Speaking of dubious stories out of Israel, here's another tough-to-believe scenario: a controversial vehicle-defense system, recently rejected by the U.S. Army, being picked up for helicopter protection.
The Israeli "Trophy" system knocks incoming rocket-propelled grenades out of the air, with a mini-missile of its own. The Israeli military is outfitting some of its tanks with the so-called "active protection." But the U.S. Army decided not to use it, despite a pretty stellar test record. (Fox News even called it a "force field.") Depending on who you believe, the system was spiked either because of concerns about what would happen to the civilians and G.I.s surrounding the projectile collision, or because of shady insider dealing with a rival contractor.
Presumably, there would be less of a collateral damage concern, if the two munitions met a few hundred feet in the sky. And from I hear, the U.S. defense establishment is scrambling for new helicopter defenses, in the wake of all those recent chopper shootdowns over Iraq. So I don't doubt there there was some meeting, somewhere, between Trophy-maker Rafael and an American Army official. But quickly outfitting America's helicopter fleet with an already-dissed system? That's not how the Army's buyers work, in my experience.
(High five: SJ)
