After more than five years of development and production, Israel’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday unveiled for the first time the IDF tank of the future, the Barak. It comes with AI-based sensory and processing capabilities, the ability to expose the enemy and create targets for the fighting forces on the battlefield, full combat capability with closed shields based on 360-degree peripheral observation, and an Elbit pilot’s helmet for the commander, multi-touch screens, advanced operation controllers, adaptation to changing combat situations and improved survivability.
The system will allow 360-degree scanning as the tank commander moves his head, and target-locating in real-time with help from AI capabilities. To this will be added an improved gun sight with advanced observation and night capabilities.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant said: “How symbolic that in the days when we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, and its heroic battles of the armored fighters in defense of our country, we receive further proof of the relevance and power of the tank as a fundamental and decisive factor in land maneuvering.”
The Barak tank will enhance the enemy’s exposure and enable combat against the enemy with a low signature and in all combat scenarios in current and future battlefields, against a broad set of threats to the maneuvering force.
The Barak tanks will allow battalion combat teams to fight continuously at a fast pace while exposing the enemy, combined with activating independent, organic, or spatial fire, which will increase the lethality and achievements of the combat team.
The Barak tank will have the ability to quickly produce and extract information and transfer it to attack assemblies, as part of the targets bank, as well as the ability to transfer intelligence in real time between the fighting forces. To this end, the Barak tank was equipped with a wide and reliable sensor infrastructure, which will allow it to grasp an area more deeply, acquire targets, and close fire circles quickly and precisely.
Commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, Col. Benny Aharon said: “Over the past year, the 401st Brigade dealt with the absorption and assimilation of the Barak tank. The brigade invested in learning the capabilities of the tank and the nature of its combat and its use in battle, in training crew members and controllers, and the new tank’s cooperation with other advanced armored units, such as the Tiger. The absorption of the new tank is a tremendous opportunity to improve operational effectiveness in preparation for the next campaign and a significant force multiplier for the IDF, the Infantry, and the Armored Corps.”
