That One Time Western and Russian Military Copied Israeli Technology
The one time Western and Russian military looking at Israel for advancement in military technology.
As we all know, both the Western (NATO) and the Soviets were the leading countries in world military power. They have the best indigenous-built military equipment in the world. They are so good that the rest of the world would buy military equipment from them. But even when they are the best, they still need some improvement for their technologies. That’s when they decided to look at the world’s most militarily experienced newly born country in the world: Israel.
Israel, since its founding, has been involved in many wars, and its military is famous for modifying Western military tech to eliminate the existing deficiencies. Apart from modifying existing tech, Israeli is also known for its groundbreaking inventions. So what was the Western and Soviet military really looking for in Israel?
Soviet EDZ Explosive Reactive Armor: The Improved Copy of Israeli “Blazer” Explosive Reactive Armor
Reactive armor is a type of vehicle armor that reacts to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle it protects. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic energy penetrators. An element of explosive reactive armor is made out of a sheet or slab of high explosive sandwiched between two plates, typically metal, called the reactive or dynamic elements. On attack by a penetrating weapon, the explosive detonates, forcibly driving the metal plates apart to damage the penetrator. Against a shaped charge, the projected plates disrupt the metallic jet penetrator, effectively providing a greater path-length of material to be penetrated. Against a kinetic energy penetrator, the projected plates serve to deflect and break up the rod.
The Israeli version of ERA is called Blazer and can be considered the first one to be operational in the world. The first Blazer ERA was used during the 1982 Lebanon War. During the war, Israeli tanks, such as the modified British-made Centurion (known locally as Sho’t Kal Dalet) and modified US-made M48/M60 (known locally as Magach series) tanks, were equipped with Blazer ERA tiles.
On one occasion during the 1982 “Operation Peace for Galilee,” a fully-functioning, fully-equipped Israeli Magach 4 tank (turret serial number 94866, hull serial number 817581) from the Israeli 90th Division was captured by the Syrian Arab Army. The tanks, still containing human remains, were shown off at a parade in Damascus and sent to Moscow, Russian SFSR — then still a part of Soviet Union — for evaluation purposes.
The Soviets were very happy since the tanks arrived in an almost mint-condition except for a few holes. It was like they had found a treasure chest. Other than the Blazer ERA, the Soviets also found the then-state-of-the-art Israeli APFSDS round, the M111 Hetz. The M111 Hetz can be considered the most powerful APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot) round in the world, but we will get to it later.
The Soviets then tested the Blazer ERA and found out that it is very effective against shaped charged munitions available in the Soviet inventory, such as RPG rounds and ATGMs. The Soviets then decided to copy the Blazer with some improvements. The Soviet version of the improved Blazer ERA is called EDZ (elementy dinamcheskoi zashchity — dynamic protection elements) and was developed by the NIIBT Armored Force Scientific Experimental Institute at Kubinka. EDZ is now also known worldwide as the Kontakt-1 ERA.
The Soviet EDZ differs from the Israeli Blazer type in several respects and works as follows. When the HEAT warhead detonates against the EDZ brick, the hypervelocity jet of metal particles from the warhead penetrates the brick and detonates a thin sheet of high explosive. This explosion propels two steel plates located on either side of the explosive sheet. The outward-facing plate is blown up into the penetrating jet, eroding the metal stream by forcing more and more metal plates into the path of the jet. At the same time, the other plate is propelled back towards the tank’s armor by the explosion, then rebounds off the tank’s armor up to the remaining stream of the warhead jet, further eroding it. In this manner, the EDZ can substantially reduce the penetration of the HEAT warhead.
EDZ bricks were first spotted on Soviet tanks in Germany in December 1984. This was a nasty surprise for NATO, which had come to rely very heavily on anti-tank missiles.
Some would say that the EDZ came purely from the Soviet ERA development program dated back to the 1960s. Yes, it is true that the Soviets also had an ERA development program. However, the preliminary theoretical analysis during one of the tests resulted in all of the prototype elements being blown up and the program themselves subsequently abandoned by the Soviets.
West German 105 mm DM23 APFSDS Shell: A Copy of Israeli M111 “Hetz” APFSDS Shell
In 1978, the Israeli decided to produce an improved version of the license-built US 105 mm M735 APFSDS shell. The shell is called the M111 Hetz and differs from the original M735 in several aspects. The Hetz used a monoblock tungsten alloy penetrator, while the M735 used tungsten core sheathed in maraging steel. The Hetz also has some kind of ball bearing system incorporated around the sub-projectile dart, and the sub-projectile can easily be spun by hand inside the three ported sabot petals. This gave the M111 Hetz superior sloped penetration up until 3,000 m than the M735 and can be considered the best 105 mm APFSDS round in the world at that time. Even the Soviets feared this round because it can penetrate any of its available tank’s frontal hull from 3,000 m. The Soviets themselves tested the captured M111 Hetz round from the Magach 4 mentioned above and triggered the production of the new T-72M1 and T-72B tanks with improved armor.
West Germany decided to license-built the already license-built munition in 1982 because of its superior ability to its original version. The German version of the Hetz called Deutsche Modellbezeichnung DM23 APFSDS-T and can be fired from all L7A3 gun-equipped tanks, such as German-built Leopard 1 and Italian-built OF-40 tanks. The ammunition replaced the older DM13 APDS and complement the DM12 HEATFS round in anti-tank operation. It also served until the 1990s after it was superseded by the superior DM33 round.
Sources:
- Sewell, Stephen (1998). Why Three Tanks?. Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center. ISSN 0004–2420.
- Zaloga, Steven J (1993). T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974–93. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1–85532–338–9.
- Warford, James. 2006. “The Secret Testing of Israeli M111 ‘Hetz’ Ammunition: A Model of Failed Commander’s Responsibility”. ARMOR issue of Sep-Oct 2006.
- Jane’s Ammunition Handbook. “105 mm M111 IMI APFSDS-T round (Israel), Tank and anti-tank guns”.
