Achzarit
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The Achzarit ( in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: "cruel", female
inflection In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
) is a heavily armored personnel carrier manufactured by the
Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
Corps of Ordnance.


History

The Achzarit is based on the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
-built T-54/T-55
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
, beginning with those captured from
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
armies during the Arab–Israeli wars. To make space for a troop compartment, the eight-and-a-half tonnes turret, the original superstructure of the chassis and the transversely mounted engine were removed. Non-Explosive Reactive Armour was installed over the original hull. The first model of the Achzarit entered in service in 1988.


Design


Protection

The Achzarit can withstand both shaped-charges and armor-piercing projectiles which would destroy conventional IFVs. The manufacturers claim that the machine can withstand repeated 125 mm APFSDS hits over its frontal arc. At 44 tonnes, the machine is exceptionally heavy for an infantry carrier. The fact that 14 tonnes of the vehicle's weight is made up of additional advanced special composite armor, gives some indication as to its high degree of protection.


Weapons

It is armed with three 7.62 mm
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s, including one Rafael Overhead Weapons Station, a machine gun controlled from within the cabin, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. As a lesson from the
Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
, a bulletproof glass turret was installed over one of the hatches to enable the commander to see outside without being exposed to small arms fire and shrapnel. Several Achzarit in service have been upgraded with a 12.7 mm
Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station The Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS), also known as Katlanit (קטלנית in Hebrew: "lethal", female inflection) is a Remote Weapon System that enables a variety of devices to be operated automatically or by remote control, includ ...
in place of the standard 7.62 mm Rafael Overhead Weapon Station.


Operations

Because of its heavy armor, the Achzarit is sometimes called a Heavy APC (HAPC). Achzarit APCs took part in Operation Rainbow in Rafah, after a comparatively lightly armored M113 APC was destroyed by an
RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
. Achzarit APCs were also involved in the Gaza War.


Gallery

File:Achzarit-latrun-1.jpg File:Achzarit-latrun-2.jpg


See also

* VIU-55 Munja, similar example from
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
*
BTR-T The BTR-T (Russian: Бронетранспортёр-Тяжелый (''Bronetransporter-Tyazhelyy''), ‘Armoured Transporter–Heavy’) is a Russian heavy infantry combat vehicle, designed by the Design Bureau of Transport Machine-Building (Om ...
, similar example from Russia *
BMPT Terminator The BMPT "Terminator" ( - Tank Support Fighting Vehicle) is an armored fighting vehicle (AFV), designed and manufactured by the Russian company Uralvagonzavod. This vehicle was designed for supporting tanks and other AFVs in urban areas. The BMP ...
, a Russian tank-derived AFV designed to fight infantry rather than transport it *
BMPV-64 The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while ...
:ru:БМПВ-64/ :uk:БМПВ-64: A Ukrainian heavy
infantry combat vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...
based on the T-64 chassis * Kangaroo (armoured personnel carrier), a series of Allied World War 2 armoured personnel carriers that were based on converted tanks.


References


External links


Achzarit Family + Tiran family


{{Tanks converted to armored vehicles Armoured personnel carriers of Israel Tracked armoured personnel carriers Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s