Thanks for the link Jonathan!
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via Janes.
The IDF is reawakening to the need to have powerful armored forces...armored forces that are NOT neglected in favor of airpower.
A military campaign tends to focus the mind doesn't it? Theory goes out the window and reality takes center stage.
via Janes.
Senior army officials hope that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will acquire better-protected armoured vehicles and more active protection systems (APS) such as Rafael's Trophy.Amazing.
Their comments came after seven members of the elite Golani Brigade were killed by an rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on their M113 armoured personnel carrier (APC) during Operation 'Protective Edge' against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Senior officers say they want far more Namer APCs, which have superior armour, to replace the thousands of M113s they currently have. They also say they want to equip more vehicles with the Trophy APS, which they credit with defending Merkava Mk 4 tanks against more than a dozen anti-tank missile strikes carried out by militants during Operation 'Protective Edge'.
"We want many more Namer APCs for the infantry," a senior army source said. "If we had more Namers and more defences, we would have fewer casualties from missile strikes such as the one that occurred on the M113.
"There were arguments beforehand about why we needed the Namer and Merkava Mk 4. I think after Operation 'Protective Edge', these questions will shrink away," the source added.
"In Lebanon too, these vehicles can bring extraordinary firepower and capabilities. They are very advanced, have excellent armour defences, flexibility, and detection and precision abilities. There are no armoured vehicles like them in the world," he said.
The acquisition of large numbers of new armoured vehicles and the installation of APS would significantly strengthen Israel's ground manoeuvre capability, the source argued. "This creates a ground offensive that cannot be stopped anywhere, and this is what Israel needs.
The IDF is reawakening to the need to have powerful armored forces...armored forces that are NOT neglected in favor of airpower.
A military campaign tends to focus the mind doesn't it? Theory goes out the window and reality takes center stage.
