The Achzarit ( in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: "cruel", feminine

inflection In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...

) is a heavily

armoured 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 Corps of Ordnance.

History

The Achzarit is based on the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-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 battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

, beginning with those captured from

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

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 guns, including one Rafael Overhead Weapons Station, a machine gun controlled from within the cabin, developed by

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. () is an Israeli Defense contractor, defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defens ...

. As a lesson from the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

, a ballistic 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 language, Hebrew: "lethal") is a remote weapon system (RWS) that enables a variety of devices to be operated automatically or by remote control, ...

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, ...

. A version with RCWS-30 was also built.

Operations

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

Rafah Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...

, after a comparatively lightly armored M113 APC was destroyed by an RPG. Achzarit APCs were also involved in the Gaza War (2008–09). On October 7, 2023, several old APCs were captured by Palestinian militants in Nahal Oz.

Gallery

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

References

External links

Achzarit Family + Tiran family

{{T-54/T-55_navigation, style=wide Armoured personnel carriers of Israel Tracked armoured personnel carriers Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s