Israeli Armoured Operations in South Lebanon 2006

Israeli armour in Lebanon took a heavy battering with thirty Merkava MBTs hit by some odd 500 ATGMs launched. Out of the thirty, ten MBTs were heavily damaged or destroyed resulting in a handful of crew heavily injured and killed. There was an instance where one Merkava MBT was hit by seven types of ATGWs.

The reported hits was approximately 50. That would work out to be a hit rate of 10%. Considering that the theoretical rates of missiles like the MILAN, TOWs which are in excess of 95%, real life combat hit rates would be somewhat lower. 10% would appear to be realistic with certain MBTs being hit multiple times. It was reported that the Hizbollah terrorists were targeting hatches and tank commanders.

The reported types included the 9M131 Metis-M, RPG-29, MILAN, TOW, 9K111 Fagot, 9K113 Konkurs, 9M115 Metis . The older 9M14 Malyutka with a theoretical hit rate of 85% were used against Israeli infantry in buildings.

The variants of Merkava MBTs utilised in the operations included the Merkava Mk4, the Merkava Mk 2D (with the distinctive sloped turret), the standard Mk2, and the Merkava Mk3Baz. This was reported in an article in Defence Update.

Defence Update has an interesting sequence of photos in an article showing a recovery operation involving two Merkava Mk IV MBTs and an overturned Puma Combat Engineers vehicle. A Merkava MBT was seen to be injecting smoke. Note the huge saucer-shaped turret, presumably with increased overhead protection.

There was another few photos elsewhere that featured two burning Merkava MBTs. The fires were small, likely to be the diesel tanks which were penetrated. (front engine, diesel fuel tank buffer as protection)

List of Russian ATGMs and their NATO codenames

3M6 Shmel - AT-1 Snapper
3M11 Falanga - AT-2 Swatter
9M14 Malyutka - AT-3 Sagger
9M111 Fagot - AT-4 Spigot
9M113 Konkurs - AT-5 Spandrel
9M114 Shturm - AT-6 Spiral
9M115 Metis - AT-7 Saxhorn
9M112 Kobra - AT-8 Songster
9M120 Ataka - AT-9 Spiral-2
9M117 Bastion - AT-10 Stabber
9M119 Refleks/Svir - AT-11 Sniper
9M117-1 Sheksna - AT-12 Swinger
9M131 Metis-2 - AT-13 none
9M133 Kornet - AT-14 none
9M123 Khrizantema - AT-15 none
9M114 Vikhr - AT-16 none