Rafael Carpet is a mine breaching system developed by

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. () is an Israeli Defense contractor, defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defens ...

, an Israeli weapon development company. First introduced in 2006, it has been adopted by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

and was scheduled to be fielded with the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

by 2007. The system employs a unique implementation of

fuel-air explosive A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, or a vacuum bomb, is a type of explosive munition that works by dispersing an aerosol cloud of gas, liquid or powdered explosive. The fuel is usually a single compound, rather than a mixture o ...

(FAE) technology, offering an efficient and safe method for clearing minefields and neutralizing

IEDs An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

Background

The primary function of Carpet is to clear a safe passage through minefields, enabling the safe movement of combat vehicles. It operates by firing a salvo of up to 20 rockets, which disperse a fuel spray over the target area. This creates a fuel-air explosive cloud that, upon detonation, generates a strong impulse over a wide area. This impulse is effective in triggering most mines, regardless of the terrain, foliage, or man-made obstacles. The explosion clears a path up to 100 meters long within one minute, providing a significant operational advantage in minefield clearance. Rafael Carpet can be operated in various modes including automatic, semi-automatic, and manual, offering operational flexibility. It is designed to be remotely operated from within a vehicle, protecting the crew from enemy fire. This system can also be reloaded rapidly in forward areas, enhancing its utility in combat scenarios. Notably, the rockets used in Carpet contain only liquid fuel, which is flammable but not explosive under regular operating conditions, reducing the risk to the system, vehicle, and nearby troops. The system is notable for its relatively lightweight design, with the fully loaded Carpet launcher weighing 3.5 tons. It can carry up to 20 x 265 mm rockets, each weighing 46 kg. Training rockets, which simulate the operation without the fuel-air explosion, are also available for safe training exercises. Carpet can be towed, mounted on the rear of armored fighting vehicles, or installed inside an

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

(APC). It has been used by the

Israeli Combat Engineering Corps The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps (, ''Heil HaHandasa HaKravit'') is part of the Israel Defense Forces with responsibility for mobility assurance, road breaching, defense and fortifications, counter-mobility of enemy forces, construction and ...

mounted on an

IDF Puma The Puma (Hebrew: פומ"ה פורץ מכשולים הנדסי) is a heavily armored Combat engineering vehicle and armored personnel carrier that the Engineering Corps of the Israeli Defence Forces has used since the early 1990s. The vehicle c ...

combat engineering vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineering, combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the Armored bulldozer, armo ...

. One of the significant deployments of Rafael Carpet was by the IDF during the

Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, where it was used for neutralizing and clearing

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

strongholds near the Israeli-Lebanese border. It has also been used in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. The French Army's plan to incorporate the Carpet system involves its installation on AMX-B2 EBG combat engineering vehicles, which are designed to deploy various mine clearing systems, adding versatility to their capabilities.

References

{{reflist Military equipment of Israel Israeli inventions Armoured fighting vehicle equipment Mine warfare countermeasures