Post-battle probe finds Merkava tank misused in Lebanon

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Source: The Jerusalem Post
September 04, 2006

An investigation into the performance of Israel's vaunted Merkava main battle tank during the recent Lebanon war has found that most tank commanders failed to make use of the vehicle's sophisticated defense systems.

The Merkava is generally regarded as the world's best-protected tank, making even the relatively low number of tanks penetrated by the thousands of anti-tank missiles Hizb'allah fired unacceptable.

One of the primary contributing factors to the misuse of the tanks was said to be the fact that most tank crews have been serving for the past several years on foot in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Israel has tried to avoid using tanks against the "Palestinians" as much as possible. Many commanders and crews are therefore unfamiliar with operating the sophisticated Merkava in battle.

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