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A Merkava tank kicks up dust in the Judean desert (IDF)
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| By israelinsider staff April 27, 2007 |
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| IDF war games: Merkava tanks on the move (IDF) |
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The IDF this week carried out, in the Judean Desert, division-strength maneuvers in preparation for a possible conflict with Syria on the Golan Heights. Since last summer's war, there has been a heightened state of alert, and tensions in recent months have been rising. President Bashar Assad, some Israeli analysts say, was emboldened by Hizbullah's success against the IDF and may be tempted to launch hostilities in an attempt to retake the Golan Heights, either by initiating a surprise attack and firing long-range ballistic missiles at Israeli cities.
The division-strength war games, involving hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers, backed by helicopters and drones, took place in the Judean Desert. The training exercise featured Israel's most advanced tank - the Merkava Mark 4 - pitted against Syria's best armor, the Russian-made T-72 tank. The drill put to rest belief that the age of tank battles is gone forever, and raised the specter of a reprise of armored conflict such as that which pitted the IDF against Syrian forces in 1967 and 1973.
The simulation began Thursday with the tanks gathering in an offensive posture on the outskirts of the battlefield, the Jerusalem Post reported. The first mission given to the armored forces was to create passageways and build makeshift bridges over deep ravines, similar to the valleys and rivers in the Golan Heights.
The tanks were backed up by artillery fire and supported by infantry troops, some traveling in armored personnel carriers and others being flown into the field by transport helicopters, the Post said.
IDF Merkava tanks were used to emulate Syrian ones, a change from previous drills in which the army made de with Hummer patrol vehicles.
"We are preparing for the possibility of war on all fronts," said Col. Roni Belkin, deputy commander of Division 162. "To do that, we need to find a solution for a wide range of scenarios."
In one of the possible scenarios envisaged by analysts, the Post reported, Syrian soldiers would sweep across the Israeli side of the border, taking over the northern community of Merom Golan with an elite commando unit from the 14th Special Forces Division of the Syrian Armed Forces. Simultaneously, Syrian Chief of Staff Gen. Ali Habib would give the order and hundreds of T-72 tanks from the Damascus-based Republican Guard Mechanized Division -- alongside thousands of commandos and infantry troops -- would begin deploying along the Syrian side of the border. The Syrian would prepare to fire its long-range Scud D ballistic missiles, capable of hitting any target inside Israel and of being armed with chemical warheads.
This kind of scenario would pave the way for an apocalyptic showdown.
One of the IDF's prime concerns is the use of advanced antitank missiles, which Hizbullah successfully deployed to inflict punishing damage against IDF tanks, including the Merkava.
The IDF has since announced plans to acquire, before the end of the year, several dozen "Trophy" protection systems capable of intercepting incoming antitank missiles but also to more effectively deploy countermeasures like tank-generated smokescreens, which the Merkava can generate but that the IDF has rarely had occasion to deploy.
"The tank is still an excellent tool for achieving our goals in the battlefield," Rudoy told the Jerusalem Post. "But you need to know how to use it."
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