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Occupied Jerusalem- Several questions were raised by the Israeli occupation army’s decision to create a new armored battalion of old-style Merkava V3 tanks, which it called “Auf Hahol,” meaning the Phoenix. The battalion relied on reserve forces from the armored corps.
The armored battalion – led by Lieutenant Colonel Erez Saadoun – consists of reserve soldiers, officers and tank commanders with operational and leadership experience in dealing with Merkava V3 tanks prepared for sale, as it was decided to freeze their sale in order to join the fighting in Gaza.
This old model has firepower, mobility, and accurate shooting, as well as machine guns, according to the Israeli army.
This decision comes in light of the intensification of ground battles between the Palestinian resistance factions and the Israeli forces penetrating the besieged Gaza Strip, and the Israeli army is suffering heavy losses in tanks and military vehicles, due to anti-armour missiles, which the resistance documents through video clips it broadcasts daily.
In light of the military control imposed by Israel on the conduct and development of ground battles in Gaza, it is forbidden to reveal the extent of the loss of expensive military equipment and machinery, such as the new-style Merkava V4 tanks and the Tiger armored vehicle, as well as the Merkava V5 tanks that entered experimental service. Last September.
Experiments and targeting
With the announcement of the formation of an armored reserve battalion and the use of old tanks in ground battles, Oded Yaron, a journalist specializing in arms and technology affairs, chose – in his report in the newspaper “Haaretz” – to shed light on the defensive protection systems that Israel is testing on modern tanks and armor during the war.
In reference to Israel’s losses inflicted by resistance missiles by targeting modern armored vehicles and tanks during ground battles in Gaza, this journalist recalled the penetration of an anti-armored shell into the “Tiger” armored personnel carrier, which led to the death of 11 soldiers from the “Givati Brigade.” Therefore, the use of old tanks, which are considered… Less expensive.
The journalist hinted that these measures come in order to preserve the so-called “reputation and prestige” of modern-style tanks and armored vehicles, whose “wind coat” defense systems are still being tested, so that keeping them on the battlefield and in the circle of targeting anti-missiles and documenting direct hits on them will harm. The status of Israeli military industries.
Warnings and repercussions
AndLast June, The newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” revealed the Israeli army’s intention to sell to European and foreign countries hundreds of Merkava V2 and V3 tanks that were no longer in service with the Armored Corps and remained piled up in army warehouses, where they were supposed to be delivered last October. 200 old-style tanks for Ukraine and Poland, but the war on Gaza prevented this.
The estimates of correspondents and military analysts unanimously agreed that Israel’s decision to reconstitute an armored battalion from reserve units and to use old tanks reflects the proposal that warned of the repercussions of abolishing many armored brigades, and also the consensus that the decision to sell old tanks to foreign countries amounted to a “strategic mistake.”
According to estimates by Armored Corps researchers, the number of Israeli army tanks is constantly decreasing, from the situation in which the Armored Corps was thousands of tanks and armored vehicles in the 1990s, to the situation in which today there are less than a thousand tanks and armored vehicles.
Losses and fighting
In this context, he said Fibrous tea The military correspondent of the “Mako” website (affiliated with the Israeli Channel 12) said that the decision came “in view of the multiple battlefields in Gaza, and the increasing demand of field forces for armored vehicles and tanks in terms of firepower and speed of movement.”
He explains that the request to create a second armored battalion and use old-style tanks to fight is not a coincidence. “In the past, there were quite a few experts who warned against closing armored brigades and reducing the armored corps, a deficiency that has now become felt in the ground battles in Gaza, without fighting inside.” Lebanese territory may erupt in the future.”
The military correspondent estimated that the less expensive old-style Merkava tanks would be used in ground battles in Gaza, where the fighting is intense. It is possible that they will be placed in places where more advanced and expensive tanks, vehicles and armored vehicles have left.
He added that over the years, “there has been a state of neglect of the ground army, which was represented by the closure of many armored brigades, the vast majority of which are in reserve…”
Reduction and neglect
The reduction of the armored forces and the cancellation of some armored brigades raised many question marks, especially in recent years when the Israeli army began talking about the scenario of a multi-front war with Gaza and Lebanon, which would require large forces for ground maneuvers, including the advantages that the tank brings to the battlefield.
Among the experts – who came out against the move to close armored brigades and take many tanks out of service – is Reserve Colonel of the Armored Brigade, Boaz Zalmanovich, who said, “If there is one reason to introduce tanks into a built-up area, it is firepower,” according to what was reported by Israeli Channel 12. .
Zalmanovic explained that infantry forces, even in a ground incursion, are not an alternative to 120-millimeter tank shells and tank machine guns, especially since tank ammunition has been adapted to fight in built-up and populated areas.
The Israeli reserve colonel asserts that there is no substitute for the capabilities of armor and tanks on ground battlefields, stressing that neither combat helicopters nor drones can provide protection and firepower for infantry forces, and this is in addition to the duration of continuous combat activity in the field.
Zalmanovich concluded by saying, “I do not know how many tanks there are in the Israeli army, and I hope that there are more than enough, because without tanks, the army will have difficulty carrying out its tasks in built-up areas.”
