This vehicle is basically an M4A1 Sherman tank composite hull HVSS with diesel engine (M-50) with the turret replaced.
The Kilshon is a tank fitted to launch the American Shrike anti radiation missile (and later Standart missiles) . The system was planned, produced and pressed into service right after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was meant to be used against Syrian and Egyptian SAM batteries radars, without endangering any planes and pilots. Taken out of service about the 1980s.
In Yom Kippur War 1973, Israel suffered severe losses to Arab air defences. Surface to Air Missiles (SAM) had forced Israeli aircraft to operate at very low level where they were susceptible to Anti-Aircraft Artillery. The Shrike air-to-ground anti-radar missile launched from Phantoms was not altogether successful in clashes with Syrian forces between October 1973 and April 1974.
Another option was to launch the Shrike missile with an Israeli-developed rocket booster from a turretless M51 Sherman chassis. The role of the Kilshon (Hebrew for Trident) was to take up a position near the battlefield and launch the Shrike (which had a range of sixteen kilometres in this surface-to-surface guise) after Israeli aircraft had teased the Arab air defence into switching on their search and targeting radars.
At least two batteries with 5 Kilshons each were operational. Kilshon was later further developed into the Keres (Hebrew for Hook) system. It used the Standard ARM and was prototyped on a Sherman Kilshon chassis but eventually fielded on standard M809 5 ton trucks because the antiquated Shermans were being retired. The Kilshon and Keres were operated for about 20 years by the air defense corps' 153rd battalion, initially from Palmachim AFB and later on from Ramat David AFB until it was finally disbanded several years ago. |
