![]() It was designed by General Israel Tal following the armored clashes of the Yom Kippur War and after the failure to purchase Chieftain tanks from the United Kingdom. Development of the first Merkava – which means “Chariot” in Hebrew – began in the mid-1970s. The 65-ton Merkava IV is the latest in a series of main battle tanks (MBTs) that were developed by the IDF and which remain the backbone of the IDF’s armored corps. The units will operate the Merkava IV tanks, which have been outfitted with the latest capabilities and technological systems that the IDF has to offer. It was only in 2020 that the IDF launched the pilot program to determine if women could serve in the tank units, after a previous trial from 2017 to 2018 was deemed inconclusive. ![]() The unit was stationed along the Egyptian border for the first time, as part of an ongoing pilot program to assess the feasibility of female armored crews – who had completed their training at the IDF’s Shizafon Base in the Negev desert. Could it be the best or one of the best tanks on Earth? Last July, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had formed the first all-female armored Merkava IV company to defend the country’s frontier as part of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion. ![]() While not as well known as the M1 Abrams tank or Russia’s T-14 Armata, the Israeli Merkava IV tank is a warrior on the battlefield. ![]()
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