Hezbollah Destroyed Advanced Israeli Tank With Twin Tharallah ATGM, Killing Or Wounding Its Crew

Illustrative image.

Hezbollah destroyed a Merkava Mk 4M main battle tank on March 26, with an initial probe by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) suggesting that the group used a unique twin anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system.

According to the military probe, Hezbollah fighters launched two ATGMs from an area north of the Litani River in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, targeting the Merkava. The first missile was intercepted by the tank’s Trophy active protection system (APS), while the second struck the tank, killing one of the crew and wounding four others.

The IDF didn’t explicitly identify the tank as a Merkava Mk 4M, but this is the only Israeli tank model that is equipped with the Trophy.

In addition, the troops wounded or killed were all from the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, which only operates Merkava Mk 4M tanks.

A photo released by the IDF showing the slain soldier, Sgt. Aviaad Elchanan Volansky, in front of a Merkava Mk 4M further confirmed this.

Click to see full-size image. (Israeli Defense Forces)

The attack, as described in the IDF’s probe, indicates that Hezbollah fighters used the Tharallah system, a special version of the Dehlavieh ATGM with twin missile launchers.

Click to see full-size image.

The Dehlavieh is an Iranian copy of the Russian Kornet ATGM, with a range from five to eight kilometers, depending on the version. It is armed with a tandem high-explosive anti-tank warhead, reportedly as powerful as the one in the original Kornet, which can penetrate an average of 1,000 mm of rolled homogeneous armor behind reactive armor.

And just like the Kornet, the Dehlavieh is guided via leaser-beam riding, which makes it completely immune to known jamming methods.

Tharollah is designed to launch two missiles in succession with a few seconds in between, specifically to defeat the Trophy.

The use of two missiles ensures that the tank will be hit. If the first missile was intercepted by the APS, the second one will still make its way to the tank as the system will not have enough time to detect it or even to load a new interceptor charge.

This is exactly what apparently happened with the IDF tank hit in southern Lebanon on March 26, whose APS was clearly defeated.

Hezbollah unveiled Tharollah more than two years ago, when it began carrying out military operations against Israel in response to the Gaza war. This is, however, the first time there is evidence that the system has managed to actually destroy a Merkava Mk 4M.

It’s worth noting that the group has also released a photo in the past revealing the presence of a version of Tharollah with a triple launcher.

Click to see full-size image.

Hezbollah resumed military operations against Israel close to a month ago, right after the start of the war on Iran, and it has since announced targeting close to 100 tanks of the IDF — which is currently conducting a “targeted” ground operation in southern Lebanon.

The ongoing confrontation revealed that the group’s anti-armor units are still heavily armed, with advanced ATGMs, in addition to loitering munitions, and even first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopters.

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