+Israel © MEA-20180404 (C592) History of Israel -IDF Tanks
History of Israel -IDF Tanks
Remnants of past military battles, abandoned tanks of all shapes and sizes are scattered across the landscapes of many different countries throughout the world, and Israel is no exception. Here we see tourists flocking around this outdated Sherman, an example of an Egyptian tank captured by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) during the 1967 Six-Day War, and now on display at the Latrun Military Museum in Jerusalem.
Israel has had a long history of tank warfare, where they began using British and then American tanks. But even by the early 1960s, they knew they would have to develop and build their own unique style of tank. The Yom Kippur War in 1973 triggered a chain of military decisions, from which IDF Major General Israel Tal initiated a program for Israel to build its own ‘mystery’ tank, called the Merkava -meaning chariot, which entered service in 1979. It was a modest beginning, but this tank was more suitable to meet Israel’s specific needs, with extra protection flanking the outside making it more resistant to damage, and a rear hatch fitted for emergency evacuation by the tank crews.
Over the past three decades, and using their own engineering and technological skills, the IDF have continued to produce even more advanced Merkava tanks, which are commended for their innovative design, mobility and weaponry functions. The Merkava-2 model was the most heavily armed tank in the world. The structural design of the Merkava chassis was also adapted to be used in the manufacture an armoured ambulance (called the ‘Tankbulance’), and the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (called the Namer), amongst other military uses. The latest Merkava tanks are even more sophisticated and very necessary in defending the borders of the sovereign State of Israel and its people.
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