How the IDF Keeps Its Tanks Safe in Gaza

IDF tanks have been operating fairly freely on the Gaza battlefield despite multiple efforts by Hamas to deploy grenades and drones against them. A simple metallic scaffolding and roof placed on top of the tank is one of the reasons why.

IDF tanks have been operating fairly freely on the Gaza battlefield despite the dense urban battlefield and multiple Hamas efforts to attack them and other IDF vehicles with grenades and drones.

Mako News military correspondent Shai Levy explains that one of the reasons is a simple metal scaffolding attached to the tank's turret, which disrupts efforts to destroy or damage the tank from above.

According to the report, the multiple use of suicide drones to destroy and damage tanks in the war between Russia and Ukraine convinced the IDF of the need to place physical barriers and obstacles in the path of these weapons. Some soldiers learned this lesson already during the Second Intifada, placing roofs atop their armored infantry vehicles to protect against grenades and bombs thrown atop their vehicles.

The IDF stressed that these protections do not hinder the tanks' freedom of maneuver and attack, and that they are but one in a number of means and methods at the IDF's disposal to avoid ambush and destruction.