Could the Phalanx CIWS be used to interecept the Katyusha missles the hezbollah are firing at Israel?

Question

Just wondering why the Phalanx system might (or might not) be effecitve against the missles hezbollah is firing into Israel.

Answer 1

The Phalanx CIWS (at least the latest USA version) could theoretically intercept the Katyusha rocket; while the CIWS system was designed to shoot down low-flying supersonic Soviet cruise missiles, and while Katyushas are not guided and are too small to warrant the attention of Patriot missiles, the Katyusha can still (theoretically) be acquired and locked on by the Phalanx. The latest Mark IB model also has improved targeting systems (such as infrared allowing it to deal with lower-observable and more maneuverable targets than the cruise missiles (including low-flying aircraft and probably the Katyusha).

There apparently is an Army version of the Phalanx system. Unlike the Navy phalanx (which carries either tungsten or depleted uranium rounds) the Army model fires high-explosive incendiary tracers. These shots will explode either on target impact or once the tracer burns out to limit the chances of collateral damage. As far as I know though, the Israelis dont have the ground Phalanx system yet.

The only other problem is the Phalanx is a short range weapon, so to probably be most effective they will have to station a lot of Phalanx systems on the Israeli-Lebanese/Gaza border to prevent them from hitting Israeli targets, and a lot of ammunition.

Answer 2

Well it would be short range and spray out a lot of bullets in the area it was defending. It might work better than the Tactical High Energy Laser meant for that job seems to be working.

Answer 3

Not really. If you set them up in an urban setting you would end up doing more damage than good. They work well for ships because ships are a single entity in the middle of no where. You would need a crap load to defend an entire country

Answer 4

not basically the mattress, the closet too. ;-; If I dropped one in all my filled animals off of the mattress at the same time as i became attempting to sleep, and the room became darkish, i ought to enable it stay there because i assumed something ought to snatch my arm from less than the mattress as i tried to %. it up. :3 i don't believe that stuff anymore notwithstanding. I nevertheless get spooked by technique of the closet if I watch a very scary horror action picture notwithstanding. >->

Answer 5

Katyusha missiles are basically left over wwII surplus unguided missiles, they are very unaccurate and would be easily targeted by such a system.

Answer 6

yes, theyre hugely expensive weapons systems and the area to be defended is so large it wouldnt be effective unless there were hundreds of emplacements.