The disaster, in which 11 fighters of Givati's Sabra Battalion were killed by an anti-tank missile in an armored vehicle, led to discussions about it and how it was built.
The APC, the Merkava armored personnel carrier, is an armored troop carrier whose structure is based on the chassis of the Merkava tank without the turret. The tool meets the tactical need of bringing a protected infantry squad to the battlefield.
In the past, troops were brought in on M-113 armored personnel carriers, but they had thin and weak armor that provided preparation against small arms projectiles and shell fragments, but not against more advanced threats such as anti-tank missiles or IEDs. This led the IDF to design a newer armored personnel carrier.
Initially, these armored personnel carriers were converted into chassis of aging tanks. However, they were not suitable for this as their space was small, the engine was in the rear, which made it difficult for the fighters to enter safely. In addition, the conversion of an old tank into a heavy armored personnel carrier required many maintenance operations.
As a result, it was decided to use Merkava tank chassis, in which the engine is located in front and is also one of the most armored tanks, so that the squad of soldiers inside the APC should be protected.
Currently, there are two types of CIOs. The first is an CIO mounted on Merkava 3 chassis, intended for rescue and maintenance, which has a crane system and a rescue winch.
The second type is a combat armored personnel carrier consisting of up to 3 7.62 mm mag machine guns and a 0.5-inch heavy machine gun (M2 Browning) operated from the belly of the vehicle. In addition to the passive protection of the vehicle, which is based on the protection of the Merkava tank, since 2016 the APC has also been fitted with a windbreaker system. The vehicle is capable of carrying 12 fighters and two stretchers, and is equipped with a digital military equipment system for conducting digital combat and 4 cameras that will enable peripheral vision around the vehicle.
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