Israel is considered a great tank power: the IDF's tank fleet is one of the largest in the world - it is armed with from 4 to 5 thousand tanks, the Merkava tank built at Israeli tank factories, according to many experts, is the world's best main battle tank, Israeli tank crews have invaluable combat experience gained in numerous wars and armed conflicts.
The Israeli military example had a significant impact on the development of strategy and tactics of the armored forces: Israeli tank generals Israel Tal and Moshe Peled are represented in the Great Tank Leaders Hall at the General Patton Center for Tank Forces of the United States, along with German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and American General George Patton …
Creation of tank troops
Israeli armored forces, the main striking force of the IDF's ground forces, were born in the battles of the War of Independence. In February 1948, the Armored Service was created under the command of Yitzhak Sade, but the tanks themselves did not exist yet - the main tank manufacturers - the USA, Great Britain and France, introduced a ban on the sale of weapons to the Jewish state.
Already during the battles of the War of Independence, it was possible to acquire 10 Hotchkiss N-39 tanks, which, together with the Sherman M4 tank and two Cromwell tanks stolen from the British, entered service with the first tank unit - the 82nd tank battalion. The battalion commander was the former Major of the Polish Army Felix Beatus, who marched from Stalingrad to Berlin. The crews of the battalion included tankers - Jewish volunteers from around the world who fought against the Nazis in the ranks of the British Army and the Polish Army.
Among them were several former tank officers of the Red Army. They were called "suicide bombers" - they deserted from the Soviet occupation forces in Germany and reached Eretz Israel by various routes. In the USSR, they were sentenced in absentia to death for "treason". They went through mortal dangers to fight for the Jewish state.
By the middle of 1948, the 7th and 8th tank brigades were formed, which took part in the battles with the Arab aggressors.
In those years, the doctrine of tank warfare began to form, which was adopted by the IDF. It is based on the following principles:
The first is “Tank Totality”. This means that tank formations, due to mobility, armor and firepower, are able to independently solve the main tasks of land warfare.
The second - "Bronekulak" as the main tank maneuver ", which consists in the introduction of large tank forces into a breakthrough, capable of leading an offensive at high speed, destroying enemy forces on its way.
The main combat formation of the Israeli armored forces is the tank brigade. In the course of hostilities, tank divisions and corps are formed from tank brigades.
Analysis of tank battles showed a high percentage of losses among tank commanders. This is due to the requirements of a kind of commanding honor code adopted by the Israeli army:
"Behind me!" - the main command in the IDF, the commander is obliged to lead his subordinates by personal example.
Tanks go into battle with open hatches - the commander, standing in the turret of the tank with the hatch open, controls the actions of the crew. This significantly expands the view and allows you to fight with "eyes open", but the commander becomes the primary target for enemy fire.
The formation of tank forces
The first combat test of this doctrine took place during Operation Kadesh in 1956. In three days, the 7th and 27th tank brigades, interacting with the infantry and parachute units, broke into the enemy's defenses and, passing the Sinai desert, reached the Suez Canal. During the fighting, up to 600 units of enemy armored vehicles were destroyed or captured, Israeli losses amounted to 30 tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The tank fleet of the IDF began to replenish with modern military equipment. During the battles, the AMX-13 tanks purchased in France, the first modern tanks that entered service with the IDF, showed themselves well. In total, about 200 of these tanks entered service with the IDF.
In the early 60s, hundreds of Super-Sherman M-50 and M-51 tanks entered service with the IDF.
In the early 1960s, the United States finally agreed to sell the M48 tanks, which were named Magah in Israel. However, the Americans tried to hide this deal from their Arab friends. Therefore, the deal was concluded between Germany and the United States, and Israel fraudulently bought these tanks from Germany. In total, as part of this deal, more than 200 M48 tanks entered service with the IDF.
Around the same time, several hundred British Centurion tanks, which received the name Shot in Israel (translated from Hebrew as "whip"), entered service with the armored forces.
With this updated tank fleet, Israel was to wage fierce tank battles in
Six Day War 1967 and Yom Kippur War 1973.
In 1964, General Israel Tal became the commander-in-chief of the tank forces. This most experienced tanker, based on combat experience, developed completely new tactical techniques for waging tank warfare. Among them - the conduct of sniper fire of turret guns of tanks at long and ultra-long distances - up to 5-6 kilometers and even 10-11 kilometers. This immediately gave noticeable advantages in battle.
New tactics were tested in battle during the "Battle for Water" in 1964-1966. Then Syria tried to divert water from the Jordan River, and thereby deprive Israel of water resources. The Syrians began to build a diversion canal, which Israel could not allow.
It was decided to destroy the enemy's earth-moving equipment, tanks and artillery batteries covering the construction with the fire of tank guns.
To this end, the Israeli command staffed the Sherman and Centurion tank units with trained crews, with General Tal personally taking the gunner's place in one of the tanks, and Colonel Shlomo Lahat, the commander of the 7th Tank Brigade, as the loader.
As bait, the Israelis launched a tractor into the no-man's land. The Syrians immediately bought into the ruse and opened fire. The targets were immediately spotted. Israeli tankers' sniper fire destroyed all selected targets at a distance of up to 6 kilometers, and then tank fire was transferred to targets located at a distance of 11 kilometers.
Such tank fire strikes were carried out many times throughout the year. The Syrians suffered heavy casualties and were forced to abandon their water diversion plans altogether.
Six Day War. 1967 year
The 1967 Six Day War was a true triumph for the Israeli armored forces. For the first time, Israeli tank formations operated simultaneously on three fronts. They were opposed by the many times superior forces of five Arab states, but this did not save the Arabs from total defeat.
On the southern front, the blow was delivered by the forces of three armored divisions of Generals Tal, Sharon and Ioffe. In an offensive operation called "March across the Sinai", Israeli tank formations, interacting with aircraft, motorized infantry and paratroopers, made a lightning breakthrough of the enemy's defenses and moved through the desert, destroying the encircled Arab groupings. On the northern front, the 36th Panzer Division of General Peled advanced along the difficult mountain paths, which, after three days of fierce fighting, reached the outskirts of Damascus. On the eastern front, Israeli forces drove Jordanian units out of Jerusalem and liberated ancient Jewish shrines from foreign invaders.
During the fighting, more than 1,200 enemy tanks were destroyed, and thousands of armored vehicles, mostly Russian-made, were captured. Captured Russian T-54/55 tanks underwent major modernization at Israeli tank factories and entered service with the tank forces under the name "Tiran-4/5".
On September 9, 1969, an armored group of 6 captured Russian T-55 tanks and three BTR-50 armored personnel carriers captured in the Six Day War was secretly transported by landing craft to the Egyptian coast of the Suez Canal. The main goal was to destroy the Russian air defense system, which hindered the actions of the Israeli aviation. In the course of this brilliantly conceived and executed operation, called Raviv, Israeli tankers for 9 hours fired a barrage of fire at the enemy's rear, ruthlessly destroying radar stations, positions of missile forces and artillery, headquarters, warehouses and army bases. Having successfully completed the raid without loss, the Israeli armored group safely returned to its base on landing ships.
Yom Kippur War. 1973
The hardest test for Israel was the Yom Kippur War, which began on October 6, 1973, the day of one of the most important Jewish holidays, when most of the soldiers were on vacation. Israel was suddenly attacked on all fronts by the many times superior forces of aggressors, including the armies of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Sudan, thousands of Russian "military advisers", Cuban and North Korean "volunteers". In the vastness of the Sinai to the Golan Heights, one of the largest tank battles in world military history unfolded - up to six thousand tanks took part in it on both sides.
A particularly dangerous situation developed in the Golan Heights - there, only 200 tanks of the 7th and 188th tank brigades opposed almost 1,400 Syrian tanks on a 40-kilometer stretch. Israeli tank crews fought to the death, demonstrating massive heroism.
The names of the heroes-tankers who stopped the enemy went down in the history of Israel. Among them are platoon commander Lieutenant Zvi Gringold, company commander Captain Meir Zamir nicknamed "Tiger", battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Kahalani.
Tankers fought to the last shell, from the surviving tankers who had just left the burning tanks, new crews were immediately formed, which again went into battle in repaired combat vehicles. Lieutenant Gringold went into battle three times in new vehicles. Shell-shocked and wounded, he did not leave the battlefield and destroyed up to 60 Russian tanks. The Israeli tankers held out and won, the 210th Panzer Division, commanded by General Dan Lahner, who came to the rescue, completed the defeat of the enemy.
During the fighting, the Iraqi tank corps, which had been sent to the aid of the Syrians, was also defeated. Israeli troops launched a counteroffensive and on October 14 were already in the suburbs of Damascus.
An equally fierce tank battle took place in the sands of Sinai, where the Arabs first succeeded in pushing back units of General Mendler's 252nd Panzer Division. General Mendler died in battle, but stopped the further advance of the enemy. On October 7, the 162nd Panzer Division under the command of General Bren and the 143rd Panzer Division under the command of General Ariel Sharon entered the battle. In the course of heavy tank battles, the main forces of the Arabs were destroyed.
On October 14, the largest battle of tank formations since the Second World War, "tanks against tanks", took place, in which 260 enemy tanks were destroyed. Israeli tank crews lost 20 of their combat vehicles.
On October 16, Israeli tank forces launched a counteroffensive. General Sharon's tankmen broke through the front, set up a pontoon ferry across the Suez Canal, and Israeli tanks poured onto the African coast. In the battles that followed, the Egyptian army was surrounded, all of its reserves were destroyed, and a direct road was opened for an attack on Cairo.
During the fierce tank battles of the Yom Kippur War, Israeli tank forces once again proved their superiority: more than 2,500 enemy tanks (T-62, T-55, T-54) and thousands of other armored vehicles were destroyed in the battles. However, a high price had to be paid for the victory - more than a thousand heroically fighting Israeli tankers died in the battles.
Tank Merkava
One of the results of the past wars was the creation of their own tank, in which the requirements of Israeli tankers for a combat vehicle were most fully implemented and their combat experience was taken into account. Another reason that prompted the creation of an Israeli tank was the embargo on the supply of military equipment, imposed by foreign manufacturers every time a war broke out. This situation was intolerable, since there was always a continuous flow of Russian arms to the Arabs.
The Israeli tank project was headed by General Israel Tal, a combat tank officer who went through all the wars. Under his leadership, in just a few years, the project of the first Israeli tank "Merkava-1" was created, which already in 1976 was put into mass production at Israeli tank factories. The history of world tank building has not yet known such a rate of creation of the tank industry.
General Tal gave the new tank the name "Merkava", which means "war chariot" in Hebrew. This word came from TANAKH, it is mentioned in the first chapter of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel as a symbol of movement, power and stable foundation.
The first tanks "Merkava" were equipped with a tank battalion, commanded by the son of General Tal. Tank "Merkava" is recognized as the best tank in the world for the Middle East theater of operations. Israeli designers were the first in the world to develop dynamic armor, the use of which greatly reduced the likelihood of hitting a tank by shells and guided missiles. Blocks of dynamic protection "Blazer" were installed on the Merkava tanks, and on most of the "Centurions", M48 and M60, which remained in service with the IDF
Now the fourth generation of Merkava tanks is being produced, and the Israeli tank industry has become one of the largest in the world - tens of thousands of engineers and workers are employed at more than 200 enterprises.
War in Lebanon. 1982
"Shlom ha-Galil" (Peace to Galilee) - this is how the IDF General Staff called the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which began on June 6, 1982. in response to attacks by Palestinian terrorists operating from Lebanese territory.
On the Lebanese border, Israel has concentrated 11 divisions, united in three army corps. Each corps was allocated its own area of responsibility or direction: the Western direction was commanded by Lieutenant General Yekutiel Adam, the Central direction - by Lieutenant General Uri Simkhoni, the Eastern direction - by Lieutenant General Janusz Ben-Gal. In addition, two divisions were deployed in the Golan Heights, in the immediate vicinity of Damascus, under the command of Lieutenant General Moshe Bar Kokhba. The armored divisions included 1,200 tanks. The general command of the operation was entrusted to the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General R. Eytan and the Commander of the Northern Military District, Lieutenant-General A. Drori.
Tank divisions advanced in the seaside direction and already on June 10 entered the suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Later, Beirut was completely captured by Israeli forces. During the offensive, the largest amphibious operation was carried out, when tank and motorized infantry units were landed behind enemy lines from the landing ships of the Israeli Navy.
Particularly fierce battles unfolded in the eastern direction, where the target of the offensive was the strategically important Beirut-Damascus highway. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli tanks were stopped about 30 kilometers from the Syrian capital Damascus.
Israeli tanks and infantry fight street fighting in Beirut. 1982
Operation in Lebanon. 2006
During the operation in Lebanon in June-August 2006. The IDF practiced completely new methods of waging war against terrorist groups.
In southern Lebanon, the terrorist organization Hezbollah established a deeply echeloned system of fortified areas that included many disguised underground bunkers connected by tens of kilometers of tunnels. According to their plans, the weapons and equipment accumulated by the militants should have been enough for many months of defense, during which they expected to inflict heavy losses on the Israeli army.
The terrorists paid special attention to anti-tank warfare - they carried out continuous mining in the tank-hazardous areas, including the laying of dozens of land mines with hundreds of kilograms of TNT in each. The terrorists were armed with the most modern Russian anti-tank weapons: Malyutka, Fagot, Konkurs, Metis-M, Kornet-E ATGMs, as well as RPG-7 and RPG-29 Vampir grenade launchers.
Despite such an impressive training of militants, the IDF successfully solved all the assigned tasks with minimal losses and completely eliminated the terrorist presence in the border areas.
According to Israeli data, during the fighting, the militants carried out hundreds of anti-tank missile launches, but their effectiveness was rather low: only 22 cases of tank armor penetration were noted, damaged tanks returned to service after repairs during the fighting in Lebanon. Irrecoverable losses amounted to only 5 tanks, of which two were blown up by land mines. During the fighting, 30 Israeli tankers were killed.
All military experts note the high survivability of Israeli tanks, especially the most modern Merkava 4 tank.
The experience of fighting in Lebanon showed that despite minimal losses of armored vehicles during battles, the solution to the problem of survivability of the main battle tank and its crew on a battlefield saturated with anti-tank weapons is to use high-tech means of active protection that ensure a change in the trajectory or defeat of all types of flying up cumulative ammunition.
In Israel, the development of active protection equipment for armored vehicles is carried out by the military-industrial concern RAFAEL, among the numerous projects it is worth noting the Iron Fist and Trophy active protection systems. Israel is leading in this direction - the Trophy active protection system became the first in the world to be installed on serially produced Merkava Mk4 tanks.
Israeli tank forces have passed a glorious military path and are rightfully considered one of the strongest in the world - according to open data, it is known that the IDF is now armed with up to 5,000 tanks. This is more than, for example, in countries such as the UK, France and Germany. But the main strength of the Israeli tank forces lies in the people, whose invaluable combat experience and courage are the guarantors of Israel's security.
