Eitan APC (Photo: Ministry of Defense & IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

The Directorate of Merkava Tanks and Armored Vehicles, a section within the Israeli Ministry of Defense, delivered the first series of Eitan APCs to the Israel Defense Forces. The APCs left the production line at the Restoration & Maintenance Center of the Technology Division in the Technology and Logistics Division of the IDF and moved to the “Bislah” military base in the southern part of Israel, where they were handed over to the Nahal infantry Division.

In addition, recently the first training of the Nahal brigade of its kind took place in the north of the country, as part of which a company of fighters practiced different scenarios while riding on the Eitan APCs.

The Eitan APC is an 8-wheeled armored combat vehicle, with similar protection layers to the Israeli tank, Merkava, and Tiger APC, and is capable of carrying 12 soldiers. The Eitan, developed by the Merkava and Armored Directorate at the Ministry of Defense, has 750 horsepower and is capable of reaching a speed of approximately 90 km per hour. It performs extremely well on any terrain, including urban terrain and other challenging terrains, and is designed to function continuously for several days of combat.

The development engineers behind the project developed the advanced tool and implemented it with state-of-the-art technological systems that include peripheral cameras that see day and night and enable the security of the tool, calculation, and front-end processing capabilities using advanced computers, touch screens, and processors that are extremely efficient, which all together enables the operation of the deadly tool. In the near future, the "Dorvan" active defense system and other systems, developed in cooperation with the defense industries in Israel, the IDF's ground arm, and the Israel Defense Forces, will be integrated. The assembly of the tool is carried out at the Merkava factory in the Technology and Logistics Division of the IDF.

The head of the Directorate of Merkava tanks and Armored Vehicles, Brigadier General Oren Giber released a statement: "After years of development, testing and production, the Eitan APC is being transferred to the Nahal Brigade. The Eitan is the first advanced wheeled combat vehicle of its kind in the IDF that allows for a different type of combat, including the movement of soldiers between different sectors of combat, at the level of protection of the Merkava tank, and the Tiger APC. These days we are in the serial production of the Eitan in dozens of industries in Israel and abroad. We are happy and proud to conduct the first Eitan company in the Nahal Brigade. And we understand that every APC that leaves the production line will be transported directly to the field to replace old tools and to ensure that our fighters receive tools with the best protection and the best performance, in all combat scenarios."

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