Armament
Fighting with AI – Israel introduces new generation of Merkava tank
The new main battle tank is said to be much more powerful than its predecessors
© IDF
Israel is building its own battle tank, the Merkava. In the new model, an AI rules. The commander can see through the armor with a special helmet – as if he were sitting in a convertible.
Israel is building a new generation of Merkava tank, called Barak. It should already be fully operational and introduced into the army. The Ministry of Defense announced that they had been working on the new model for five years. The biggest special feature is the role of artificial intelligence on board – an innovation that no tank will be able to avoid in the long term.
Modern battle tanks are equipped with lots of sensors. In the future, they will also be able to exchange data with other systems and drones. This is simply too much data and information for humans. They are analyzed by the AI and pre-sorted for the crew. The Barak should be able to independently recognize threats, identify them as targets and combat them.
Virtual all-round view
Another innovation concerns the commander. He should have a complete all-round view inside the tank. To do this, sensors are attached outside the tank and their data is transferred to the IronVision helmet from Elbit Systems. The commander should be able to “see through the vehicle’s armor.”
So far, a major problem is that visibility is inadequate when the hatches are closed. Especially in confusing urban areas, the commander has to open the hatch and thus exposes himself to snipers.
The crew still consists of four people. New elements of the Barak include advanced targeting systems that combine data processing and independent scanning functions, improved firing capabilities that enable precise aiming day and night, improved cameras for night driving and radios.
The tank also receives an active protection system known outside Israel as Trophy. It can be assumed that the new generation of the tank will be seamlessly integrated into the Israeli Athena system. Athena is a type of AI commander. It can network and evaluate the data from multiple systems and use this as a basis to plan and carry out complex combat group operations.
Battle tank with a very high level of protection
The Barak counts as fifth generation, but is based heavily on the fourth. The Merkava has been built since 1978 and is an Israeli development that is taking its own path. The entire series placed more emphasis on crew protection than other tanks. The basic design shows this. In the Merkava, the engine block is located at the front, the crew is protected by a bulkhead behind the engine. This should give them a chance of survival even if they are hit through the front armor. All Merkava tanks have reinforced mine protection. The crew sits in the tower. The ammunition is stored behind them. Another special feature is a large hatch in the rear. The whole concept – engine at the front, hatch at the back – is reminiscent of an armored personnel carrier.
A Merkava can accommodate additional shooters. You can enter and exit the tank through the bulkhead from the rear. Wounded people can be picked up by the tank. The crew can escape to safety through the “rear exit” and does not have to squeeze through the exposed hatches on the top. The rear hatch is primarily used to quickly replenish the tank’s ammunition on the battlefield. With all other main battle tanks, the ammunition has to be laboriously brought into the tank through the narrow hatches in the top.