The Drakon (Hebrew: דרקון, meaning "Dragon") is a Israeli Anti-Aircraft Missile that appears in Nation Pack: Israel DLC of Wargame: Red Dragon.
History[]
In 1973, Egypt and Syria performed a surprise attack on Israel (known as the Yom Kippur War) using masses of advanced Soviet weaponry supplied to them in the years since the 1967 Six-Day War. Aerial attacks by MiGs and Soviet helicopters in particular proved very difficult to stop with Israel's small air force and aging short-range AA weaponry. Richard Nixon's administration, fearing a demonstration of Soviet superiority in the Middle East, decided to supply Israel with an aerial train full of American-made weapons, combat vehicles and munitions. As part of one such shipment, Israel received its first two M48 Chaparrals as well as urgent training for a handful of crews.
The two vehicles arrived almost at the very end of the war. Reports indicate that they were made ready just in time to be deployed in the Sinai peninsula, assisting an MIM-23 Hawk ("Shenav" in-game) battery in hunting for Egyptian helicopters on the eastern side of the Suez Canal in the days immediately following the war. Though the Hawks shot down many enemy helicopters, no Chaparral kills were reported during that particular operation. A much larger number of Chaparrals were purchased, with the first battery becoming operational only a few weeks after the Yom Kippur War. The Chaparral made its first and only kill in world history in 1974, when an Israeli operator shot down a low-flying Syrian MiG-17 attacking Israeli ground forces in the Golan Heights (some sources claim that another Syrian MiG-17 was intercepted in the Lebanese Invasion of 1982).
In the IDF, the Chaparral received the codename Drakon ("Dragon"), though they kept the purchase a secret for several years after its introduction. Drakon served in the Air Defense battalions. The Israeli Air Defense Command was apparently impressed by the vehicle's performance, as it continued to purchase various M48 Chaparral models for the next 25 years, in large quantities (52 units reportedly). The last purchase was completed in 1999, when Israel received at least several dozen M48 "Improved Chaparral" vehicles from US Army surplus. These new Chaparral vehicles would only serve in the IDF for another 4 years after their introduction, after which the entire Chaparral force was finally retired from service in 2003. Today, The IDF relies exclusively on Stinger MANPADS for short-range surface-to-air interception.
Overview[]
Drakon shares the same stats with M48A1 Chaparral.
Weapons[]
| Weapons | 
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|---|---|---|---|
| Type | SAM | No Weapon | No Weapon |
| Name | MIM-72F | ||
| Caliber | Infrared [AoE] [F&F] [STAT] |
||
| Ammo | x 12 | ||
| Range | Ground = N/A m Helicopters = 2975 m  Airplanes = 2380 m
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| Accuracy | 45% | ||
| AP Power | N/A | ||
| HE Power | 6 | ||
| Suppression | 240 | ||
| Rate of fire | 20 s r/min |
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