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 An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

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 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the World War II, Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Mai ...

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 Non-explosive reactive armor (NxRA), also known as non-energetic reactive armor (NERA), is a type of vehicle armor used by modern main battle tanks and heavy infantry fighting vehicles. NERA advantages over the explosive reactive armor (ERA) ar ...

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 The Rafael Overhead Weapon Station is a remote weapon station developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces. It has been superseded by the Rafael Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS). However, ...

, a machine gun controlled from within the cabin, developed by

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. ( he, רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly Rafael Armament Development Authority), ("Rafael" from Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - ) is an Israel ...

. 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 Bulletproof glass, ballistic glass, transparent armor, or bullet-resistant glass is a strong and optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to penetration by projectiles. Like any other material, it is not completely impenetr ...

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 The Rafael Overhead Weapon Station is a remote weapon station developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces. It has been superseded by the Rafael Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS). However, ...

Operations

Because of its heavy armor, the Achzarit is sometimes called a Heavy APC (HAPC). Achzarit APCs took part in

Operation Rainbow In 2004 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rainbow (Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''Mivtza Keshet Be-Anan'', מבצע קשת בענן) in the southern Gaza Strip from 12–24 May 2004, involving an invasion and siege of Rafah. The o ...

Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...

, after a comparatively lightly armored M113 APC was destroyed by an RPG. Achzarit APCs were also involved in the Gaza War.

Gallery

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

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