. Shillelagh missile, which uses infrared homing guidance. According to IAI officials, the Lahat laser designator would replace a tank’s current laser range finder, although final selection of a designator would depend on the chosen platform and the customer.
Guidance of the Lahat to a target could also be from a laser designator positioned independently of the tank, in a fashion similar to the U.S. Copperhead artillery projectile or the Hellfire missile. This would give a tank both beyond visual range and day and night capabilities.
Instead of spending $500,000 to $700,000 per tank for contemporary state-of-the-art fire control systems, countries owning older tanks could spend $50,000 for each laser designator and then buy a limited number of Lahats—perhaps three or four—per tank. This would give each tank a limited long-range engagement capability for only $100,000 to $150,000 per tank. Even Russian tanks typically carry only four to six guided missile rounds, out of a total magazine load of 40 to 45 rounds, because of the expense. |
