![]() Instead, tankers just need to acquire the target, lock in on it and fire! Simple as that. Another advantage of the Stinger missiles is that tankers don’t need to manually guide the missile to the target, as their IR-guidance automates this process. ![]() As a result, the Machbet is not only capable of engaging hostile aircraft within the range of its 20mm cannon, but it can further extend its protective sphere to around 5.5 km thanks to the addition of the missiles. However, as the Vulcan’s range is rather limited to just over 2 km and this being further compounded by the speed at which jet aircraft can enter and exit this effective range, Israeli engineers choose to upgrade the vehicle with a quadruple SAM launcher, firing the FIM-92 Stinger missiles. Because of changing tasks and requirements, the Machbet was officially withdrawn from active service in 2006. However, the Machbet only saw a short service life with the IDF. In the upcoming years, several of the older Hovets were modernized to the Machbet standard. ![]() Following successful testing of the prototype in 1997, the vehicle was formally accepted into service with the IDF under the name ‘Machbet’ in 1998. Together with General Dynamics, IAI upgraded the Hovet’s fire control system and equipped the vehicle with a Stinger missile launcher, in an effort to increase the vehicle’s effectiveness against low-flying jet aircraft. As such, the IAI company was tasked with developing an upgrade package. By the early 1990s however, it was realized that the system required modernization. Israel was one of several states which adopted the M163 VADS into its own military under the name ‘Hovet’ in the early 1980s. After the M163 VADS began being decommissioned from American service, the vehicle was heavily exported to foreign operators.
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