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Legendary Israeli Tank Threatened with Extinction

(National Defense) Rand H. Fishbein - In late November the Israeli government decided to continue to fund the Merkava tank program into the 2004 fiscal year, but the rate of production probably will be reduced and the program cut back or killed in the coming years. The Merkava is the country's only indigenously produced main battle tank and represents a formidable part of the defense manufacturing base in Israel. Some contend that eliminating all tank production in Israel is shortsighted. While Israel contemplates a reduction in its ground forces, the countries it may one day face in battle - Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia - continue to upgrade their arsenals with ever more modern, lethal, and offensive armor, missile, naval, and aircraft platforms. The combined tank forces of Egypt (3,000), Syria (3,700), Lebanon (280), Jordan (990), and Saudi Arabia (750) stands at roughly 8,720. Israel has 3,900 tanks. In October, the Pentagon approved the sale of 125 additional M1A1 Abrams main battle tank kits to Egypt, bringing to 880 the number of M1s in Cairo's inventory. Nearly 22% of the Merkava's content is of American origin, including a portion of its armor and its 1,500 hp MTU engine, produced under license by General Dynamics. Heavy armor is likely to remain an indispensable part of Israel's force structure for the foreseeable future. Even though the U.S. maintained total air superiority over the forces of Saddam Hussein in both Iraqi wars, it was the tank, backed by infantry, that ultimately was responsible for securing the battlefield.
2004-01-30 00:00:00
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