Hard Kill vs. Soft Kill

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Hard Kill vs. Soft Kill

Usually the term is used in a defensive suite. Hard-kill weapons are those which physically interact with the target, soft-kill weapons are those which do something else to defeat the target without actually harming it.

For example, in the realm of armored vehicle defense, an Active Protection System can come in either hard-kill or soft-kill variants. Israel and Russia both market hard-kill products, which use sensors to detect an incoming round and then fires an 'interceptor' round to destroy it before it hits the vehicle. The US currently does not use such a technology on its armoured vehicles, but it is very common in air defense roles particularly on warships where a surface-to-air missile or cannon would be used to destroy an incoming anti-ship missile.

Soft-kill systems generally work by confusing the incoming round's targeting system. This can be done by way of smoke in the case of optically-guided weapons, or by jammers or decoys in the case of electro-optical or electronically guided weapons. The weapon will still be live, and will still blow up whatever it hits, but without the ability to aim, the platform using the soft-kill system will be fine. Most US vehicles will have smoke launchers, a few such as USMC M1 tanks have electronic decoys. Most aircraft will have jammers and decoys, as will ships.

JM
Wed, 06 Aug 2014 04:23:06 +0400

Add Comment | Related Links | TrackBack
Related Content

Did your message disappear? Read the Forums FAQ.

Add Comment

Spam Control | * indicates required field

TrackBack

TrackBack only accepted from WebSite-X Suite web sites. Do not submit TrackBacks from other sites.

Send Ping | TrackBack URL | Spam Control

No TrackBacks yet. TrackBack can be used to link this thread to your weblog, or link your weblog to this thread. In addition, TrackBack can be used as a form of remote commenting. Rather than posting the comment directly on this thread, you can posts it on your own weblog. Then have your weblog sends a TrackBack ping to the TrackBack URL, so that your post would show up here.

Your Name: *
E-mail:
	Remember Me!
Comment: *
	File attachment is optional. Please do not attach a file to your submission unless it is relevent.
Attach File: (20 MB Max)
Spam Protection: *	Answer of 3 + 3?
	Click button only once, please!