An American television program in which Navy SEALs compete against Israeli commandos airs this week. It is the season finale of Spike TV's “Deadliest Warrior.”

The program, now ending its second season, features warriors from two different sides, faced off against each other in various scenarios. “We thought it would be a great finale because both are so iconic,” said executive producer Gary Tarpinian in an interview in the The New York Blueprint. “They are among the greatest soldiers in the world.”

Tarpinian added that a number of those who served in Israeli commando units had refused to appear on the program, saying they had taken a vow to keep their training secret. 

Israelis Packing Semtex, Americans Carrying C-4 Explosives

Producers offered a brief description on the program's web site of some of the weapons the American and Israeli warriors would be bringing with them into battle.

For the Americans, it will be C-4 plastic explosives, highly malleable, relatively safe to handle, and very convenient. “Packs a pretty big punch,” according to the "Deadliest Warrior" program's web site.

But the Israelis will be packing Semtex, a pliable, odorless plastic explosive that is “safe to handle and can only be ignited by a detonator... difficult to detect, which makes it extremely desirable.” Apparently the explosive is also “twice as powerful as TNT” and is “virtually invisible to conventional security devices.” Libyan terrorists used half a pound to a pound of Semtex in 1988 to bring down the Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Not one of the 270 people aboard survived the crash.

The program's statement noted that the main difference between the way explosives are used by Israeli commandos, as opposed to others, is in how the attack is delivered:

“Instead of destroying an entire block by fitting a cell phone with a planted explosive, it is target-focused,” we are told. “It kills only the target they want dead, with minimum loss to surrounding civilians. It also sends a very clear and powerful psychological message to other terrorists.”

Note: Although the program is scheduled to air July 27 on the Spike TV network, it is posted and available to viewers on the Internet only within the United States and Canada.